[display-posts]
What our valued clients have to say about our service. Please see other reviews on the website Migration Agent Reviews.
We would like to thank Hannibal and the team for their help and support in applying for a Subclass 190 visa. We set them a huge challenge and they surpassed all expectations! We decided at the end of February this year that we would like to make the move to Perth. The challenge lay in getting the visa application in before the beginning of June, when Ian turned 45 and we would then lose essential points and not be eligible to apply for the visa. Hannibal made it clear from the start that there was no guarantee we would get this right, thereby not giving false hope, but was also confident that we stood a good chance. He worked very hard to make sure that we were kept informed at each stage of the process and made sure that all documents were handed in timeously (I’m still not convinced Hannibal doesn’t sleep at his office!). The application was handed in with only a few days to spare before Ian’s birthday and we received our visa on 23rd July. The process took only 5 months from start to finish. We have no doubt that we would have been unable to do this on our own, and the knowledge, expertise and hard work of the Thames Migration Team made our dream possible. Thank you!
Ian & Tania Pyle – Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) Visa Granted.
Subclass 457 Visa
I thank Hannibal and his many employer leads in Australia for the smooth process all the way from start up to achieving the visa. Thank you!
Mark Lawrence- Skilled Worker (Subclass 457) Visa Granted.
We started our Australian visa pathway back in autumn 2009. It was something that we had discussed in our earlier years of marriage, however had felt uneasy about the risks of uprooting our three children. We met Hannibal of Thames Migration at a convention in Coventry, having made some telephone enquiries with him prior. We came away feeling optimistic and decided to proceed with the visa application process.
The pathway was not easy at all; Paul has a specialist skill and the assessment process for a skilled visa through up a few obstacles. Getting references from previous employers as far back as 22 years, evidencing the apprenticeship served and specialist skill area and some of the companies had even ceased trading, so it took many months of work on our behalf.
Having passed the skills assessment, the points system was under a government review and no new visa applications were being considered or allowed to be submitted until a specified date. It also came to light our eldest son could not be classed as a dependent although still living at home, and we had to make the decision whether to proceed without him.
We decided to continue the process for the four of us, only to be advised we had lost points by the time the application process recommenced. Hannibal discussed other options available to us and we decided that we wished to pursue the state sponsorship process. All the paperwork completed and DHL’d to Australia only to get a phone call that the day South Australia received our application Adelaide were not sponsoring Paul’s trade any more.
We waited a few months for the rest of Australia to declare what state would sponsor what trades, and eventually WA opened their list. By this time our 2nd eldest son had finished his apprenticeship and again he could not be considered on our visa as a dependent. It was a very difficult and emotional time, whether to consider proceeding without 2 of our 3 children. The initial dream was for a better work life balance, as both Paul and I both work 60 hours a week regularly. Splitting the family was not considered an option.
Hannibal spent many hours discussing our options with us, and explaining what process the boys could take if they wished to apply for visas in their own rights at a later date. We discussed it as a family and decided to still proceed as this was most probably the last chance Paul and I would have as we are both over 40 now! We were successful with WA state sponsorship and lodged our application for our sub class 176 skilled visa applications in March 2011.
In May we were advised by our case officer that medicals and police checks were now required. This was a real headache…Work schedules, daughter sitting GCSE’s, a pre booked family holiday abroad and hospital appointments not tying in with dates we had available, meant we could not get an appointment for all three of us until end of July. We immediately advised Hannibal and he in turn relayed this information onto the case officer.
Medicals undertook, one of the tests needed redoing as the result was not clear and the hospital advised a retest in 14 days time. They advised us that they would not send on any of the medical results until all the tests were completed. We did not object as this was the first time we ever had been in this situation and presumed the hospital had lots of experience of protocol.
A few weeks later, we received a phone call from Hannibal saying that our visas had been refused on the grounds on non compliance of medical information being obtained. We were in a state of shock and disbelief. Hannibal was brilliant and supportive and underwent an investigation into what had happened and what options were now open to us. We were able to appeal the decision, but this was a new process. A fee had to be paid and we had grounds for appeal.
This caused a real family divide as Paul did not want to spend any more time or money on this process only to get more disappointment down the line. However, I did not want to give up as we had come so far and being in our 40’s this would be our last chance.
At the 11th hour we submitted an appeal through Hannibal. It was a difficult few months, as no timescales or previous case could set a precedent. However on 22nd December 2011 we got the phone call, we were successful and we had been awarded our visas. What a Christmas present!!!
The whole process was so difficult, with the constant changes and legal requirements and timescale deadlines. Paul and I both work long hours often 12 hour days and coming home to paperwork requirements and deadlines, often proved pressured. Hannibal and his team at Thames Migration took the time to understand these pressures of ours and supported us personally throughout the whole turmoil! Many times Hannibal went beyond his remit (including opening his office on a Sunday just so we could arrange a meeting with him) as our situation required constant re-thinking or adjustment, but his support never waivered. We truly could not have gone through this process without his or his teams support. Thank you!
Paul & Sherileen Wintrip – Skilled Sponsored (Subclass 176) Visa Granted.
My Fiancée and I decided to get married after 7 years of being together, with 4 of those years being done through a long distance relationship.
My fiancée sponsored me for a Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa in November 2010. The visa itself is not difficult to get as long as you have a genuine interest in marriage and are willing to put in place the necessary practical steps to prove this, i.e. get a NOIM certificate.
As the Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) leads to a permanent visa it was subject to the rigorous medical testing requirements applied to all Australian permanent visas. This in itself is generally not a problem for most people, but I already knew I would not meet the medical requirements because I had a persistent genetic medical condition.
I wisely informed Hannibal and his colleagues of this before we submitted the application. This gave him a chance to get to grips with my illness and to gather the necessary information he might need to apply for a medical waiver, all before we had submitted the application or me even taking the medical test.
Before a decision was reached on my medicals I was alerted to the fact that they would need to be assessed by the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) and was invited to submit additional information to the MOC before a decision was made.
Hannibal’s pre-emptive understanding of the nature of my disease and its effect on my lifestyle and ability to earn a living allowed him to structure a response with the evidence my doctor and me provided that was able to add a further perspective to the initial results of the medical examination.
As expected I failed the medical test and therefore the public interest criterion applied to all permanent visas. Due to my application being a partner visa I was given the opportunity to apply for a medical waiver.
The medical waiver would be based on proving the assessment of the MOC not to be undue to the Australian people. Proving this was based on the ability to receive a favourable assessment from the MOC, if such a thing can exist.
However Hannibal’s foresight in planning for this possibility through providing the MOC with detailed medical records that sufficiently highlighted the effect of my disease on my life and my ability to earn a living was good enough to influence the MOC decision maker into providing me with a waiver assessment which many would consider favourable, and which was the starting point for the arguments Hannibal constructed for me in successfully applying for a waiver of the medical criterion.
This process took nine months from start to finish but the assurances from Hannibal and his team gave me hope throughout the process.
Thanks Hannibal and your team for helping me and my future wife start our new life together in Australia.
Christopher Adekunle & Samara Van der Heyden, – Prospective Marriage (Subclass 300) Visa Granted.
I have to say what a pleasure it was using Thames Migration and Hannibal in particular to help us achieve our desire of moving to Australia.
At the beginning of the process my wife and I spent a considerable amount of time phoning several agencies who generally where most unhelpful and would actually rarely provide much information without some sort of up front payment.
We were beginning to give up hope of finding an organisation who we felt could provide us quality service and assistance.
On first speaking to Hannibal he provided us with a detailed explanation of the process; the sort of documentation and experience that we would need and a very clear breakdown of the costs involved. This was such a refreshing change to the previous agencies that we had spoken to it was an easy choice to go with Thames Migration.
Throughout the entire process it was a pleasure dealing with Hannibal; he provided us with detailed guidelines of the documentation that we needed to provide; assisted us with the completion of the required forms and kept us entirely up to date with the progress of our application.
It was a delight when we received our Subclass 175 Skilled – Independent Visa and we are very grateful to Hannibal and his team for helping us to achieve this. I would highly recommend Thames Migration to anyone who is considering applying for a Visa.
Simon & Victoria Wood, – SKILLED Independent (Subclass 175) Visa Granted.
Dear Hannibal and the Thames Team,
I would like to thank you for your excellent and insightful advice, and assistance throughout the process.
I could not have done it without you – from start to finish it has been a smooth process. To recieve the grant was amazing and i would highly recommend Thames Migration to anyone thinking of undertaking the migration process to Australia.
I leave for Melbourne today and cannot wait to start my new job.
many thanks,
Michael Barton, Skilled – Sponsored (Subclass 176) Visa granted.
Dear Hannibal,
Janelle and I want to formally thank you for your successful efforts on our behalf in securing my class 155 Resident Return Visa.
It has given us a significant sense of security knowing that I, and we as a family, can return to Australia without further delays, conditions, and indeed cost. Your experience and faith in the merits of our family circumstances in successfully pursuing that class of visa rather than a longer and more costly route are gratefully appreciated.
We are delayed only by our financial circumstances now and we are looking into a number of ways that can best be managed.
Your advice regarding documentation for our disabled daughter and the special considerations that had to be taken into account by the Immigration Department was invaluable. After half a lifetime of writing formal evidenced reports for governments myself, I have to admit I learned a lot from the above process undertaken with your guidance.
We will be recommending you and your company to anybody we meet with immigration needs, and hope they are rather more straightforward that our circumstances were. Notwithstanding the complexities involved, your calm attention to the detail of our application process was impressive, and we wish you every success in the future.
Many thanks again,
Yours sincerely,
Adrian and Janelle Stevens and family – Subclass 155 Resident Return Visa granted.
‘After spending hours and days on the phone to a number of agencies who either wanted money up front before they would even answer any questions about the simplest of issues – Would not help in any way before money had changed hands! “Can’t answer that until we have received a cheque for a ridiculous amount
- Un-negotiable on costs and rigid charges.
- said things like “well I think I will be able to get you this visa as I know someone!”
- Rude when I asked politely “What do you actually do to earn the fee if all the info is on line”
I came across Thames Migration – The team were really friendly as I explained that although I do not consider myself a stupid woman, I had tried to do it all on my own but was getting a bit confused by the order I had to do things.
After a long and friendly phone call, with lots of my queries answered I explained my budget and I was impressed that the quote for help and a checking and service was much less and almost half of the amount I had explained I could afford. All correspondence were fab with the office calls were returned quickly and I got the feeling that they as a team cared about the stresses and problems I was having, advice was good and I really think the way they handled my application assistance was first class from the very first telephone conversation. I never write things like this as I think people always think a family friend has written it but I promise you as a teacher a mum and a future Australian citizen that Hannibal and his team will not drink your blood dry for every penny! Looking foward to the free seminar about immigration that Hannibal has booked me on later this year.
Reasonable transparent costs for a fantastic professional and friendly service!
Even when I messed bits up on line I always got an easy solution within minutes on the phone.
Jane Hopkins – Teacher, Australian Skilled Visa granted.
As a very recent client of Hannibal Khoury at Thames Migration, I have no reservation at all in writing a very strong recommendation for the excellent work Hannibal has done in assisting me with my application for a subclass 309 Provisional Spouse Visa for Australia.
I actually speak with a lot of experience in this area as I currently run all Permanent Recruitment for the UK IT Division for a major Investment Bank in London.
I deal with our in-house Visa specialists on a daily basis and have had presentations from numerous other agencies vying to gain our business.
Hannibal has excelled in his dealings with me, always following up on any queries and having the best interests of his clients at heart.
I would very happily recommend Hannibal and Thames Migration to anyone looking to gain a Visa for Australia.
Duncan MacKay – Provisional Spouse Visa (Subclass 300) visa granted.
“I needed to apply for a resident’s return visa as my permanent visa was about to expire and had been trying to find someone to do this for me. After being turned down by 5 UK agencies because I had not lived in Australia for 2 years I spoke to Hannibal and he said he might be able to help. He made it very clear that it was not certain that I would get the visa, but it would depend on the reasons I had spent so little time in Australia and the documents I could get to support my case. We went through everything in great detail and he then told me that I had a good chance. I decided to go ahead and got the documents I would need to support my case. When this was done, everything was sent to the
Australian Embassy in London and 5 days later the visa was granted. He could not have been more helpful and understanding and even met me on weekends, which was much more convenient for me.
He was the only agent I spoke to who thought i could get the visa and he was right. I really don’t know what I would have done if I had lost my right to live in Australia and will always be very grateful to him. He is now helping me get my mother an aged parent visa and I would recommend Thames and Hannibal to anyone.”
E. Jovanovitch – Australian Resident Return Visa and Parent Visa visas granted.
“I would like to thank you for your excellent and insightful advice, and also for your time for the interview with us.”
Doctor R. S. Gill – Australian Skilled Visa granted.
“I would just like to say thanks very much for our consultation today but a much bigger thank you for not putting us under any pressure to make a decision, which to be honest I was expecting.”
S. Butler – Australian Skilled Visa granted.
“Thanks for all you and company have done to get me to Australia. Everything was done extremely well and all your staff are very friendly. My advice to anyone considering moving abroad is to use Thames Migration!”
A. Vester, – Australian Work Visa granted.
“Thames Migration easily exceeded our expectations; the whole application process was thoroughly explained and made very understandable for the both of us. Our agent was excellent, thorough and kept in constant contact with weekly updates. Our queries and requests were dealt with quickly. A very personal service!”
M & F Goddard, Australian Spouse Visa granted.
“Totally exceeded my expectations, I will be recommending Thames Migration to all my future travelling friends. They were very friendly, speedy, efficient and far more cost effective than other agents.”
G. Lawrie, -Australian Work Visa granted.