# Are migration agents worth it?



## grant6607 (May 16, 2009)

Good Morning, 

I am looking to attain either a 175 of 176 visa as soon as possible. I submitted my ACS skills assessment already and it has been "In Process" since April 8th so hopefully not too much longer on that.

I had originally planned on a 175 visa application but after lots of research on this forum it appears it may be wise to apply for state sponsorship (NSW) and then switch to a 176.

As I go through the application and laundry list of things I need to attach I admit it is a bit daunting.

I'd like to hear your opinions on whether the cost of a migration agent is worth it? I am sure I could plug through it all myself but if an agent would really improve my chances it would be worth it. Do they really add value or just direct you to gather the documents i could otherwise derive from the immi website?

Also, if anyone had particularly good experiences I'd love to hear recommendations!

Thanks a bunch! 

-- Grant


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## EE-India (May 16, 2009)

grant6607 said:


> Good Morning,
> 
> I am looking to attain either a 175 of 176 visa as soon as possible. I submitted my ACS skills assessment already and it has been "In Process" since April 8th so hopefully not too much longer on that.
> 
> ...


Read my Exp below !!

I am a Visa 175 applicant from HR country , filed last year June-2008. Hopefully i am close to CO allocation as per latest discussion in BE forum. But i am not happy with my agent response , he is simply ignoring my emails and not getting my case status from DIAC. He says DIAC will call for medical when time comes. He is not even sending my recent documents to DIAC. I am surprised of this !! . At this point of time , is it advisable to terminate the agent and take the case myself. My concern is if i send form 956 , it may take at least 10 days to get approved from DIAC after that i need to forward all my documents , so totally almost for one month my case situation going to be ideal , either with my agent neither with me . 

Is it advisable to terminate the agent at this time or i have to beg him to do the needful. I am bit nervous because this is my 2 years dream and i put lot of money and efforts. BE forum members experience feedback is highly appreciated .


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## Neady29 (Jul 1, 2008)

We were successful in obtaining a skilled migration visa. My husband is a bricklayer which was on the skills shortage list at the time of application. We went with Destination Oz, agents who specialise in trade visas. I can honestly say it was worth every penny. Michael was very helpful & always available by phone/email. Whilst we had to put complete all the documents ourselves, Michael vetted each & every one. He gave practical advice on what to add, amend and delete. He also gave us copies of cvs etc as templates. I would definitely recommend them.


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## iaquil (Apr 2, 2009)

grant6607 said:


> Good Morning,
> 
> I am looking to attain either a 175 of 176 visa as soon as possible. I submitted my ACS skills assessment already and it has been "In Process" since April 8th so hopefully not too much longer on that.
> 
> ...



Hey!!

I am planning to apply for RPL.
I am just having problem in filling up the section 2&3 in RPL form where it ask for detail relation b/w COBK and my work exp. Can you please help me with your suggestion or send me few samples only for those sections

Thanks
iaquil


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## Amri (Mar 25, 2009)

Hi,

Let me give you my experience. Initially I tried Aussie around 6yrs ago through an Agent who was not at all organised or helpful. Hence, our investment on him went down the drain.

Thereafter in Nov 07 we met another Agent whom I interviewed thoroughly. Infact I was very open with him and told him of my previous experience. Hence, he knew where I was coming from. Infact, he gave me references where I could go and check and if happy I could use him. I got my PR grant during mid April 09 (mind you almost 18months - 176 category/Accountant). It has been a long stay but worth the while. My Agent was 100% confident from the start. He was very open and all the emails I dropped was responded either during the course of the day or the subsequent day (even it is on a sunday this guy responds).

Inshort, I think the mistake I made with the first guy was I should have interviewed and understood whether he has the capacity to understand my professional background and find avenues where he could push my case. The second guy went to the extent of communicating to relevant accounting bodies having contacts with them etc. Infact, he shared his mails, credentials etc prior to signing the agreement.

Thanks to him now I am hoping to fly to Brisbane by end May 09.

Hope this will shed you some light.

All the best
Amri


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

It's been well documented on here that both Karen (one of the other Mods on here) and myself would not be here now if it weren't for using an agent.

Ours is a long story (which I won't go into as it's far too long) but the first agent we approached took our deposit money and told us go and get a certain piece of information (which we told him just wasn't possible) - this document was pivital to us being able to do a TRA. Well we did try, but of course couldn't get this document, went back to the agent who told us we're stuffed. Well dur!!!! we told him that to begin with! Anyhow, after much complaining and threat of reporting them, we got around a half of our money back.

The second agent we hired got us to the skills assessment stage....won't bore with details but we did an RPL, TRA and then another RPL (the last RPL we actually got to submit and passed)....was all down to ill-advice from agent and bad communication.

The third agent we hired was our saviour. We knew we didn't want to use the 2nd agent as we weren't happy with them, so we hired George Lombard. Our RPL had been passed and we were waiting for acknowledgement by letter. 2weeks went past and no letter. We were getting edgy because if we failed it meant we wouldn't be able to apply for our visas because OH would turn 45 before we could re-submit another RPL and get it passed. Kept emailing agent and all he kept saying was "these things take time". Well George finally phoned ACS who told him a letter had gone out weeks ago. We then imparted that pearl of wisdom to our agent who then phoned ACS for another copy. Didn't trust agent so I phoned ACS too. The lady was very helpful. Of course she couldn't tell us if we'd passed or failed but she very cleverly hinted at what the outcome was......which took the stress off completely.

So, the moral of the story is there are really good agents out there and there are flippin awful agents out there. If you do hire an agent and you are not happy with them for whatever reason, switch to another agent. If we had to go through all this again, I would still definitely hire an agent.

Dolly


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

EE-India said:


> Read my Exp below !!
> 
> I am a Visa 175 applicant from HR country , filed last year June-2008. Hopefully i am close to CO allocation as per latest discussion in BE forum. But i am not happy with my agent response , he is simply ignoring my emails and not getting my case status from DIAC. He says DIAC will call for medical when time comes. He is not even sending my recent documents to DIAC. I am surprised of this !! . At this point of time , is it advisable to terminate the agent and take the case myself. My concern is if i send form 956 , it may take at least 10 days to get approved from DIAC after that i need to forward all my documents , so totally almost for one month my case situation going to be ideal , either with my agent neither with me .
> 
> Is it advisable to terminate the agent at this time or i have to beg him to do the needful. I am bit nervous because this is my 2 years dream and i put lot of money and efforts. BE forum members experience feedback is highly appreciated .


Hi EE India,

welcome to the forum, 

You say you are june 08 applicant, what about MODL or CSL? are you in either of those?

Have you spoken to your agent about why he isnt able to give you a definite reply? If you are in MODL then your turn comes after June, once they get over with CSL applications. If you are not on either then you will have to wait, no one can give a certain reply, not even the DIAC.

If you feel so strongly about terminating the agent services, go fro it, but make sure you find out why he gives you the replies that he does.

Is your agent MARA / MIA registered? If you elaborate, probably someone can suggest what you should do or can have an explanation of the agents actions.\

Cheers
anj


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

Hi Grant

Welcome to the forum. We are using an agent. We applied for the visa in September 08. Our experience with our agent has been good so far. A few mistakes from his end but I dont blame him, I personally feel, if you employ one doesnt mean you close ur eyes and do as he says. one has to be well aware of the actuals. After all agents are human too and humans are very capable of making mistakes. we did not crib or shout or scream , instead, pointed out his mistakes and tried to work on things to get the application going. We could have terminated the services but who faces the consequences? ofcourse we do, we have already paid him for his services.

I recommend an agent, though not for non complicated case like ours, in our case it was simple, straight, no complication application with all documents in order. but yes, for people as lazy as we are, I dont think we would have already applied, had we been doing things on our own.

There are a lot of people who are doing things on their own and I guess reading makes one confident. The more you read, the more confidence it builds. Google is like god to me , I dont know what I would have done without google search. I would have been half as knowledgeable as I am today.

Cheers
anj


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## EE-India (May 16, 2009)

anj1976 said:


> Hi EE India,
> 
> welcome to the forum,
> 
> ...


Hi Anj

Thanks for your reply. Yes i am in Both CSL and MODL that is the reason why i am getting panic. My agent is not registrated one. Problem with agent is they are flooded with candidates because of their fancy advertisment etc ect so once thay take money then simply throw your emails to dustbin , they will come back to you only if DIAC asking for anything. They will not entertain anything like calling DIAC or sending PLE as per company policy. It is very strange. I struck with them because of my ingorance. my case also straight forward , no complication . But at this stage it is advisable to remove the agent !!


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

i suggest u sent a ple, scrap the agent, or have them work on your case but get all your email and rest diverted to you instead of them being marked to the agent. taking over is better thn making them do everything wrong. y not contact the DIAC to confirm which all documents are pending, its time for u to act.

and u cant do anything if they r not registered. why not pay them a visit if they r in your area?


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## iaquil (Apr 2, 2009)

What all papers or documents you require are very clearly mentioned in the immi website. If one can arrange those documents by themselves, then an agent is important?


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## EE-India (May 16, 2009)

anj1976 said:


> i suggest u sent a ple, scrap the agent, or have them work on your case but get all your email and rest diverted to you instead of them being marked to the agent. taking over is better thn making them do everything wrong. y not contact the DIAC to confirm which all documents are pending, its time for u to act.
> 
> and u cant do anything if they r not registered. why not pay them a visit if they r in your area?


Hi Anj

Since i have authorized my agent, i am not able to send PLE or Call DIAC. Even if i call they won’t reply anything regarding my case. I am in very difficult situation. Should i inform my agent that i am going to terminate or it is better to keep him blind??

He has one more blank form 956 with my signature, but i don’t think he will mis use it to take control once gain because since i have paid him fully he should be happily get out of my case


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