advice re companies offering a helping hand for a fee??

[ezzy]

Hi there everyone!! How are you all??

Me and boyfriend Dave have recently returned to the UK after living in Tenerife for a year. Were now currently working full time but with the travelling bug still very much within us a move to Australia has been decided

It's still very early days but with no commitments and savings accruing I've been looking into packages where by you pay a fee and the company help you find work, introduce you to other people looking to settle or travel around Australia. They lay on accomodation for 7 nights and set you up with the usual bank account, working holiday visa, mail forwarding, luaggage holdings etc etc to get you started.

I'm a little sceptical but only because I'm wondering whether its necessary to join with such a company. The fee is around £700 sterling and although I see the advantages ands its a great way to getting ourselves started in Oz, I wondering whether we can do it ourselves.

Whats your opinions guys? The company is called realgap and i was wondering whether anyones had a helping hand and if so how did you get on?

Luckily for me and Dave we have no commitments other than rented accommodation and full jobs which are hardly that hard to sort out.

Although we won't be over until May 09 I think researching into our move is a must!!

Any help would be much appreciated !! bye for now, Ezzy xx

[kaz101]

Hi Ezzy,

Have you checked out what's involved in applying for the holiday working visa?

We used an agent to get us over here but that's because we were going for Permanent Residency and didn't want to stuff it up

You can set up a bank account on your own from the UK - if you search through the threads you'll find that some people have already done this.

The accommodation depends on where you are staying but again you can sort this out yourself if it's only for 7 days that they are laying it on for... Do you have to find a rental place in that week?

I haven't heard of real gap so I can't comment on them.

I think you are doing exactly the right thing by doing a lot of research! Where do you hope to go in Oz?

Regards,
Karen

[Dolly]

Hey Ezzy,

I've just done a quick google search on them and TBH it doesn't really look all that good (especially of you're looking at Thailand). They specialise in gap year/volunteer placements...wouldn't you be looking at something more permanent?

TBH I'd look into using an agent for help with getting your visa (especially the skills assessment bit) but you can do everything else yourself....it just means you surf the net to find what you want. You'd be better off saving your money.

Dolly