Migration agents ??

[Guest Sharon and Paul]

Hi all , Well ive seen other post about agents , Its a shame we don't have a league table so we can all add our plus and negative thoughts?. I had my old aussie mate drop in on us last week, I had a good chat with him about this subject ?, He said that they our ,a load of leech's , and can.t understand why we don;t do it ourselfs .I did point out that we did not have a clue what to do or how to start? ,His reply was could you do it now you have got your visa? I would have a bloody good go?. WE used the MIGRATION BUREAU , thay gave us a quote of £2700. to £ 4200. our final bill was about £9000. yes did have a problem with our tra , but thay new i had to do this? oh yes on top of this was our meds ,police checks, visa application fee. The one thing that i did get pissed off with ?, was once we signed up we were passed over to someone in bloody NewZealand so loads of phone calls on top? I know we can't turn back the clock i just think we should have done our homework a lot better?. Should have used GO matilda in southampton? anyway all you guys out there shop around if they our at conventions then they must have lots of overheads ?. ATB Paul:nah:

[Guest Ellie]

god I hope we haven't made a mistake. We have an agent that seems ok so far. They work for the Australian Government and do seminar. There didn't appear to be any hidden costs and are at the end of the phone 24/7 in England. I work full time and to think of trying to do myself I found really frightening. We do have to pay for trade assessment for my hubby and medicals on top and we got to pay a solicitor to certify his paperwork but basically a set price. Fingers crossed we don't get stung otherwise we will end up staying in this god forsaken place.....England!!!!

[Guest LOOBYLOO]

I think you've been unlucky. OH went to Oz for reccie and came back signed up with a migration agent in Adelaide. Our visa is quite complicated and the agent has been excellent. Cost us less than £2000 (visa cost/meds/police on top) but it has been invaluable. Got our state sponsorship within one month and visa within 3 months. That's just my story....I'm sure there are a lot of nightmare stories!

[Guest Sharon and Paul]

HI ELLIE, The more i think about this subject the more questions i throw up? the TRA i done , thay kept asking me for more info , pictures ect that was the bureau, not the tra people, i recone i sent them enough info to sink a ship read into this as you will? all iam trying to say is be careful dont take any poo?. iAM sure that most people are happy with there agents ?, I thought ours was very good , BUT i would not recomend them , Again BUT i did get the visa so i am pleased with that .

[Guest Ellie]

I will keep you posted. It's early days I suppose for us. God forbid it costs much more it's just money money money. At least you got your visas but it's not good it's cost you so much. That is a fortune. We got so much crap to pay off from our equity as Max is really struggling in the building trade. Thanks to Gordon Brown!!!! (lets not go there ) They do seem to be honest but I do trust EVERYONE lol much to max's despair!

Good luck anyway. I hope it's all you were dreaming of. My god after what it's cost you to get out there you deserve the best of everything.

 

 

HI ELLIE, The more i think about this subject the more questions i throw up? the TRA i done , thay kept asking me for more info , pictures ect that was the bureau, not the tra people, i recone i sent them enough info to sink a ship read into this as you will? all iam trying to say is be careful dont take any poo?. iAM sure that most people are happy with there agents ?, I thought ours was very good , BUT i would not recomend them , Again BUT i did get the visa so i am pleased with that .

[Guest Ellie]

Hi Loobyloo!

 

Hope we get through that quickly. We are going on a 175 visa. Friends of ours went out on 22nd August. He got a job and was sponsered by his new employer only took 10 weeks. Maybe we gone for the wrong visa and Max should have found work first. However who knows there are sooooo many visa's it's so complicating. Too late now. We got most things together now and once the photocopies of paperwork certified it will all be sent to agent. They said it will take around 4 weeks before they here from Australia. That's if we have done it right. Oh the joy of it all!

[Guest Sharon and Paul]

I think you've been unlucky. OH went to Oz for reccie and came back signed up with a migration agent in Adelaide. Our visa is quite complicated and the agent has been excellent. Cost us less than £2000 (visa cost/meds/police on top) but it has been invaluable. Got our state sponsorship within one month and visa within 3 months. That's just my story....I'm sure there are a lot of nightmare stories!

HI loobyloo, That sounds about right, I thought that ours was good ( here is another ?) We were paying as we go, a lump sum to start with? , our bill would come through on our e mail , then a couple of weeks the letter would arrive with the invoice, we would pay this stright away ,we found out that we were being charged for not paying quick enough? I was stright on the phone ?. thay just take the piss ,Its bad enough talking to them at 6am on the phone ,then get charged for phone call and a letter saying the same poo! ive got to move on i just feel i have been done, roggered , shafted

[Guest ozzy wannabe]

Hi There

 

We used a migrataion agent and they were brilliant, however with hind sight we could have probably done it all ourself. Our TRA was fairly straight forward.

 

We have just done our PR visas our self.

 

Good Luck!

 

Vicky

 

Our migration agents were Concept

[Guest LOOBYLOO]

GOOD LUCK with your visa....I hope all goes well!

[Guest Ellie]

I should think you do. It's hard to move on as money certainly don't come easy. Rotten *****! I should think you are furious and fair play for warning everyone else. They are cashing in on people and that is wrong. Unfortunate you can't name and shame eh!!! You have a new start now a new life and hopefully a better future. Hard to put behind you when it hits your pocket though when it's so hard to work for. But you must!!! You have gone too far for some dirty underhanded company to spoil it.

[laura girling]

Just to add,

 

We were really happy with our agent, His name is Mick Breen and company name is Destination Oz, he previously worked as an immigration officer.

His fees cost us about 1 thousand pounds I know it was a little cheaper than that but just rounding it up.

He was efficient, we didnt have to keep chasing him and he had us organise our paper work so that when we arrived in Oz I had everything to present to the TRA which after looking at my evidence granted me my cert without an interview.

 

Sorry to here of people being ripped off.

Hope this helps someone as I highly recommend him.

 

Lauraxxx:)

[Diane]

There are definitely good agents, and terrible agents! Here in Australia they have to be licensed by MARA and their fees are limited, but even so I know of one absolutely fantastic agent in Australia who I would recommend to anyone, and at least one absolutely awful one who I would definitely NOT recommend - even to my worst enemy!! Obviously can't name names on an open forum though....

 

Diane

[thearmchairdetective]

Hi all , Well ive seen other post about agents .

 

 

I wonder if I could train as a migration agent, here in the south west UK

and help people as best i could?

and maybe find the secret of getting myself out there, i could specialise in older people like myself

 

anybody know about the process and my chances please?

 

 

or do you have to be in australia?

[Guest Martin and Val]

We used 1st Contact Migration and dealt with the same person from start to finish. Our consultant was an Aussie lady called Anne Bonanno, she was absolutely fantastic. There were no hidden charges and we have just got our passports back with the Visa's in them today.

We kept a tally of all the costs which include everything even the postage stamps used. We spent a grand total of £3,543.42

We would not have been able to do this ourselves due to time commitments so without them we would have found it a struggle.

Good luck to all waiting.

[Guest vikkiann]

We used Visa Unit based in Hove, our case was complicated because Garry is self employed and no longer working in plumbing. They charged £2700 plus meds, visa etc on top. They might have been a bit slow at returning calls but we got our visa just over 8 months after lodging a 175.

have you thought of reporting them to MARA, i know i would. Surely they can't give a quote and then charge double that?

 

Vikki

[Guest Sharron & Andrew]

Hi All,

 

My husband is a bricklayer and we are also in the process of obtaining a 175 visa. We are using an agent - Ian Harrop and I must say he is excellent. We had a clear quotation before we signed up and we have paid exactly what it said in the quote. There is no way I could have done all the paperwork for VETASSESS by myslef - Peter Clay (who works for Ian) specialises in this as he worked for Australia Immigration for years and so he knew just what and how we had to word all the references ect. We are just waiting for confirmation of acceptance on the practical in October, then we pay the final installment for the visa to be lodged - after that we just have the meds and police checks to pay for.

I am vary wary of anyone offering professional services (been stung before) so I did do a lot of research before deciding on an agent - infact it was because of recommendations from fellow PIA members that I went with Ian, so thanks to those who passed on their comments!

I wish everyone in the process well, and hope that you all get the outcome you wish for.

Sharronx

[Guest Aussie pat]

I wonder if I could train as a migration agent, here in the south west UK

and help people as best i could?

and maybe find the secret of getting myself out there, i could specialise in older people like myself

 

anybody know about the process and my chances please?

 

 

or do you have to be in australia?

 

The secret is to do what my husband did and to marry an Aussie. He's older than you.

 

Hedy

[thearmchairdetective]

The secret is to do what my husband did and to marry an Aussie. He's older than you.

 

Hedy

 

Thats a fantastic idea.

Is bigamy an ofence in oz?

[Guest Aussie pat]

Thats a fantastic idea.

Is bigamy an ofence in oz?

 

We used to joke about this with friends. You could get divorced. Marry an Aussie (make sure they're really old) hope they pop off soon and get your visa. Then remarry your previous spouse and get them a visa too. There was a lady in Adelaide (Emily Perry) who was investigated for the suspicious death of several previous husbands who were thought to have been poisoned by something she may have put in her cooking.

 

Seriously though, as I'm 47 I can completely understand your disappointment at being deemed too old for a normal visa at 52.

 

Hedy