Agent

[Niknak19]

Hi Peeps

We're looking to move to Aus but aren't sure if we should do the process ourselves or use an agent??? Is it easy to do the whole process yourself? Any help would be gr8 .

Thanks Nik

Mr. Peeps is requested to kindly respond to this message ASAP

[Dolly]

The tricky bit can be the skills assessment. The main application is a doddle in comparison.

We used an agent because we wanted to make sure we'd crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's first time as time wasn't on our side. On saying that, taking away the time problem, we still would have used an agent because we felt it was too important to stuff up. It's not cheap though, but to us was worth every penny.

There's no reason at all why you can't do the whole thing yourself, you just have to do lots and lots of research (for the skills assessment) to make sure you're doing it all correctly.

Dolly

[Niknak19]

Thx Dolly

we have been looking a different companies, do u recommend a company that we should use? We were looking at Go Matilda!?!

Nikki

[Dolly]

They have a good reputation, although they didn't help us much I have to say.

We used George Lombard, he was fantastic.

Dolly

[anj1976]

i think about 70% people posting here do it on their own. i used an agent but when i joined the forum i had already paid for the agent services. Had i not paid, i think we would have managed it on our own.

it depends on how good you are at paperwork, and how straight forward your case is. Dolly, Kaz101 and a few others in the forum had to use an agent as age was not on their side. you can speak to a few agents and if you feel comfortable paying the kind of money they charge i'd say go for it

[piemonkey]

Hi all,

I am hoping emigrate to Australia in the next couple of years and was hoping for some indication of how much agents charge and also any other general costs you could let me know of. I need to get saving!
Thanks for your help in advance
Andy

[lifeisgood]

Dolly has rightly pointed out that Skills Assessment is a bit tricky otherwise the main application is a simple form which can be easily filled out.
If your occupation is in line with your educational qualifications and you can relate to it on the SOL list then there's no reason why you should have an agent.

[Niknak19]

Hi Andy,

We are using Get Going as our agent and the have been brilliant.
In total were abt £4800 but that's them taking care of everything from start to finish.
We started at the beginning of September 2011 and have been told that we should have our visas ( PR 175 skilled) by June this year.

Nikki

[piemonkey]

Thanks Nikki,
£4800 is a bit more than I was expecting but considering its around £2-3000 to transport a cat that's not too bad!