Posting for Ani. . .

DH and I want to apply for HSMP visa, I goggled it and it seems all I found were 3rd party companies that assist with the process but have really high fees. Although it seems to be easier to go with a 3rd party, is it the only way? And if not, what are the options?

Thanks Steph for posting for me-we were unable to connect all day. I'm going to go ahead and top this.

You'll probably get better advice on this from the Thorntree site (try the Long Haul board, as well as the UK one), which is more geared to long-stay travellers and country-movers.

But it's really difficult to avoid an obvious remark. The scheme is - wrongly - called the Highly <b> Skilled </b> Migrant Programme: in fact it's just aimed at the 30-50% of most affluent countries' populations who get a degree, so it should be called the Slightly Better Educated than Average Migrant Programme.

Nonetheless, it IS aimed at literate, resourceful, English speakers. So what on earth is stopping you from going to to the Border and Immigration Agency website, downloading the application form and filling it in yourselves?

To be blunt, if you can't manage that, you really don't deserve to be admitted under the programme.

I'm one of the &quot;Slightly Better Educated than Average Migrant&quot;s. Applied for and got the hsmp last year. Its fairly simple to do. There are HSMP specific forums that will cater to your questions better than a travel forum - just google it.

In particular try: www.immigrationboards.com
and http://www.hsmp-services.co.uk/phpBB/index.php

So long as you qualify with enough points, the application is a doozy (atleast compred to ny US visa application).

Good luck!

Thank you!

Just to remind people the rules changed yesterday - so don't take any comments as gospel until you check the rules

I would check out the official websites

www.ukvisas.gov.uk
www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk
www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk

&lt;&lt;&lt; Nonetheless, it IS aimed at literate, resourceful, English speakers. So what on earth is stopping you from going to to the Border and Immigration Agency website, downloading the application form and filling it in yourselves? &gt;&gt;&gt;

If you need an agency to help you fill in the form then clearly you can't qualify for the visa

My point in posting was to get to the correct website to do it myself. All I was getting on google were third party websites. Now that I've been pointed in the right direction I'm certain I'll have no problem finding the brain power to fill it in. Thanks for the info.