[SakulGupta]

Hi Respected Members,

I have seen a lot of threads and the impression that I have got is that is a forum of very knowledgeable persons.

I am going to apply for Australian Skilled Immigration from India.

I am in a dilemma for whether I should hire a consultant for my immigration process or I can easily do it at my own.

There are then different types of consultants which charge from a mediocre amount with not so popular name to High Profile Consultants which charge heavily. Not sure what are the differences if we apply from high profile consultants or small consultants?

My Profile:
I have 12 yrs of experience in Software Industry and last 10 yrs in the same company in India. I have MCA degree. I have 1.3 years to turn to 40.

Respected Members, Can you please suggest what is the best way moving forward so that I dont spend extra amount and also I dont risk my PR process ?

Waiting for your expert comments.

 

[Smarffy]

Depends. If you can invest time then why not do it by yourself. Honestly in the end it will be only you who will be doing everything. So why waste money. All the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[vincyf1]

Its better to do it yourself.

You will learn a lot of processes which will also help you when you move to Australia because you will be applying for Health care benefits, etc.

You will also end up saving money as well.

 

[SakulGupta]

Thanks a lot experts.

I will be starting my process now within a day or two.

 

[ravi.nidadavolu]

As an additional help, please go through the threads by nicemathan, newbienz, etc as they have provided lots of information (sorry guys those were the two names I got which had detailed posts which are near relevant to most of the stuff. No offense to other members).

Also there are quite a few senior members who would definitely help with the queries.

All the best mate!!

 

[salman18q]

Please don't waste you money on consultancy. I managed to get through the entire process witht he help of my mates and this forum.

Nothing is rocket science in this process, all you need is persistence and pateince.

This forum has answer to any question an applicant may have.

Start the process with getting your qualification and work expereince assessed followed by submitting EOI.

 

[kaju]

Start with the stickies.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/au...-australia-what-you-need-know-read-first.html

 

[sha63199]

Hi Respected Members,

I have seen a lot of threads and the impression that I have got is that is a forum of very knowledgeable persons.

I am going to apply for Australian Skilled Immigration from India.

I am in a dilemma for whether I should hire a consultant for my immigration process or I can easily do it at my own.

There are then different types of consultants which charge from a mediocre amount with not so popular name to High Profile Consultants which charge heavily. Not sure what are the differences if we apply from high profile consultants or small consultants?

My Profile:
I have 12 yrs of experience in Software Industry and last 10 yrs in the same company in India. I have MCA degree. I have 1.3 years to turn to 40.

Respected Members, Can you please suggest what is the best way moving forward so that I dont spend extra amount and also I dont risk my PR process ?

Waiting for your expert comments.

Dear Sakul

I was also wondering about the same question but my situation is somewhat different from yours and that's why I think I could help you.

I kicked off my process with the help of a renowned MARA agent and it was pathetic because firstly he was MARA and secondly he was popular. He was sitting in Australia and for my each question I had wait for 7 working days for a reply (as per the contract). Quite often, there wouldn't be any reply or only a single question was answered out of my bunch of questions. Further, as per the Contract, I contacted the local office but all I got was vague and misleading information from there, which eventually wasted more than one month of mine. When I complained this to my agent, he rudely told me to communicate with him only. So I was back to the square one.

I had paid half of the fee so it was advisable to keep patience. As all my documents submitted to him, I was following up by requesting, urging and insisting him to proceed(for that moment I was feeling that he was paying me). After burning the midnight oil, my skill assessment was lodged and finally, positive outcome was there. But there was more, my degree date of completion was mentioned incorrectly as the date of reward and that with three months earlier date. Again he didn't reply this query. Further, I kept asking him to lodge my EOI, but there was no response coming from him. When I followed up with the local office, I got a harsh email from his side and I was barred from contacting the local office.
FInally, I said bye to him in the mid and lodged my EOI myself, thanks to Expat Forum. As I said, I have got the same doubt of consulting an agent after the invite, but, at the same time, I hope my experience would be helpful to you to decide.

 

[Sub#]

Its better to do on own, instead of agent. I did it myself with help of expatforum.
But when you do the process on your own, please note that you need to spend lot of time in understanding the process/nitty gritty's.
Forum members can help, but you will have to put efforts/time to get through.

 

[SakulGupta]

Thanks a lot all..

Thanks a lot to all very informative and co-operative members for the information provided...

I have applied for the ACS now...

 

[FFacs]

To provide another view:

I used a consultant. My rationale: I didn't have time to get anything wrong, I'm over 40 and, for my feeling, only really had one shot at this. As it turned out I was 100% right. Had I taken a few more months, I would have missed an invite by NSW. My 189 never got invited and will likely have expired in September 2018. My (UK based) agent was realistic, replied quickly, gave very clear direction and provided valuable advice. I'm not the simplest case, true, I have a multi-national family, run my own business, etc. Had I not used the agent it would have taken me an extra 3 or 4 months and, frankly, I wouldn't now be migrating.

What is true is that they can't write the documents for you. But mine helped me by filling the forms and providing them for authorisation. They helped me prioritise activities (e.g. they told me to QUICKLY request uni letters as it was approaching graduation and then summer, meaning long turn-arounds... something that didn't occur to me).

They also provided me with a sparring partner, advice, and realistic estimates. All in all, well worth the money. I spent about AUD3K on them. They remain in contact to provide any advice on my next steps (within reasons, of course). I feel like they wish me and my family well, having chatted many times over photos of the kids, etc.

But here's the rub, you need to get a good consultant. If you don't, it's an absolute waste of money. And from what I've read here, India has a LOT of bad consultants. That's a chance I probably wouldn't take if I was based in South Asia. But, to weight against that I've seen some absolutely horror stories of mistakes on here. It's all too easy to take a wrong step and find yourself out of luck. You need to understand that not everyone makes it. There are a LOT of people who plough money into the process and get nothing back.

My biggest concern here is your age. I have the feeling that when you hit 40 you're going to find yourself with too few points. Am I right? If so, tread carefully, you might only have one shot at this.

All the best, and good luck.