How we work
The whole process, before you commit to any of it
Five steps. The first two are free and produce a document you keep whether or not you hire us.
This page exists so that nothing about working with us is a surprise, including the parts we are not good at and the things we refuse to do.
The five steps
What happens, and how long each part takes
Free assessment
Thirty minutes on video with the person who would actually handle your file. Education, work history, language levels, savings, timeline. We tell you which routes are open to you and which are not.
30 minutes, no cost
Written plan with your realistic odds
Your profile scored against the published criteria, the routes worth pursuing, the total cost including every fee that does not come to us, and our honest read on your chances. Some of these plans say the answer is no.
Within 2 working days
Agree the scope and the price
A one page document naming what we deliver, by when, what we will not do, and what you have to do yourself. The price on it is the price on this website. You pay the first instalment when you sign.
Same week
We do the work with you
Documents, credentials, drafts and forms, on fortnightly calls, with everything in one folder you keep whatever happens afterwards. You do the parts that have to be yours, and we say so in advance which those are.
6 weeks to 9 months, service dependent
You apply
You submit, in your own name, with the file reviewed twice. We prepare you for any interview and stay available until you have a decision. Then it belongs to a university, an employer or a government.
Then it is out of our hands
Step two, in full
This is the document you get for nothing
It scores you against the published criteria for the route you are considering, names the weak points, and gives our honest read. Some of these say the answer is no, or not this year.
It also states plainly what we would do and what we would not do, which is the same list that appears on the fee block for the relevant package.
The specimen alongside is redacted because there is nobody real to put in it yet. The structure is what you will receive.
Skillvelop · Written assessment
Eligibility assessment and route recommendation
- Reference
- SV-ASSESS-0000
- Prepared for
- Prepared by
- Issued
- Day 2
1. Your profile as we understood it
- Qualification
- BE Mechanical, 2019, Indian university
- Experience
- 5 years, design engineering
- English
- IELTS 7.0 overall, no band below 6.5
- German
- None
- Savings available
- Target
- Germany, work, within 12 months
2. Scored against the published criteria
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Qualification, partial recognition | 2 |
| Occupation on the shortage list | 1 |
| Work experience, 5 years | 2 |
| German language | 0 |
| Age | 1 |
| Total, against a threshold of 6 | 6 |
3. Our honest read
You reach the threshold, but only just, and entirely without language points. That is a thin margin and it leaves you with no room if any single item is assessed differently than we expect. Anabin lists your university, which is the thing that most often ends an application at this stage, so the foundation is sound.
Our recommendation is to spend ten weeks reaching A2 German before applying rather than applying now. That moves you off the threshold, and it is the difference between arriving able to hold a conversation at the immigration office and arriving unable to.
4. What we would do, and what we would not
- Confirm your Anabin status in writing before anything else
- German to A2, then rescore before applying
- German format CV, and the full document checklist by lead time
- Apply to jobs on your behalf. You apply, we prepare you
- Promise an interview, a job offer or a visa decision
This assessment is based on the criteria published at the date of issue and on the information you gave us. It is not a guarantee of any outcome, and it is not legal or immigration advice. Rules change, so verify against the official source before acting.
How we behave
Six rules we work by
- 01
Everything is in one folder that you keep
Documents, drafts, checklists and call notes, in a folder you own from day one. If you stop working with us, or we stop working with you, it stays yours. Nothing is held hostage.
- 02
Calls are fortnightly and they have an agenda
Sent the day before, with what we need from you on it. A call with no agenda is a call that exists to make you feel looked after rather than to move the file.
- 03
You submit, always, in your own name
We never hold your portal credentials, never submit as you, and never act as your representative. It is your application and your legal responsibility, and it should look that way from the inside.
- 04
The scope document is the contract
One page, signed before payment. If something is not on it, it is not included, and if we think something should be added we tell you what it costs before doing it.
- 05
Bad news arrives early
If we think a route has stopped being realistic, you hear it on the next call rather than at the end. That is the whole reason you are paying us rather than someone paid by a university.
- 06
One named person owns your file
Named on the scope document. If that changes, we tell you and we say why.
Your side of it
What we need from you
- 01Accurate information, including the parts that are inconvenient. We will not work on a file we believe to be untrue.
- 02Documents when we ask, because most of them have lead times and several expire.
- 03Two to four hours a week during active phases. Less than that and the timeline stretches.
- 04Your own writing where the work has to be yours, particularly the statement of purpose.
- 05A reply within a few days. If we cannot reach you for 60 days we close the file.
- 06Telling us when something changes: a new job, a marriage, a refusal, a change of mind about the country.
What we are not good at
We are a new company. We do not have a decade of case history, a network of contacts inside universities, or an office you can walk into. If those things matter to you, they are real reasons to choose someone else.
We do not handle appeals, judicial review, or regulated immigration advice for Canada and Australia. We are not a recruitment agency: we prepare you to apply and we prepare your file, but we do not apply to jobs on your behalf and we cannot promise an interview or an offer.
We are slower than a consultancy that processes applications at volume, because two review passes take longer than none.
What we are good at
Reading published criteria carefully and applying them to one specific person, which sounds unremarkable until you find out how rarely it is done.
Building a file that does not contradict itself, which is what prevents most of the refusals we have read about.
Telling you the truth when the answer is inconvenient, which we can afford to do because no university pays us.
German, in particular. It is the single largest lever on every German route and the thing people most often postpone.
The full commercial terms are in the refund and scope policy, and how we earn money is set out on how our pricing works.
What happens next
Find out what your actual chances are, in writing, for nothing
Thirty minutes on video, then a written note within two working days with our honest read on your options. If the answer is that this is not the right year for you, that is what the note will say.
- 01Free assessment
- Thirty minutes on video with the person who would actually handle your file. Education, work history, language levels, savings, timeline. We tell you which routes are open to you and which are not.
- 30 minutes, no cost
- 02Written plan with your realistic odds
- Your profile scored against the published criteria, the routes worth pursuing, the total cost including every fee that does not come to us, and our honest read on your chances. Some of these plans say the answer is no.
- Within 2 working days
No obligation to buy anything, and we will not call you repeatedly afterwards.