diy or migration agent??

[ladybird]

Has anyone been really brave and not used a migration agent??

To a large extent our forms look quite straight forward (i say that now!!!) and we could do with saving some pennies or is an agent money well spent??

We're skilled independent 136 visa if that makes any difference

[betty22]

Hi Ladybird,
Yes we did it all ourselves and ours was the New SIR visa when it first came out on 1st July 04.
Just read and re read everything before you put pen to paper. I had 2 copies of the 47sk filled the first one in with mistakes then just copied it all accross(with no mistakes) on to the form we sent to DIMIA.
We had no problems at all and the visa was granted in 6.5 months.
Found the TRA pretty straight forward but we did that the year before.
Good Luck

Liz

[jen&ian]

Hi Ladybird,

We didn't use an agent, every penny counts as there's five of us to get out there. It really wasn't as difficult as you may think and people on the forum are always willing to advise.

Good Luck :)

Jen, Ian, Jay, Sam & Noah

[dglamoore]

Looking back on things we could have done the majority without an agent but our TRA was a complete nightmare and worth every penny we paid the agent to do.

If yours is a straight forward application then worth going for it :D

Good luck and just shout with any questions - there is always someone to help out

Lisa :D

[grants]

We have also been brave and not used an agent although did get advice from an agent at a cost of approx £120 as to what visa to go for and how to go about it. They prepared a 32 page personal instruction book and I have access to them if I have any questions for a 6 month period. They are australian migration agents website www.liveinaustralia.com. Not as convenient as being able to ring them locally but they have been very helpful and usually come back with answers wihin 24 hours.

I have now received my skills assessment from ANMC and I am hoping to send my visa application within the next couple of weeks (just gathering all docs and getting them cerified). I will then apply on line for SA govn sponcorship as I need this as I am applying for State nominated Independent visa class 137 which is a permanent residency visa with stipulation I have to work as a Midiwfe in SA for at least 2 years which I am quite happy to do.

Looking forward to the day I can forget about putting together visa applications and just wait for the visa to being posted through my letter box.

[ladybird]

If you've been brave who did you get to certify your documents?? and did you have to pay?? Very daft question of course you had to pay just like all the other things we have to pay for!!! :D :D

[dglamoore]

We got all our stuff certified at a local solicitors - we phoned around and haggled :lol: found a nice one that charged 50p per copy and we had a huge pile!!! (some quoted £2 per copy :shock: )

You can get it done for free by a JP but need to find one without a long wait - we would have had to wait 3 months to see one.

Lisa :D