Finances for immigration

[Liela]

Hi Everyone,

 

This will have been ask already, so I do apologize if you have to answer this again.

This is a very expensive process, how did you all manage to finance this?

We bought our house and one of our vehicles about three years ago. As it looks now, we are struggling to get the value what we feel it's worth.

We do not have any savings that we can use and we would like to take our pension and bonus over to get everything started.

 

We have not started the process yet, still talking with the agents. We will be coming over on a 189 / 190 Subclass

The process has been explained with the amounts that can be expected including the agent fees.

We are worried that the cost might be higher than we expect and we do not want to fail on this process.

 

Any ideas on how you managed this would be great.

 

We are determines to do this.

 

Thank you

 

[FromDurbs]

Rather take the advice of someone who actually got a PR visa than mine, but this is what I am doing:

I currently hold a 457 visa.  I did the application from my side, the employer did not assign an agent (while I kind of assumed they would).  I got the grant no problem without the need for additional information.  I just followed the list on their website of all I needed to submit. 

For PR I would pay an agent for an hour consultation to make sure I have the points I think I have and that I am applying for the most appropriate visa.  The filing and document collecting once you know what you should collect can be handled by yourself easily.   I think my situation is relatively straight forward.  If not, get an agent.  I also got the impression that an agent's value comes in when your skills do not clearly fall into a specific category or your skills are not on the list.  They can help you identify other codes on the list that might work for you.  But again, that means paying them in the beginning for consultations and not for the full service fee. 

[JonathanR]

I figured that this move is better than any retirement planning in South Africa, so I cashed out a policy I had in a preservation fund from a previous job. I took that money and dumped it into a Standard Bank Offshore account in Aus$ so all the payments that side are covered and will not increase with exchange rates.

All local payments are coming from my salary or doing a bit of overtime here and there to cover the bigger payments.

 

Hope this helps.

[ChrisH]

Its definitely an expensive thing to go through.  Everything is fairly manageable though as it's a little bit every month until you hit the visa lodgement fee!

 

I would also recommend going for an agent that allows you to pay their fee in instalments based on milestones reached.

[Liela]

4 hours ago, Liela said:

Thanks guys. 

 

 

[Queque]

Save, save, save. 

I put as much as I can into my access bond every month. 

[matrx]

Leila . Like all things in life , how much you sacrifice depends on how much you need it . I am the process of applying myself, A family of 3 . And yes it's damn expensive ,at least from my perspective . I have a relatively high paying job ,but no savings. The reason I am applying for this Visa (189) is, I am feeling life decaying beneath my feet and I really need a fresh start. From what I gather from what you have written, you seem like an intelligent person (lucky guess). Since money is an issue for you , why don't you cut off the middleman (the agent) and do it yourself , like am doing . That way you would have saved a whole lot. What you need to do is go over the skillsSelect website , go over the forums . i.e learn what's needed .It's really not complicated. You can do it .

 

If you are desperate and adventurous like me , apply for a credit card , loan, etc however, you can get money . Yes it's risky, Yes it's stupid .But how bad do you need to go to Australia

Edited November 6, 2016 by matrx

[Anusha]

Hi.. words of wisdom. Our family of 4 has just made the decision to embark on this journey. Also contemplating doing myself. Just getting all ducks in row! If we do ourselves save a whopping R60K. Let me know any tips that's working well for u

[TakeItOnTheChin]

You are probably on the right forum to get good advice. It will be difficult for anyone to give you the best solution because they do not know your circumstances and what challenges you may face getting a visa, depending on the type of visa you would be applying for. I used a good agent who was worth her weight in gold. I could never have immagined the maze that the immigration process turned out to be. Without the agent I would have lost a lot of time and probably money. You will really need time, patience and a lot of knowledge (from research) to do it on your own. R60k might sound like a lot to save right now, but in the long run it could mean nothing once you have been through the process. Many have done it on their own and succeeded but do not take it lightly.

 

I am sure if you look at historical forum posts you will find a lot of the answers you are looking for.

 

Good Luck!

[BobSA]

Hi @LielaI did not use a agent nor consult one so I cannot comment on using one. I did not use one because of the costs involved.

 

I believe if you are on the list for a 189/190 visa it means that they already want you in Australia. So that means, as long as you do not lie about anything and can prove what you are claiming for in all the points criterion that the visa process is quite easy to follow with the help of this forum and the Australian government websites

 

@Anusha Happy to share some links and info if you don't already have it

[dlmonnink]

21 hours ago, Anusha said:

Hi.. words of wisdom. Our family of 4 has just made the decision to embark on this journey. Also contemplating doing myself. Just getting all ducks in row! If we do ourselves save a whopping R60K. Let me know any tips that's working well for u

 

This might be a dangerous process depending on your own personal circumstances. Be sure to get assessed by an agent as many many people make a huge mistake in assessing how many points they are eligible for. I thought I had 80, the agent did my assessment and it turned out I needed 8 on the IELTS to get 65. Also talk to the agent about a document checking fee rather than a full service. I did all the gathering of docs, IELTS booking etc myself and paid the agent $1500 rather than $5500 just to check all was correct. My process was simple and straight forward so no issues doing this.

 

Also, for the affordability, I have always been a saver. If you sacrifice those things you don't need in life and work hard it can be done. I rented out my properties and rented elsewhere for cheap. Also had a small car etc. This allowed me to save about R20k a month for a year or so. To be fair I did earn fairly well in SA. I think one thing that will come as a shock is how cost of living doesn't translate here. I earn a fairly decent salary here too but only manage to save about $500 a month here where I could save a hell of a lot more in SA and I'm living under the same circumstances. The only difference is that my rent here is about R20k more than I was paying in SA so it takes a huge chunk of my salary. I have put a cost breakdown in one of the financial threads for anyone interested.

[BobSA]

14 minutes ago, dlmonnink said:

Also, for the affordability, I have always been a saver. If you sacrifice those things you don't need in life and work hard it can be done. I rented out my properties and rented elsewhere for cheap. Also had a small car etc. This allowed me to save about R20k a month for a year or so. To be fair I did earn fairly well in SA. I think one thing that will come as a shock is how cost of living doesn't translate here. I earn a fairly decent salary here too but only manage to save about $500 a month here where I could save a hell of a lot more in SA and I'm living under the same circumstances. The only difference is that my rent here is about R20k more than I was paying in SA so it takes a huge chunk of my salary. I have put a cost breakdown in one of the financial threads for anyone interested.

 

@dlmonnink You raise some good points and while it may be harder to save I do think things will always be more expensive in Australia when you convert.

 

I'd like to share my opinion also as I find that the only way to make a fair comparison is to take you monthly expenses/spend and calculate it as a % of salary versus the exact same calculation for home gives me a better indicator and method of comparison of what is costing more in Australia.

 

Also rental might be higher when you convert but the test I use is how many km am I now away from CBD vs at home? If, for example, I now stay 15km away from the City and in JHB I stayed 30km away from Sandton (sadly, can't use Jhb CBD as a comparison ) then I would have to pay extra for that benefit.

 

I too find rental to be very steep when converting but when compared to my SA as % of salary its actually 'cheaper'.

 

 Also in Australia everybody earns well enough to live as the high statutory minimum wage ensures even students can earn AUD$2500 a month quite easily. Some students make $4k a month on Uber part-time. In South Africa as professionals we were part of the minority who earned well. So its very difficult to be on that same level as SA from the outset.