You don't need an agent, you need a friend.

Cheesy as the title of this post may sound, but the truth in it is beyond the value a migration agent can provide.

I applied with a friend, actually two friends.  Three of us were serious about the application, so we never let a single doubtful idea or question stand in our way.  We constantly share information about what we learned with our research.

While reviewing for IELTS, we shared hard copy notes and downloaded audio materials.  By doing this, you just double the amount of materials you can practice with.  We also took the mock exam together.

While preparing the requirements for Skills Assessment, we still share tips on how to compress into 2,000 words a single career episode - which we find a little challenging due to the brevity Engineers Australia require.  We also share contact persons to expedite processing of our PRC documents.  The two months wait for our PRC registration conversion from Electronics and Communications Engineering to Electronics Engineers only took us 2 weeks.  We also standardized the Work Experience template for our application.  Since our company does not provide one, we agreed to use one template so when we submit to Engineers Australia, they will not notice a difference in the same document coming from one company.

While preparing requirements for notarization by a lawyer, we shared the same template for a notarized document and used the services of the same lawyer.

While preparing to lodge for the VISA application, we fill-out the online forms together.  Find answers to questions together.  We lodged on the same day, though I successfully lodged mine the day after due to a technical issue.

We keep ourselves updated with case officer allocations.

We shared statuses while fulfilling case officer requirements.

We shared the excitement and thrill while waiting for every online status change of our visa application.

And we were happy for each other when we finally got our VISAs.

Though we have not celebrated our VISA grants yet over a banquet, nevertheless, we helped each other get to where we want to be.

Oh, we will also fly on the same flight and live on the same house when we get to Australia.

It would have been challenging for me to go through the process alone without a friend.

So gather your friends with you and commit yourselves to a supporting relationship as you go through the application process.  The application process is more fun when done with friends.  Believe me.