hi guys, any help would be appreciated. We are Brits looking to emigrate asap, but have not been having much luck with getting help. Everyone wants cash up front and we have no idea if this is the way to go. Also anyone living in Brisbane if you could let us know of any dodgy areas. Please guys we need all the help we can get from Smith Family, Bristol uk. :rosetints: :new:

hi surferdude, welcome to the forum :welcomesign:

agents are expensive, but worth it if you have a complicated application.
you can do it yourself however,

start by looking here;

http://www.immi.gov.au/

click onto visas and immigration, then click onto workers.

this will take you to the various options open to you, depending on your occupation.

depending on your occupation, you usually start with the professionals and other skilled migrants section. have a aread through that section to give you an idea of what you need to do - make sure you dont skip any sections though, as it could make the difference between getting your visa or not!

if you want to share a bit of info about yourselves, there may be someone on the forum who has had to go a similar route to you and may be able to offer advice/help/info?

we are a very friendly bunch, and we will help all we can if we can!!

sue :D

Hello Surferdude and :welcomesign:,

TWT is right, if you think you are going to have a complicated TRA assessment, an agent is worth there weight in gold. Ours was complicated due to my wife working a large part of her time as self employed.

If you think you might need an agent, the best advice is to phone round about 6 or 7 of them, many of them offer a free initial online assessment and chat to discuss your case.

If you have a relatively easy employment history i.e worked with only a few employers, and can get references from them all, then doing it yourself would certainly save you money. I think you can also do it online now.

Hope this helps

Bobby

No offence to Bobby, but its still doable, even if you are self employed etc, without an agent.

You need to read the web site TWT gave you, read it again, at least 10 times, then come back and ask specific questions about the process. This needs to be done and delt with long before you even begin to think of areas to live etc. Its a VERY long drawn out process that separates the men from the boys :hide: :)

None taken, but yes it is very doable to do it on your own, but everyone is different. We started to do it on our own, and I found it relatively easy, but I have a wife that will worry that the grass is not growing fast enough. After about two months asking her to get this and that arranged, ask for references etc, her losing sleep, getting stressed, her starting to smoke again, and all because she thought we were doing it all wrong.

With divorce proceedings on the horizon we decided to go with an agent, our agent called my wife and was on the phone for at least two hours, reasuring her that everything was fine. We had no forms to fill in, and just sent all our documentation to them and they prepared everything.

TRA approved in three weeks, visa application now acknowledged and I have my wife back again, not the jibbering wreck that I did have while trying to do it ourselves.

If I were to compare the agent costs with what it would have cost me for a lawyer during the divorce proceedings, then for our point of view it was money well spent.

Bobby

:rolleyes: Hi my advice, get an agent, the immi gov site will give you a list in your area but most of them work via e-mail and phone anyway.

Mine was great, based here in London he came to the house a few times, pushed us really hard which is what we needed cos it;s a hard slog getting all the info together. The agent wanted £450 up front then when we got the tra approval, the balance when we appliced for the visa.

To be honest the agent just tells you what to do, and chucks stuff back that he thinks is not good enough, but it all saves time.
Talking to others his rate was quite good and he is a Kiwi.

We are going to Carindale in Brisbane cos our in-laws are there, we've been there twice and love it.

good luck

sous