New member - all help and advice welcome!

[mawsnmorgs]

Hi there,

Made up to find this forum - it looks like there are a lot of you out there whose advice we would really welcome!

We are just about to embark on the Vetassess skills assessment. Do we need an agent? We have been to a couple of expos - at the first we were told we'd have no problem doing it ourselves, as the last one we were told that as we would be applying for a state sponsored visa - my partner is a self employed joiner, we'd struggle to get it right on our own and so should take on an agent. It was an agency stand we were at, by the way!! Were they scare mongering to get us to pay them lots of pennies, or were we given good advice? They were telling us that you have to pay for a new assessment each time if you don't get the information quite right....

Also, we've just been looking at Mawson Lakes with a view to moving there. We have 2 daughters, aged 6 and 2. Good destination?

Any handy tips/good advice on how to get the ball rolling very welcome!

Kind regards to all,

Rachael:confused:

[Willber]

Hi, we recently got our visa, we applied for a skilled state sponsorship. As we are both busy with 2 young children also (6 & 2) and in full time employment and the fact that we didn't know what to expect from the application process, we decided to go with a recommended agent. All I can say is MONEY WELL SPENT, there was no hassle on our part and the agent did all of the work, all we had to do was provide relevant documentation on request. We got our visa in just 5 months! It may well be a myth, but we've been advised that the immigration office process applications quicker when they come of well known efficient agents. It's entirely up to you really, I can't comment on the difficulties of doing it yourself as we didn't, but using an agent worked out well for us. Hope that helps

[mawsnmorgs]

Thanks so much for that! Which agent did you use? How long did the process take from start to end, then?

[Guest Guest75]

Hi Rachael

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Lots and lots of help and advise and info in here.

 

With using an agent or not - some of it is up to you I feel.

If it gives you confidence and peace of mind it's worth it.

 

I'd seriously have a good look around most suburbs in Adelaide,I don't want to confuse you you,just makeing sure you keep your options open.

 

Good luck on your journey here:)

[Willber]

No problem. We used Ian Harrop and Associates http://www.ianharrop.co.uk/ and we know of several others who used them and were pleased also. We first contacted Ian Harrop's in March and got our visa in September

[Guest Guest75]

No problem. We used Ian Harrop and Associates http://www.ianharrop.co.uk/ and we know of several others who used them and were pleased also. We first contacted Ian Harrop's in March and got our visa in September

 

Ian Harrop does get quite a mention in all forums and seems a popular choice.

 

One firm that does not seem to get a mention in here is GLC Migration run by George Lombard.I've known of him for years and he always comes across as a genuine and caring bloke,he is famous for taking on the more difficult applications.

Swapped a few emails with him - seems decent.Here is his site.........

 

http://www.austimmigration.com.au/site/

[mawsnmorgs]

We're so grateful for your quick reply and even more so for the referral - you hear the stories about agents charging huge fees and doing very little to earn them! We'll be contacting Ian Harrop on Monday!

 

Feel free to share any other tips and advice you have!

 

When do you expect to move, then? You must be so excited/nervous about it all!

 

Thanks again,

 

Rachael

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

Hi Rachael

 

Welcome to the site you will get some great advice on here.

 

Andy & Stacey

[Guest fuji70]

Hiya

 

I used True Blue. They do immigration and visa advice for Australia and New Zealand magazine. Fantastic service, with the agent even emailing me at the weekends from her Blackberry to update me. Also, they provide a money back guarantee if you don't get your visa (minus the Aus govt costs which you don't get back irrespective)

 

I used an agent because I've a varied employment history and I've worked overseas a fair bit and I didn't want to make costly (in time and money) mistakes.

 

Good luck!

[Guest guest3462]

Hi Rachel, welcome to PIA!

We didn't use an agent and ploughed through all of the paperwork ourselves. It was difficult to understand some of it and it took ages to fill it all in and send off, but well, here we are! We've been in Adalaide 10 months now and loving every minute! I'm from Barnsley too by the way!!!

Fingers crossed for a smooth journey to oz!

Julia x

[Willber]

Hi, we're planning on moving in August 2010. The house went on the market last week, so hopefully it will sell! There is so much to consider, the list is endless, I think we'll need 9 or 10 months to get it all organised!

If you have any further questions feel free to ask, it's such a daunting prospect you need as much help and advice as you can get!

Good luck with your application and we'll try and keep in touch along the way!

[Guest steph&neil]

Hi we are all a friendly bunch!!! good luck with the mountains of paperwork ahead! as for looking at areas you think you want to live in - we did the same thought we would want to live further away to get more for our money, but in reality until you are here & know where you will be working it is very hard to know where is good/bad until you see for yourself, renting is a good way to try before you buy!

Just fire the q's & someone here will be able to help you, welcome & good luck!

[jo_marnes]

Hiya,

 

We were actually told by a couple of agents that we didn't have enough points to get here and there was no way of doing it. Each time I spoke to them I felt like I was giving them info they themselves didn't know!! Not impressed at all. We saved our money and did it ourselves. No it wasn't straightforward, but it never is. We are on a state sponsored (the 475) and needed to get skills assesments, state sponsorship, IELTS and custody paperwork done. We did it all - the info is all on the immigration website so long as you look long and hard enough! And now here we are! Been here 7 mths now and we are loving it. I have no idea on the Mawson Lakes area so can't help there but sure there are people on here who know it.

 

Good luck with it all - it's a long journey but we think it's worth it!

[The Flinns]

Hiya,

 

We were actually told by a couple of agents that we didn't have enough points to get here and there was no way of doing it. Each time I spoke to them I felt like I was giving them info they themselves didn't know!! Not impressed at all. We saved our money and did it ourselves. No it wasn't straightforward, but it never is. We are on a state sponsored (the 475) and needed to get skills assesments, state sponsorship, IELTS and custody paperwork done. We did it all - the info is all on the immigration website so long as you look long and hard enough! And now here we are! Been here 7 mths now and we are loving it. I have no idea on the Mawson Lakes area so can't help there but sure there are people on here who know it.

 

Good luck with it all - it's a long journey but we think it's worth it!

 

We too were told by one agent (who does post on here) that we wouldn't have enough points. Luckily I took no notice and we did it ourselves. We are now living happily ever after in Hallett Cove. Good luck with your application.

 

Howard.

[jim and adel]

 

...at the first we were told we'd have no problem doing it ourselves, as the last one we were told that as we would be applying for a state sponsored visa - my partner is a self employed joiner, we'd struggle to get it right on our own and so should take on an agent... They were telling us that you have to pay for a new assessment each time if you don't get the information quite right....

 

 

 

Hi, we didn't use an agent and never really saw the need to. Spending a large amount of money on an agent when all the documentation and guidance needed for an application is available online just wasn't something we were willing to do - especially after we spoke to a few agents when we first considered making the move and got very different (but equally incorrect!) info from each.

 

Had our application been an awkward one we might have considered using an agent, but although the forms and visa categories are difficult to understand at first, doing it ourselves meant we soon knew exactly what the conditions of each visa were (I'm always amazed when people don't know what the entitlements and obligations of their visa are, given that they're moving to the other side of the world).

 

I've cut out some of your words when quoting you, but to be clear, if the agent was telling you that you'll need an agent because you're going for state sponsorship (which I'd suggest is one of the easier parts of the process), how does this relate to having to pay for new assessments if you don't get it right? You need to have a positive assessment before you apply for your visa regardless of whether you're going for SS or not.

 

Good luck whatever you choose.

 

Jim

[Guest smiles36]

IAN HARROP

 

hi we also can recomend ian harrop and ass. they were excellent outstanding. if i had to pay for them again i would without hessitation, ok it cost just over £5000 but that was for everything (aqf £1600, £1000 for health and blood cheques, about £100 for police checks) from start to finish they are very affitiant. we started the prosses on feb 27th 09 and visa was granted on 5th aug 09 (just over 6 mounths) which i think is amazing. and we will be touching down on 27th of december. we are state sponserd and have a 175 perminant visa, we were on the critical skills list but then tacken of so that didnt help

 

all in all i would go with an agent he was recomended to me i recomended him to 2 of my friends and they are going through the prosses now

 

NO HASSLE AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest JayBone]

We are using an agent purely for peace of mind and somebody to contact whenever we need. They have kept us up to date at every opportunity and the relationship is almost that of a friend now. They even phoned us up to congratulate us on our wedding. We are using OE visas, they are doing everything for us for a fee of £1840 which i think is money well spent. If we hadnt just been dumped to priority 5 we would have our visa now!

 

We started the process on 8th April, got a case officer on 13th August, we had to do skills assessments, state sponsorship and the hardest part, getting police clearance from all the countries ive worked in over the last 10 years! etc etc, we are now just waiting for the visa!

[elainew]

My husband and I are both nurses we didn't use an agent. We didn't find the paperwork a problem .

Arrived here six months after applying. Now been here just over six years and loving it.

 

It's really what you are comfortable with.

[Diane]

Mawson Lakes is also a really nice place to live - loads going on there all the time, plenty of work around, excellent transport, easy reach of the City, the Beaches and the Barossa Wine Region. It's a pretty modern area so the plot sizes aren't that large, but I regularly see houses selling there for more than $1million so it's an area where there's no shortage of money! There's a nice little "village centre" there with shops and cafes too.

[Guest nishman]

We used an agent and to be honest, if we had to do it again would probably do it ourselves (we filled out most of the things ourselves anyway, with "guidance" from the agent). At the time though, it was one less thing to worry about, so I suppose it was worth it for that peace of mind.

When we applied, from memory the state sponsorship was a one page form, and fairly straight forward (it might not be now of course) - the skills assessment was the most ohnerous (proving history and skills etc) and as your OH is self employed, it may pay to get someone onboard for that if nothing else.

Mawson Lakes is a nice new development, and well placed/serviced. It was just starting when we were living up that way - I didn't recognise it when I drove past earlier this month!

Good luck!

[mawsnmorgs]

Thanks SMILES36 for the info on Ian Harrop. The more we've found out about them the more we're sure that having an agent is the right decision for us and that Ian Harrop is 'the way forward'!

 

Good luck with your move. You'll be there to see the new year in - we're so jealous!