hello everyone, please help any advice appriciated

[Guest stephen_157]

:err:hi there just new to the site. Me my wife, three kids and the dog are looking to migrate to SA but are unsure who to go to to start the process can anyone recommend an agent they have used or know of. I am a vehicle spraypainter and my wife is a mental health nurse. We have been researching for months now and are due to go to down under live in birmingham in feb,but are baffled to the amount of visas that can be applied for and wich would be best for us, any advise anyone could give would be greatly appriciated thanks in advance.

 

from The Littles "soon to be downunder"

[Guest The Broadheads]

Hi there and Welcome to PIA!

 

I know from experience that the whole "which visa?" scenario is confusing and daunting.

 

We used Michael Breen from Destination Oz, he is based in London, but don`t worry he does everything over the phone, by e-mail or by post. I can HIGHLY recommend him, he was first class for us and as an added bonus he won`t take your case on unless he's 100% sure he can get you the visa!

He walked us through the Trades Recognition process and then helped us to complete the immigration application too, and his prices were reasonable, although that was a while back now!

Really I cannot speak highly enough of him and his services, my advice is give him a ring and talk to him - you have nothing to lose, but the cost of a phone call!

 

Good luck with it all,

 

Rich

[Guest stephen_157]

Hi there and Welcome to PIA!

 

I know from experience that the whole "which visa?" scenario is confusing and daunting.

 

 

 

thanks for your reply, will give him a call.

[Guest johnny.w]

Probably skilled 176 visa. You will have to decide who is the main applicant. Your wife is best bet i think as i dont know if your trade is on wanted list.

Your skills are assesed and ithink she would have to do an English test (ielts) .

I am 9 months down the line and are are using getgoing agency susan johnson.

If you call them she will tell you meet the criteria.

Be prepared its not cheap and my trade asses and test (electrician) cost about £1300 alone.

Still the way i see it is if you dont try you will never know.

 

Hope this helps , p.s i'm a glasgow man (townhead) originally.

[Guest fatman]

Hello there!!

Best advice we cld give you is a good agent, there are MOUNTAINS OF PAPERWORK involved which can easily be filled in wrong, and the paperwork needs to be correct. (ours is THINKING AUSTRALIA), we were quoted approx £1,800 for Agent work, then all the other bits and pieces totals approx £5,000 by the time you are on last stages... This is on a 176 VISA which includes STATE SPONSORSHIP. The 176 VISA gives you permanent residency (also includes Medicare) (Oz NHS). We think this is important as you wouldn't want to paying our private Medical cover, education costs etc...

For us personally State Sponsorship was the best choice as we didn't want to be tied to one Employer who wld hold your Visa, plus keeping you tied to a certain area.

Moving to Adelaide through a Job would be the quickest road for sure, but needs considering with the Visa situation....We did loads and loads of research, you should try and get as much info as poss... a good book with lots of great info is THE MIGRANTS GUIDE TO EMIGRATING AND SETTLING IN AUSTRALIA 3rd EDITION (you can order this on www.pomsdownunder.com). think its approx £14 or so), but full of useful info..

By the way we are Graham, Janis & Sophie Price from Aberdeenshire. We hold our State Sponsorship just now and are waiting to be appointed a Case Officer, which will request our Medicals (held in Edinburgh!), then HOPEFULLY all being well should have our Visa by this summer!?

My husband Graham is a Builder, his trade is on the State Migration Plan, so finding work shouldn't be a problem we are told...I don't have any plans to work (so far!) our daughter is 12 and will probably repeat P7 to get her settled into the Australian school system a wee bit easier.

Hope this info has been of some help to you?.. If you want to contact us personally, you can reach us on bungee.price@btinternet.com

Have a good week,

Janis Price

If you go on the South Australian Website MAKE THE MOVE it will give you all the info you should need concerning State Sponsorship.

[jim&nik]

Hi Mate

We used the Visa Bureau (Our advisor was Joseph Tindle a real nice bloke). They were very good, Does cost a fair bit but there are mountains of paper work to be filled in and sent away. Visa Bureau check it before sending and we had no returns, take you through stage by stage and gave us the best advice (when the visa 175 we were on was put on hold they advised us to change to a 176 which kept us going forward). Now have 176 visa waiting to sell the house then were off.

Best of luck which evry way you choose to go.

[Diane]

Most agents will give a free initial consultation - ring up a few and see which gives you the best 'feeling' and of course, check prices as these seem to vary a lot!

[Guest stephen_157]

Thanks everyone for the info, just got my laptop back it was in for repair but these will certainly give me a bit to get on with

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Visa Bureau - Global visa and immigration services

 

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Visa, Tax and Financial Planning for Australia

 

Welcome to Austimmigration | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd.

 

Three guys that do get mentioned alot...

 

hope this helps mate....

 

 

HG

[xzibit]

Do you meet the points for the 175 skilled visa? You may want to speak to an agent to find out what will be best for you but go careful they don't always give the correct advice.

 

I asked an agent about what visa I should apply for, and they told me to go for the 475 instead of the 176 which made no sense as the 475 is a temp visa. So I did it myself and went for the 176. It was one of the agents mentioned above too!!

 

It's easy to do it yourself, and the only paperwork there is you'll have to fill out anyway as only you know the answers. Agents are good for complicated situations, but yours sounds straight forward, don't waste the money. Agents are not needed for most applications and 90% of people don't use them, as the extra £2500 odd they charge can be used elsewhere.

 

Just do some research on the http://www.immi.gov.au website as everything you need is on there. Download the booklets on there for the visas you want to apply for. It's extremely easy to do it yourself and far cheaper.

 

Good luck with your application.

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

To add my bit we did all ours ourselves that involved solicitors as 3 kids were from previous marriage....( i had to get PR to bring them here and i also had a little boy that i had not seen seen for over 4 years...( breaks my heart )

 

It can be done on your own we used this site and another one for help, advice and some guidance....awesome the internet.

 

 

HG

[Guest Cornish Pasties]

Hi,

 

We are using John Adams at Immigration2Oz who I am sure will be at the B'ham seminar in Feb. He is extremely knowledgeable and will advise which visa is best for you. Certainly worth joining the queue when you get there...

Best of luck

[Guest guest7049]

I'd say do it yourself unless there's complications, my missus it a mental health nurse too, for us the process is basically she gets a positive skills assesment from the ANMC, apply for state sponsorship, hopefully be succesful at that, then lodge a 176 visa.

 

If you search this forum and poms in OZ regarding nursing you find loads of info and loads of people willing to pass on there knowledge.

 

Also have a look at:

 

State sponsorship requirements: South Australia

 

Migration Skills Assessment | Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council

 

AHPRA - Registration

 

Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 176)

[Guest dean berridge]

Hi Stephen

 

I too am in the same position as yourself and through advise given already through this site has helped to settle my mind about doing the visa process myself. Unfortunately we have come in at an awkward time if you,like myself need a trade skill assessment(practical) as at the moment it's looking like August before I can have it. Which means might not be eligible even if I pass. One member has helped regarding the new points system and initial calculation suggests I wil still be eligible. If anybody knows if their is a practical for Building associate or construction Project manager I would be appreciative. I've emailed vetassess and am waiting a reply, bit reluctant at present to phone as if anything like our companies it will cost a fortune if put on hold."Thank you for your custome means a great deal to us , our staff are all busy at the moment....blah, blah, blah.". i've looked at their website but but my eyes glazed over trying to locate if a practical is required. I am hoping if their is it will be sooner than the bricklaying course date. Like I say it is a bit daunting but with help from the forum I am sure we can muddle through it, on our own. One agent has stated that they charge 740 quid + vat for the assistance on the skill test application, and stated that if I "want to take the risk" to send in the my application with the first stage of the vetassess done and then send in the practical test result after, then they will assist!! Filled me full of confidence.

 

Regards

 

Dean

[Guest dean berridge]

Hi all

 

Really don't want to sound dense, but the vetassess ask for 600 dollars this to be paid either by card or banker cheque. How does it work do you issue the visa number to them and they convert it to dollars from sterling? Or did you get the bank to issue a banker cheque with them doing the convertion?

 

Thanks

 

Dean

[xzibit]

Hi all

 

Really don't want to sound dense, but the vetassess ask for 600 dollars this to be paid either by card or banker cheque. How does it work do you issue the visa number to them and they convert it to dollars from sterling? Or did you get the bank to issue a banker cheque with them doing the convertion?

 

Thanks

 

Dean

 

If you pay by visa then it's converted at the interbank rate at the time of purchase by visa. So it'll appear on your statement as something like $600 at 1.62 plus £2.50 conversion fee equals £372.87.

 

Probably the easiest way to do it.

[Guest dean berridge]

Leigh,

 

I knew i could count on you.

 

Cheers

 

Dean

[Willber]

Ian Harrop are great! Good luck.

 

Cheers

Ali

 

:err:hi there just new to the site. Me my wife, three kids and the dog are looking to migrate to SA but are unsure who to go to to start the process can anyone recommend an agent they have used or know of. I am a vehicle spraypainter and my wife is a mental health nurse. We have been researching for months now and are due to go to down under live in birmingham in feb,but are baffled to the amount of visas that can be applied for and wich would be best for us, any advise anyone could give would be greatly appriciated thanks in advance.

 

from The Littles "soon to be downunder"

[JimandBarbinAus]

Hi Steve & Family,

 

My wife and I have just been granted our SA state sponsored visa and we found Darren and Deanne Chatt an invaluable resource. They are based in Edinburgh and their organisation "Visa-Go immigration Ltd" have been spot on from day one.

 

Hope this helps

 

Regards

 

Stuart and Laura

[Diane]

Another book that makes great reading and is full of lighthearted but invaluable hints and tips about emigrating is The Same Difference, which Mandy from Home2Home recently published. I think if you go to the website Welcome to the NEW Home2Home website there is a link there to order it.

[Guest heth]

:err:hi there just new to the site. Me my wife, three kids and the dog are looking to migrate to SA but are unsure who to go to to start the process can anyone recommend an agent they have used or know of. I am a vehicle spraypainter and my wife is a mental health nurse. We have been researching for months now and are due to go to down under live in birmingham in feb,but are baffled to the amount of visas that can be applied for and wich would be best for us, any advise anyone could give would be greatly appriciated thanks in advance.

 

from The Littles "soon to be downunder"

 

Hi, We came over four years ago on a permanent residency visa. It takes a bit longer to get but it saves a lot of hassle having to apply again once the 12 month one runs out and you know that you are here for good. We are both mental health nurses. There's loads of work here for your wife. If you come over on a permanent visa she can work where she wants to and not having to be sponsored is a blessing. Ending up working in a place you don't like can be hell and spoil all the adventure of being here. It is easier to have a migration consultant but you still end up collecting all the info for them.

 

Best of luck

Heth