do we need to use an agency to move to oz?

[myermay]

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as I am an aussie and dd1 had aussie citizenship - it was only dh who needed a visa. We just applied for him and did all the paperwork etc ourselves. IT was a bit of a headache but much cheaper than paying an agency to do it for us. We had all the time we needed to get it done and travel as we were not on a strict time line.

We used an agent, but more because we had about 4 different visa we could apply for and wanted the quickest/easiest one that would give us a good chance of getting in (dh family here & he really wanted to be here too).

Have a look at \link{http://www.immi.gov.au/this} and it will tel you all you nee to know. tbh, we found it much less hassel to use an agent. We applied for former resident and we have tocollect info to prove dh used to live here before, that his family was here, that they kept in contact, had visited each other in the past, that he had flown back for holidays etc. Our agent gave us a list of what dimia expected from us. Then he managed to get all the evidence back as they will sometimes keep it. It's a very individual thing, well worth the money we thought.

this

myermay, we did a pre-assessment with an agency which cost £150 as it basically meant they waded through all the information/requirements and list the potential visas

With the help of this I found out I could not go for a spouse visa as DH is not an eligible NZ citizien, and I most defo didn't get enough points on skills visa. However, there is a Family member of NZ citizens visa which I can go for and it'll cost me only GBP80! Not that the agency told me that I found that out from the Australiatn Migration Bureau

As for doing it yourself... I'd say do the figures... cost of getting documents notarised etc. plus 'hazzle factor' for having to do the running around yourself. Saying that even if you use an agency you still have medical and CRB check on top anyhow

HTH

We got a load of documnets notorised for just GBP20. Shop around...many solicitors will charge x amount PER sheep to be signed. We (for we, read I) phoned several and they wanted between 5 - 10 per sheet. When you see how many you need done...that alone could potentaiil cost a bomb!

SC love the we (read I)... so true so true... if I didn't look into things we'll probably in the UK in 50 years!

We (again, read I!) am using the same agency that BIL used, he now lives in Australia.

Have only just decided this though, so not got our info through yet.

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there's a list of jobs somewhere ... I'll see if I can find it. When I looked on it a hairdresser had better chances of getting in than me (senior pa)

skills list HTH

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myermay, We used This One

He is called Darren & was very helpful. Rang him a number of times with stoopid questions! Very obliging. He is in London, so you don't have to worry about time zones when you call.

Also does free assesments too.

myermy no it doesn't mean that you don't stand a chance Just makes it harder. Had friends who found that having some money behind them in an Australian Bank account helped Money talks eh?

We started off using an agency that was recommended to DH by someone and found the guy we were dealing with totally useless TBH; he responded to our queries rather than being pro-active and telling us our options. Luckily DH is now being transferred with work so it's all irrelevant! If you work your way through the immigration website carefully yourself that should give you a pretty good idea of whether you are likely to get in. You need to satisfy the points test which you can work out quite easily. If you are over 40 (like us!) it's pretty impossible to get in unless your specific skills are on the list; if you are really young you have a better chance!

We have applyed by ourselves without an agent. It all depends on how simple your application is, if there are any initial complications then an agent can advise you along the way, but if you fit the criteria and you can fill in forms ok, then I'd save your cash and spend it when you get to Oz

for dh's documents etc that needed signing - he just found a notary public in the local area and it cost next to nothing.

Depends on your situation. If it's pretty straighforward, e.g. you are going for skilled migration and clearly have enough points, personally I wouldn't bother. If it's more complex it would probably be worth it but choose carefully. We're using an agent recommended by a colleague of DH and have found him pretty crap. Go through the info on the immigration website and see where you stand. BTW the skills list was updated last week.