Shady Agents....

[Guest colton]

I know we had a thread about whether agents are worth the money or not so I won't rehash all of that but I think most people in SA are just so desperate to get out that they use anybody they find. Spoke to a couple who wanted to chat about our progress etc. because they have also applied to go to Australia. They are using an agent who is based in Australia.

This is a young couple who are putting off starting a family until they are in Aus and are desperate to get in and he advised them that a 457 Sponsored Visa is the quickest way. They completed their documentation for the 457 in January 2006, had to pay R16 000 up front and another R16 000 on completion. 7 months later and they are still sitting here. He is apparantely setting up some job interviews but all have been in the outback somewhere which they didn't want to take. Is this not a rip off??? Maybe I don't understand the VISA's correctly but why would you have to pay anything for a 457, we haven't, and surely they could have applied for PR in this time, he gets 150 points as he is on the MODL? He is an electrician and I KNOW there are lots of jobs available for him. If he is paying all this money why hasn't his agent secured him a job as yet?

Another thing is they were told that with the 457 the sponsoring company will have to pay for the costs of having a baby and they will get full medical cover while being sponsored, plus the sponsoring company has to pay the air tickets to ensure you can return. Is this all true?

I advised her to get another opinion and also referred her to this site but I think there are alot more people being taken for a ride by opportunistic shady characters like this "agent". Is it not sad that some people can abuse others desperation in such a manner?

[Ajay]

Hi Colton,

You are right - there are a lot of shady people out there, just waiting to pounce on the vulnerable - makes me mad .

The situation with a 457 is that the company needs to be an approved sponsor, with an approved position, before anyone can apply for the position. The whole deal costs around $500 - $1000 depending on how complicated it is to get the position approved as a sponsored role in the first place. Most big employers are pre-approved sponsors with XXX number of visas available, so all that they have to do then is nomiate you into the position. It is very rare for the employee to have to pay any of these costs - they are mostly borne by the employer.

With regards to medical - one of the obligations of a sponsoring employer is to meet all medical costs for any sponsored employee and their immediate family, OR to make sure that the employee takes out private health care. Most companies make it a condition of employment that you must take out such health care cover. This health care cover must include expatriation cover as well. SOme companies cover the cost of this health care, but many don't.

With regards to airtickets - the employer is obligated to pay for return tickets once the visa expires or when employment ends for whatever reason, so at least he is right on that front!

Your friend needs to urgently check that the agent that they are using are approved migration agents. Go to www.themara.com.au and check under the register. There is also a place to lodge a complaint - ut this is obviously only if a registered agent is being used.

In the meantime, I think your friend should investigate the Skilled route - as an electrician, he really shouldn't have too many problems.

Hope it all goes well

Ajay

[Dreamcatcher]

He is apparantely setting up some job interviews but all have been in the outback somewhere which they didn't want to take.

Hi there,

A lot of people have the wrong idea about the "outback". I know we had. If they REALLY want to get out of SA, it could be a golden opportunity. There are quite a few of us "outbackers" here on the forum, and even if you only use it as a stepping stone, it is not so bad at all. There are some very small towns in which it would be difficult to live in if you were used to city life, but even the small towns have a better infrastructure than most places in SA that we have lived in.

Greetings,

Dreamy

[Guest colton]

I agree with you Dreamy, if you want a way in this would be it but it is their personal decision. I also agree that a lot of people don't know what the "outback" is really like, including me, but I have got the feeling from people on this forum that they are quite happy there. Maybe you could post some pictures and tell us a little more about where you are, to educate the rest of us.

[Mara]

I agree with Dreamy 100%

I think some clarity should be reached on what the "outback" really is. It appears that mostly people think that if you leave the coastline and move inland you are in the "outback". Absolutely wrong, you are in the "country" then. The "outback" is the area that is arid, desert, and virtually unpopulated. Unless you work with beef cattle on a "station" in northern Western Australia or Northern Territory, or you work on one of the mines in the same areas but including central Northern Territory, you will never have been in the "outback". In the outback, the next town is not just down the road, it could be 500 or 600kms away. Being in the "country" in Australia could definitely be an enlightening experience, the people are friendly, helpful and pretty welcoming. Skills are so in demand, that they have been known to move heaven and earth to have skilled people move to their towns. So....don't knock "country Australia" until you have tried it, it could be well worth it!

Check out these sites

http://teachingtreasures.com.au/student-pr...ain-outback.htm

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources...back/links.html

If you want to see a map depicting the real outback go to the following site

http://www.atn.com.au/nt/south/sth-map.htm

If you are interested in travel in the outback go to the following site

http://wikitravel.org/en/Gunbarrel_Highway

Mara

[Riekie]

Sometimes it is easier to get a visa to live & work in the country (i.e. not the cities) or in states which are not so populated. Why don't you find out where these "outback" places were - they might have been under the wrong impression about where it was and what it look like there...... My opinion (before coming to Aus) was that I would go almost anywhere in Australia to get here. Once you are here and worked your time period in the town/state for which your Visa was approved, you can always relocate..... It is difficult enough as it is to get into Australia, maybe they should reconsider.

[Guest Larry]

If you want to see "real" outback:-

It starts at this sign (on the Stuart Highway, north of Port Augusta in South Australia) :

And near Coober Pedy, also in South Australia, are the "Breakaway Ranges" :

South Australia is the driest state in Australia.

But if you would like to have a quick look at "Country Australia", take a look at Benalla in north-eastern Victoria. Benalla qualifies as being in "Regional Australia". The City Council website is at Benalla Rural City.

A friend of mine went up both sides of Benalla's main street taking digital photographs. He got home and stitched them all together. They are at Benalla - Up my street. I think that he took them on a Sunday morning. - You usually struggle to find parking there.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Larry

[Guest colton]

Thanks Larry now I get some idea. The red sand is absolutely beautiful, must look awesome at sunset! Your photos of Benalla are wonderful, what a beautiful place. Will definitely pass on this info.

Edited July 15, 2006 by colton

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi colton,

What a good idea! We were so amazed at actually finding trees(!) in the "outback", and as Mara rightly said, it is actually country Australia. We are a bit far from Perth, but we have all we need right here.

I will get some more pic's, and resize them, and then do a whole post on where we live at a later stage.

This is the street in which we live:

And this is the view over the town. We are still trying very hard to find the "desert" some people told us about!

We have the most amazing sunsets here:

Greetings,

Dreamy

Edited July 16, 2006 by Dreamcatcher

[Guest Larry]

Hi Dreamy,

Those are lovely pictures. Where in WA do you live?.... I don't mean exactly, but in what area?

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi Larry,

We live in the Goldfields region, just out of the Wheatbelt area. I hope that makes sense to you! :-)

Greetings

Dreamy

[Guest Larry]

Hi Dreamy,

Thanks for that.... And for the pics. An old friend of mine from Melbourne has just found himself a job in that part of the world. I always had the impression that it was dry and desert-like. I am pleased to see that it is a lot prettier (and greener) than what I was expecting it to be.

Cheers

Larry

[Vossie]

Hi Guys

To come back to shady agents:

We are using a registered agent and has just found out that he has not sent our stuff to DIMIA!!!!!!! We were not supposed to contact them directly but the agent sent us an e-mail from them and we got the case officer's e-mail from there. This was on 9 June and we had e-mailed on 14 June. After returning from holiday we phoned the agent and asked what was going on. He said that we will have the VISA in the next few days. The next day we receive the same e-mail of 9 June asking for the same stuff. We phone again and they then tell us that the stuff we e-mailed should be hard copies. So we courier the stuff.

Well that was 2 weeks ago and we decided to contact DIMIA. To our surprise they inform us that they have not received anything from the agent since they sent the request on 9 June.

We phoned the agent and now we have to wait. Again???!!!!! They told us 2 - 6 weeks, our application went in middle May already!!!

I would reccomend that you use a agent referred by someone that has already used the agent!

Hope you are more successful than we were. At this stage we are not even sure if the VISA will be approved!

Good luck

Elmare

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi vossie,

Sorry to hear about your experience with the agents. It is so frustrating when you pay lots of money, and you still have to do most of the work yourself. We looked at using an agent, but at the seminar, they (luckily) told us we would not qualify, and should not waste our money trying. So much for that, we are here!

Hang in there, and even if you have to do the chasing, do it. It will frustrate you, but that will be better than just waiting and waiting.

Sorry for hijacking the thread earlier

Greetings

Dreamy

[Vossie]

Thanks Dreamy

Are we allowed to contact DIMIA since this is the reply that we received from the agent after asking what is going on????

The last client that interfered and went direct to DIMIA was a South African named Sarel Smit, his wife kept interferering in their application, they flagged his name on the computer, ordered a full investigation into his affairs by the Australian High Commission in Pretoria and to date a year later... no visa has been issued.

They cannot be pushed and do not tolerate any interference.

We have a system that forwards information on the next day at the latest, our records show that you were holding us up. We forwarded your couriered documents to them on receipt, I have been a registered Migration Agent dealing with DIMIA for the past eight years and consider my office as competent and efficient. I have also advised Sheryn Leach at Challenge of your status, and will not tolerate your insinuations and alluding to our company being labelled as innefficient.

We will advise you as soon as a decision has been made.

[Dreamcatcher]

Oh-oh, this smells fishy to me. "The lady doth protest too much"

This is a horrible letter, and it makes my hair stand on end! Sorry to be negative, but the whole tone of the letter sounds wrong to me. When our employer's agent applied for our visa, they gave us our TRN (or something like that) number and we could track the process of our visa if we wanted to. Why would DIMIA "flag" you, what about people that are doing their own visa's? They have to make personal contact with DIMIA, don't they? I do agree that DIMIA cannot be pushed, and will not tolerate interference, but then on the other hand, they are a very efficient organisation, and usually don't need any "interference".

I will try and find out if this is true.

Greetings,

Dreamy

[Vossie]

Hi Dreamy

We got our VISA today!!!! Maybe the agent was not as bad as we thought, but without being pushed I wonder what would happen!!!

Keep well.

Elmare

[JJV]

Hi Elmare

Baie geluk! Ek is baie bly vir julle part.

Mag die rit hiervandaan vorentoe minder stampe en stote bevat.

Groetnis

[Dreamcatcher]

Hiep Hiep Hoera!

Dis fantastiese nuus!! (Gee hulle nog steeds nie rede om so lelik met jou te praat nie!)

Groetnis,

Dreamy

[chatterbug]

Vossie,

Geluk met julle visa! Jinne nou behoort dinge vir julle te begin gebeur.

Tov die agent waarmee jy gewerk het - gee jy om om te se wie hulle is? Alhoewel jy jou visa gekryhet - dis altemit waarvoor julle betaal het, dink ek die manier waarmee hulle met julle (hulle kliente) omgegaan het is onaanvaarbaar. Dit kom amper neer op 'n verskuilde dreigement.

Ek dink ons moet sover ons kan die goeie agent uitwys en hulle verwys na die ( op die forum en elders) wat hulp daarmee soek, en die ander wat swak klientediens gee uitwys en mense teen hulle waarsku. Op die manier kan ons hulle en die vlak van hulle professionaliteit en klientediens, dalk beinvloed en verbeter. Daar is niks beter as 'n bietjie "druk" uitoefen om mense te kry om hulle diens te verbeter nie.

Agente BUG

[Vossie]

Hi julle

Dankie vir die voorspoed ons het dit nodig. Ons het Pacific Global Migration gebruik, hulle adverteer in die Jobmail.

Dink aan ons ons vlieg al 7 Augustus!!!

Mooi bly

Elmare

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi Elmare,

Ek kry skoon hoendervleis! Ek is nog nie so lank hier nie, en kan nog goed onthou hoe dit gevoel het. Dis een van die "scarieste" tye van jou lewe, maar noudat ek terugkyk, ook die mees interessante. As ek kon teruggaan, en weer die keuse maak, sou ek niks wou verander nie.

Onstpan elke oomblik wat jy kan, sodat jy die volle glorie van jou laaste paar dae kan inneem. As jy gejaagd en gespanne is, is dit nie lekker nie. Ek weet dit kan nie anders as om gejaagd te wees nie, maar maak net elke dag tyd, so vir tien minute, om net te sit, en te ontspan, en moenie vir daai kort tydjie dink aan wat nog gedoen moet word nie. Daarna is jy weer vol energie, en kan voortstoom!

Sterkte en Groetnis,

Dreamy