Immigration Lawyers in Sydney

duckygalway

Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer in Sydney?

myhorse

duckygalway wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer in Sydney?

Known as Immigration agents. I have no experience of them but from another parish I know that George Lombard www.austimmigration.com.au
has never had a bad word written about him.

No matter who you go with make sure they are mara registered and perhaps do a search for them on britishexpats as the info there is usually pretty spot on.

mandrake04

George is good, mate of mine overstayed his WHV by 6 years and George helped him out with his permanent residency.

daithi1970

Hi folks, can anyone recommend an Irish based migration agent,preferably one who specialises in sponsorship??

thanks,

daithi

myhorse

daithi1970 wrote: »

Hi folks, can anyone recommend an Irish based migration agent,preferably one who specialises in sponsorship??

thanks,

daithi

I dont know of any but a few on here have mentioned one's they have used.

TBH I would really really recommend an Australian one for a number of reasons especially if it's sponsorship you are going for or need help on.

(I am making an assumption that you want an Irish one as they would be closer to home? If so it's not an issue you still will be dealing with them by mail etc. Also an aus based agent is more "at the coal face" in regards to up to the minute issues etc).

Obviously your call but go Aussie if you can.

mandrake04

Would agree with above, for sponsorship it would be easier for the agent to in in the same country as the employer.

Also a member of this forum PMed me recently about sponsorship, apparently he was quoted €4000 for a 457 visa by an Irish agent. I contacted an Australian agent on his behalf who quoted $2750 + disbursements.

As follows

Visa Application Charge $265
Nomination Charge $70
Sponsorship Charge $350

Chest X-Ray in Ireland $250

**Agent Fees** Fees $2750

Approx $3685 or in old money €2640

duckygalway

Quick question - if I'm approaching an employer in Australia about sponsoring me, how much would it cost them? Similarly, if I was going to cover it myself and do all the paperwork myself what am I looking at? I heard it's around $3,000?

Not that's it's something I'm looking at but as far as De facto goes do I have to be living with that person a year. If I'm engaged/married/get registered to someone do I automatically get a visa (having to prove commitment, etc?)

mandrake04

duckygalway wrote: »

Quick question - if I'm approaching an employer in Australia about sponsoring me, how much would it cost them? Similarly, if I was going to cover it myself and do all the paperwork myself what am I looking at? I heard it's around $3,000?

The cost are approx as in the above post, might be a bit cheaper for the x-ray in Oz.

about $800 .....plus agent fees on top.

You say you are looking to do the paperwork yourself even with an agent you still have to fill in the visa application forms yourself, but are you going to fill in the employers paperwork as well? All the information about training, wages expenditure, business strategy etc etc.

duckygalway wrote: »

Not that's it's something I'm looking at but as far as De facto goes do I have to be living with that person a year. If I'm engaged/married/get registered to someone do I automatically get a visa (having to prove commitment, etc?)

What you mean you go defacto with a PR or citizen? It's 12 months and you still have to apply for a temporary spouse visa..... its not just automatic.

Tikels

daithi1970 wrote: »

Hi folks, can anyone recommend an Irish based migration agent,preferably one who specialises in sponsorship??

thanks,

daithi

Hi Daithi
Myself and my boyfriend just received our permanent resident visa yesterday that we applied for in March of this year. We headed out to Oz in Jan and decided to give it a go and apply. He is an engineer and I have have a B.sc in Psychology working as a community worker in Ireland at present. We are heading out there at the end of Jan, we used a lady called Mona Tan from a company called Denro pty she is Malaysian but she is an immigration lawyer. She came recommended by a friend and on that recommendation we decided to secure her services to get the visa. She is pretty straight and you will find she doesn't waste time beating around the bush if she can help you get a visa or the type of visa she will if not she will tell you straight she cant help. I found her manner to be blunt at times but she is very efficient and responds to your correspondance within 24 hours of receiving it. This last point was extremely important to me as we applied from Ireland and as such it is nice to know what is happening and not left guessing. She is based in Sydney and we had a good experience with her. Best of luck with whomever ou decide to go with.

melb

Apologies for bringing up an old thread but..

Anyone have any experience of or recommendations of Immigration Agents in Melbourne?

Zambia

Yes, I would give you his details but he was quite frankly a Nazi.

However he did get the Job done.

s.c

melb wrote: »

Apologies for bringing up an old thread but..

Anyone have any experience of or recommendations of Immigration Agents in Melbourne?

Seamus Taaffe - Australia Here We Come.

Zambia

Off the Kildare Taaffe's ?

melb

Zambia wrote: »

Yes, I would give you his details but he was quite frankly a Nazi.

However he did get the Job done.

Mmm I've heard those Nazis can be more miss than hit.

Goona try Seamus and another lad at gomatilda and see what happens cheers.

Unless someone has any other suggestions?

karl bracken

sorry for jumping here but i think im kinda on topic

Is there really a need for agents?

im only looking into it now (457) but if the employer gets there end done i.e. is allowed to sponser and puts your roll forward and it gets passed...

Then im assumong you just have to fill in the forms and get whatever details they require, character ref, health insurance or am i missing something here?!?

Is the chest x-ray and medical always required?

Cheers.

s.c

Zambia wrote: »

Off the Kildare Taaffe's ?

Sligo Taaffe's I believe

Zambia

I see I only ever knew one Taaffe (Kildare), a whole other life ago.

Would be weird to thinkt they had relatives here as well.

Mellor

karl bracken wrote: »

sorry for jumping here but i think im kinda on topic

Is there really a need for agents?

im only looking into it now (457) but if the employer gets there end done i.e. is allowed to sponser and puts your roll forward and it gets passed...

Then im assumong you just have to fill in the forms and get whatever details they require, character ref, health insurance or am i missing something here?!?

Is the chest x-ray and medical always required?

Cheers.

There's no need what so ever for a agent for a 457.
it's actually easier than you suggest above.

If they have their end done (SBS and nomination) then you submitted your application, plus and info you think will help (qualifications, CV, copy of passport etc)
you don't need a police check.
You don't need health insurance (agreement with Republic of Ireland)
Chest x-ray and medical not always required.

Your part is actually a piece of cake.

The reason some companies go to an agent is because they aren't bothered doing their end themselves. If you are working for them, the info is pretty simple, I did the entire application, SBS, nomination, visa. I had a person in admin find out the info I needed, reg number, turnover, total salarys etc. And she was the contact person who immi contacted for info such a a job description, wage statement, straight forward stuff.

I saved a lot of cash doing it this way.

Mellor

Zambia wrote: »

I see I only ever knew one Taaffe (Kildare), a whole other life ago.

Would be weird to thinkt they had relatives here as well.

Any where near Straffan?

karl bracken

Cheers Mellor

Thats what i was thinking as i read more into the forms yesterday
the more i thought it was like filling out a dole form!

Are you sure about the health insurance??

If so im ready to send my info in! Sweet

Zambia

I reckon so I will PM you the name.

Mellor

karl bracken wrote: »

Are you sure about the health insurance??

Certain, I don't have any insurance. my visa was granted this week

amybabes

We also were granted our 457 visas last July without showing proof that we had organised health insurance, although i am nearly sure that it was in the terms that we were supposed to have it.
Always did plan on getting it, but its still expensive for non permanent residents - there's only a few options for those on 457s.

We used a migration lawyer based in Melbourne even though we were in Sydney. The company who sponsored us did so on the basis that we paid for it and used the lawyer the other people they had sponsored used as she had all their details already so cost us about $4,400 altogether (incl. chest xrays) - for 4 years visas for 2 people i think it was worth every penny.

She got the job done in record time as painlessly as possible to ourselves. We got the last bit of our paperwork from home the day before our 2nd yr whv visa expired so she lodged the application just in time. (damn ash clouds last year delayed mail for weeks!)
If anyone wants her details, pm me

Mellor

amybabes wrote: »

We used a migration lawyer based in Melbourne even though we were in Sydney. The company who sponsored us did so on the basis that we paid for it and used the lawyer the other people they had sponsored used as she had all their details already so cost us about $4,400 altogether (incl. chest xrays) - for 4 years visas for 2 people i think it was worth every penny.

She got the job done in record time as painlessly as possible to ourselves. We got the last bit of our paperwork from home the day before our 2nd yr whv visa expired so she lodged the application just in time. (damn ash clouds last year delayed mail for weeks!)
If anyone wants her details, pm me

Amy, I'm glad you got your 457, but you were kinda ripped off.
I also have a feeling that I know who you are on about. In fact, I'm pretty certain of it.

• The company aren't actually allowed to request that you pay for it. Although this happens a lot and there isn't much you can do.
• You didn't need x-rays before you lodged. A lot of agents (inc the person above) say that you do need them so as to save them hassle. And cost you money.
• Is $4,400 worth it, maybe. But the visa only costs $265 ($335 is you paid for the nomination for the employer). Charging that much extra is robbery.
• The bit about the last piece of info is also wrong. You could of lodged without it, but agents don't tell you this is make life easy for them.

Like I said above, I'm glad you got sorted with 457, but what you got was not a good deal or a good service. There's lots of misconceptions going around about sponsorship, a lot of them come from the agents themselves. I did my own application and it really opened my eyes to a few things. Including somedownright BS from a certain immi agent who messed up my friends application.

amybabes

Hahahaha yeah you probably do know who we used!!

We didn't have a choice really though! We approached the company to sponsor us and they were reluctant due to the hassle involved and only agreed to it if we used that lawyer.

I still agree it was worth it to us, only 11 months into the visa would have paid 4 grand for another year alone! It's getting harder and harder for people to stay here legally so I count myself lucky.

Mellor

Yeah some companies do insist on using an agent, even a paticular agent. It's unfortunate but thats there rules.
I'd agree it prob is worth $4k - but i wouldn't pay this as it can be gotten for free.

My 457 cost me less than $350 -