Should I Use a Migration Agent When Moving From the UK to Australia?

I have seen lots of people asking this question on social media in recent weeks as well as receiving quite a lot of unsolicited advice myself on the matter. 

The simple answer is it’s completely up to you! But that wouldn’t make for a very interesting blog, would it? 

There are lots of situations in life where you are going to be able to do things for yourself which might otherwise have been completed by a professional.

Would you plaster your own walls? Well, you could but you might not be the expert. Would you try to fix your own car if you’re not a mechanic? You may well be able to. Would you use a migration agent to help you in moving to the other side of the world?

Well yes, you could or you could choose to do it yourself. 

In our particular case as a family hoping to move with a 190 Visa where the primary applicant is a Primary School Teacher, we chose to use a migration agent Sterling Migration for a few reasons.

1. One of us is already 40 and the other is 37. We don’t have time on our side in terms of the cut-off point for a visa age (which is 45). Therefore we literally can’t afford to make any mistakes.
2. We know that every single document, application, photograph, upload and scan has been checked and verified before being submitted to the necessary body. 
3. We have never moved to another country before.
4. We don’t know anything at all about the migration process (other than what we see on the internet and social media). Therefore we wanted to have the comfort of being supported by people who are actually qualified to do so. 
5. We have had (and continue to have) lots of questions about the migration process and we are fortunate that our agents get back to us really quickly with responses every time. They provide advice each time based on their experience of cases they have already worked on. 
6. For us, our agents do way more than ‘just upload documents’ on our behalf. FYI this comment on social media is really annoying as it suggests that people who use migration agents are lazy/stupid, neither of which I would classify myself as. 
7. We would rather spend a small amount of extra money to avoid going through the process twice and ultimately spending more! 

For us, our agents do way more than ‘just upload documents’ on our behalf.

We absolutely respect people’s decision and bravery to go it alone and are successfully in Australia having done so. This is a process which can be done independently and yes, it does cost a lot of money to have an agent working on your behalf. 

What I would recommend if you are going to do so, is that you read everything you can from official websites such as https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/ about different visas, processes and what would be best in your case. There are some amazing people on social media and it is great to get support from those who have gone through the same process as you.

However, there is also a lot of unsolicited advice from people who are speaking from only their own experience and what is right for them, might not necessarily work for you. 

Be wary about the advice you get from social media, and fact-check where possible. I think that’s just good advice for life!

Should YOU use a migration agent to make the move to Australia? In short, you do you. 

We wish you the best of luck whatever you decide.

And if you like to see how others are navigating their way through the process, make sure you are following us on Instagram.