VISA Agent or not?

[Badgerboy]

Hi All,

My wife and two kids both aged 8 are looking to get to NZ as soon as possible and wanted some newbie advice please. I am a currently working as a Sales Director for an Agricultural company although I spent 14 years at British Telecom before that again in Sales Management. I am aged 37 and my wife is 36 and home schools are children.

Would you advise me to use an agent for an initial assessment and then guage whether it is likely to be a straight forward application (if there is such a thing) or whether I could complete the process myself.

We visited NZ in February '12 and loved it, what advice do people have to get there quick?

Thanks in advance.

Nathan

[Mamee & Co]

Hi Nathan,

And welcome.

Most here would suggest not bothering with a visa agent...as you still have to do all the donkey work yourself. With hindsight I would agree with this!

However we did speak to an agent and from the first consultation did gleam the important fact that at that stage you did not need to go for every point, saving ourselves time when producing evidence later...however that may not be the case now.

We also completed our application and asked the visa agent to just check it before sending in....costly and unnecessary in our case but if you hate completing forms and filing info then it may be worth it to you!

We also moved here when our twin sons were 8 and they love it!

Good luck with the journey.

[Badgerboy]

Thank you for the advice and the kind words of encouragment. I have noticed how positive people are about NZ, the people and the place bring out the best out.

[nex]

We are also contemplating using an Agent. Tough choice isnt it ..

[JandM]

Of course you're free to do whatever you want. If you use an agent, they will tell you what information you have to provide, to be put on your application. (The INZ form and guide would do this, too.) You have to gather the information and pass it to them, so you still have to write it up, as you would have to if you were filling in the form yourself. The agent will tell you what evidence about yourself you have to supply (as the INZ form and guide does). You still have to acquire all the evidence, whether it's about personal matters, or your qualifications, or work experience - this responsibility doesn't get taken from you. You then have to send it to the agent, when you could just as well send it to INZ.

Some say an agent will check whether you've supplied the correct paperwork. They'll check it with the lists available from INZ, but you're the only one who knows the ins and outs of your life, so it's still down to you whether or not the proofs you supply are the WHOLE story of your existence. And yes, you're capable of checking the lists yourself, and sending the things to INZ is just as easy as sending them to an agent.

And there'$ a£way$ a £arge financia£ inve$tment to con$ider. The agents make their money off the back of everyone's insecurity when venturing into unfamiliar territory, when actually, INZ, at their website, their operational manual, and the paperwork supplied with forms at every stage, points the way very clearly.

[PookyM]

Hi Badgerboy and Nex - I've decided to use an agent. My identical twin and parents live in NZ and I felt I could easily misinterpret the Ops Manual, reading into a line or statement inaccurately as a result of my emotional need to get to NZ. I did take some advice off this forum to print the Ops Manual, went through it line by line and highlighted every clause and required bit of evidence, so I already know what the agent and INZ is going to ask for. But for me, my choice to use an agent is purely down to needing someone to keep my emotions in check.

[catt]

I am not the brightest star in the sky and i did it myself, all that it takes is to tick off as you complete and then check, double and triple check that you have everything, all the boxes ticked all the information written all the evidence verified and send it off. Agents are way to expensive for the few hours it takes to "do it yerself" as the little boy from the Mitre 10 advert says. Good luck with everything and try to enjoy the roller coaster ride :-)