An application for a temporary or a permanent Australian visa is far from a simple process – there are complex legal and policy requirements that must be satisfied if a visa is to be granted. Australian Migration Law is amongst the most complex legislation of it’s type in the world and changes frequently. Many visa applications are refused because applicants do not fully understand these requirements or fail to provide the Department of Immigration with all necessary information and documents – or put in applications that a based on a friend’s application – which was submitted before changes to migration Law were made.
Advice given by ‘education agents’ should be weighted against that agent’s own interests – are they paid by the institution they represent? Are there options other than student visas?
Unregistered ‘agents’ (even those who hold ‘ID’ from the department) are not required to adhere to the Code of Conduct – are not required to maintain any kind of legal knowledge nor are they accountable to OMARA or any other regulatory control.
Having a skilled and accountable Registered Migration Agent represent you throughout the application process will ensure that the application is prepared and presented in a professional manner and in accordance with current legal and policy requirements, giving you the best possible chance of having a visa granted in the shortest possible time.
What to expect from a Registered Migration Agent:
Migration agents registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) are required to:
-
- have a sound knowledge of migration law and procedure
- abide by a Code of Conduct.
All migration agents who are registered with the OMARA must:
-
-
- make clients aware of all costs & the expected time involved with their application
- inform clients as to the progress of their application
- provide clients with documented evidence of total costs of and the processes of their application
- keep all client information confidential
- not make misleading claims as to the likely success of the application.
- Registered migration agents are obliged to provide you with a copy of the Consumer Guide (English) (other languages), a document issued by the department which provides you with basic consumer protection information.
-
