Ann's daughter JJ was granted a temporary visa yesterday, giving her the opportunity to come to Australia to link in with her mother's push for permanent residency. It is a complicated and fraught process and understandably, most people opt to use an immigration specialist. Not I, of course!

In saving money there is another price to pay. The gathering and certifying of documents and the seemingly innumerable hoops that one has to jump through make completing an application a very stressful one. Even when submitted, there is the nagging doubt about its completeness and accuracy and mistakes are easily made. To be honest, we have only made a few and even then, it is the interpretation of documents and the requests within them - that is, their lack of clarity - that has usually prompted these errors. That's where a specialist is very useful.

I have enjoyed getting on top of a difficult task and showing Ann that I am competent. But if you are considering doing your own visa application, think long and hard about about getting help. It may be worth the expense.