Migration agent or Reccie?

[Guest mightyBouch]

With my recent queries over skills assessments and nominated occupations, I am considering the use of a migration agent. I am not averse to the hard work the application requires, I am sure the agents do have their uses but I resent paying them all that money!!

The money could be spent on a reccie next year when I have some time off next year and I could check out Adelaide and some potential employers which would look good on the application.

What do you think??

 

Mike

[Guest paul_smart]

my thoughts exactly, now my first TRA was bounced for unbelieveable reasons but even though I have to pay $300 again it will still be nearly 2k cheaper than using an agent, plus I'm happy to explain where I went wrong as I go along, even though I've had 1 bad experience I still believe you don't need an overpaid agent to who is going to ask you to write the same stuff as I would.

[Guest BAZnDAF]

My agent only cost £1200, and he made the difference between getting a temp and a permenent visa. He is also a specialist in the IT side of migration, and thats what made the difference. He lives in sydney so i paid him in AUD which after conversion was very reasonable.

 

It is after all a personal choice.

[Guest ReadyPenny]

I say save the cash for the reccie. Done our ourself - no problems

 

Mandy

[Denise]

I used an agent as we initially were told we didnt have enough points and they sorted out the extras and got us (are getting us!!) in.

I would still say do it yourself, especially with the people on this site who can help with any part of the application.

We have spent nearly 7k now, of course that includes the meds, application form, police checks etc,,, but still a hefty 4K to the agents. ALOT OF MONEY

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

Well there are agents that dont rip you off! Ours was 950 pounds ( not inc the dimia fees and tra fees), I would imagine he has gone up now but not that much I wouldnt think!

[Guest Vicks&Stu]

Hi

We used a visa agent because we just thoought it would be the best way to go. We used the Visa Bureau and I think they were about £1800. They were really good, they checked all our forms and where they thought we needed to add more detail they would tell us this so we could change them before they were submitted. at the time we applied the head person at Visa Bureau had previously been fairly high up in Aus emigration department so they had good connections. For us we found it worth the money, but everyone is different.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Vicks&Stu.

[Guest graandjac]

Good question that one:goofy:, well we spent over £2,000 on our agent and it was the best 2k ever spent for us, every question on every form was filled in by our agent, something i have always wondered......of the people who apply and fail what % used agents or not.

[Guest Libby1971]

Our view was that we should do everything to get into Australia. Migration agents may be expensive but they know what they are doing, and we felt that they were worth it. We paid just over $1500 (Ian Harrop) and they were great, very supportive.

 

We knew we were leaving the UK, we wanted options, and they made sure we had them. I think it was the best money we ever spent.

[Guest ReadyPenny]

I suppose it depends on how straight forward/complex your situation is. Our was simple, OH is a tradie and we have no kids from other relationships etc. so just the three of us. Our only hurdle was the TRA, but OH did the Aus qualification first to ensure this was ok. The AQF III cost us £2k so I suppose, in a way, we used our money for that instead of the agent.

 

I had no probs completing the paperwork - it was relatively simple, just lots of it!!!!

 

Good luck on whatever you decide

Mandy

[Guest mightyBouch]

Interesting replies!!

There seems to be good reasons for getting one on board.

I am going to look more into my qualifications and to what level I can get them assessed to, I think this is the key.

If I can get a nominated occupation that will give me 60 points then all is well and good.

 

Thanks all for your comments.

 

Mike

[Guest lynne]

Agents can be useful if you have a complicated skills assessment. Also they can point you inthe right direction to get extra points for the visa you want.

 

Agents are there to check the information you give them on the application forms. To make sure the forms are filled in correctly, using the right terminology and to forward the forms on. Some peope have not got the organsation or time to complete the application themselves. Than an agent would be good for you.

 

We made our own application.

 

All the information for applying for your visa, requesting the forms, how to complete them are all on the immigration website. This is the same website the agents use.

 

If immigration request additional information than the agent will pass on this message to you.

 

In our case immigration requested additional reports for our son with ASD. (If we had an agent they would of demanded this extra report) But this report was only duplicating the information that had already been sent. We sent our case officer an email explaining our concerns and this email was passed onto the doctor who was reviewing our sons medical. This resulted in our son passing his medical and our family granted with a permanent visa.

 

Our case was not an easy case we had an elderly dependent and a special needs child. But following the application process and knowing how the medical conditions affected both the elderly dependent and our sons special needs meant we were about to put a strong case forward.