agent

[chriselliott]

just about to start the process has anybody heard about or used global visas.

[AngiW]

Hi there!

I don't actually have experience of using global visas personally - we're using an agent and are at the skills assessment stage. However, there has been some bad press coverage recently about global visas. I only know this because a relative showed me the press cuttings about two months ago when we were choosing an agent although on reviewing prices etc we had already decided not to go with them.

Just please be careful - get quotes and talk to at least 3 or 4 agents before committing and if I were you I'd steer well clear of global visas. Try googling them and use the search engine on this forum to see if anyone has made any comments about them.

Whatever agent you go with make sure they are mara/mia registered as this means they are at least governed by a professional body and you have some protection against unscrupulous practices.

I hope this was of help - we recently went through this but it is worth shopping around to find the agent that is right for you. If I remember correctly, the article was in the Daily Mirror.

Good luck and sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

Angela

[Dolly]

Do a search on the forum as they've been discussed before.

Whoever you use, always make sure they are MIA/MARA registered.

Dollyu

[chriselliott]

Originally Posted by AngiW

Hi there!

I don't actually have experience of using global visas personally - we're using an agent and are at the skills assessment stage. However, there has been some bad press coverage recently about global visas. I only know this because a relative showed me the press cuttings about two months ago when we were choosing an agent although on reviewing prices etc we had already decided not to go with them.

Just please be careful - get quotes and talk to at least 3 or 4 agents before committing and if I were you I'd steer well clear of global visas. Try googling them and use the search engine on this forum to see if anyone has made any comments about them.

Whatever agent you go with make sure they are mara/mia registered as this means they are at least governed by a professional body and you have some protection against unscrupulous practices.

I hope this was of help - we recently went through this but it is worth shopping around to find the agent that is right for you. If I remember correctly, the article was in the Daily Mirror.

Good luck and sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

Angela

have checked a coupleof other agents and and each one recomends a different visa, although this was a few months ago and i believe the laws have changed again. who are you using

[AngiW]

Originally Posted by chriselliott

have checked a coupleof other agents and and each one recomends a different visa, although this was a few months ago and i believe the laws have changed again. who are you using

Hi!
We decided to go with Getgoing.co.uk in the end. Our agent's name is Sue Johnson. She wasn't the cheapest but there were others who were aLOT more expensive and she seems to be quite knowledgable. I'm not advertising or anything - she was the one we felt most comfortable with. As I said before we started with a list of about 12 agents who were mia/mara registered and tried to contact them all. Of those that got back to us, (not as many as you'd think) we narrowed it down to 2 or 3 and went with the one we felt we could communicate with best. Although we live in Northern Ireland we felt that we wanted an agent in the uk or ireland so that we could contact them more easily, but I'm sure there are plenty of Australian based agents you could try if location isn't a priority.

Our situation isn't totally straight forward - my occupation's not on any list (primary teacher) and my husband couldn't get enough points for a Skilled independent visa so we're going for state sponsorship.... it seems to be the only way ahead for us. What's your situation if you don't mind me asking? It can be a confusing process which is why we went with an agent but we found that most agents we spoke to at least agreed that state sponsorship was the way for us to go! Although one did suggest family sponsorship even though we don't have family in Australia!

I hope that this has been of help to you.. We're only at the beginning of the process so i can't vouch for our agent's ability to help us succeed in our visa application but she's been reasonable so far and is always good about replying to emails and we've always been able to contact her by phone which is reassuring.

All the best and good luck. Contact me again if you think i can be of help.

Ang

[chriselliott]

my trade is on the skilled list but don't quite have enough points for independent visa so would have to go down the state sponsored route like yourselves, but my partner does have a sister who emmigrated a year ago so i believe we could also get the family sponsored visa.Ive had a reply from grist international and waiting to here from go matilda who we did contact a while ago, but probably think by now we're not that serious as we took so long to make our minds up.

[matjones]

Originally Posted by chriselliott

my trade is on the skilled list but don't quite have enough points for independent visa so would have to go down the state sponsored route like yourselves, but my partner does have a sister who emmigrated a year ago so i believe we could also get the family sponsored visa.Ive had a reply from grist international and waiting to here from go matilda who we did contact a while ago, but probably think by now we're not that serious as we took so long to make our minds up.

If you go the State Sponsored route, and your occupation is on the forthcoming State Migration Plan for that state, then you will be in Priority 2, otherwise with just family sponsor you will be in priority 3. So, for faster application you should choose State Sponsorship if possible.

[Alan Collett]

Originally Posted by chriselliott

my trade is on the skilled list but don't quite have enough points for independent visa so would have to go down the state sponsored route like yourselves, but my partner does have a sister who emmigrated a year ago so i believe we could also get the family sponsored visa.Ive had a reply from grist international and waiting to here from go matilda who we did contact a while ago, but probably think by now we're not that serious as we took so long to make our minds up.

If you haven't had a response from Go Matilda by now please send me a PM and I'll arrange for a consultant to contact you again soonest.

Best regards.

[chriselliott]

Originally Posted by matjones

If you go the State Sponsored route, and your occupation is on the forthcoming State Migration Plan for that state, then you will be in Priority 2, otherwise with just family sponsor you will be in priority 3. So, for faster application you should choose State Sponsorship if possible.

sister in law lives in queensland and i'm not sure if they're sponsoring metal trades at the moment and don't think we would want to go anywhere else, and really can't afford spending a fortune to find out we won't be able.If we have no option but to go down the family sponsored route do you have to have a certain amount of funds behind yo.

[AngiW]

Originally Posted by chriselliott

sister in law lives in queensland and i'm not sure if they're sponsoring metal trades at the moment and don't think we would want to go anywhere else, and really can't afford spending a fortune to find out we won't be able.If we have no option but to go down the family sponsored route do you have to have a certain amount of funds behind yo.

Hi!
We also applied to Go mathilda but no reply. I'm not sure about the family sponsorship route but the impression i got is that its not the easiest way ? An agent should clarify. I realy hope you get sorted. I feel very nervous about the whole thing. Its a big step. The only thing is one of our friends is a travel agent. He's such a realist - with 24 hours notice he can get us all home. ) Good luck! BTW I posted the wrong address b4 for our agent - its: get-going.co.uk Again I urge you to contact many different agents and choose the one that feels right. Good luck and I hope you find someone who can help you! Keep me posted cos ur pretty much at the same stage as us.
Ang