I'm thinking of submitting an application myself as well (without going through agent). There is one particular thing I found tricky about the application - We have to get "employment reference letter" from all our current and past employers to prove that we're employed, and they may call up these employers to perform verification.

This means that my current employer will be aware of my plans - may jeopardize my career in terms of increment, promotion, etc

Anybody have any experience with this ?