“Should I use a migration agent?”

I’m often asked by prospective visa applicants whether they should use a migration agent to assist them with their Australian visa application.

My advice is that deciding whether to retain a migration agent is like deciding whether to use a tax agent to complete your tax return, or a lawyer to represent you in Court. Many people manage their own matters successfully; others are glad they obtained professional support.

Immigration is a life changing decision and should not be taken lightly.

In deciding whether to use a registered migration agent, you should carefully consider your ability to:

• Familiarise yourself with Australian migration law to the extent that you can identify and assess all the migration options open to you (and your family where relevant)
• Keep up with legislative and policy changes throughout the assessment period so you can take any steps required to ensure your application is processed as soon as possible
• Present your case to DIAC in the best possible light, particularly if you need to make a legal submission
• Prepare and submit a valid application
• Obtain a positive skills assessment, for the occupation that best suits your background, skills and experience
• Support your application with the correct documentation and, of course,
• The complexity of your case and the time you have to prepare and monitor the progress of your application.

The kind of services you could expect a registered migration agent to provide include:

• Identifying the visa or visas that best suit you and developing a strategy to obtain your visa in the shortest possible time
• Advising on the Department of Immigration’s eligibility requirements
• Assisting with skills assessments applications if required
• Identifying the documents you will need to submit to ensure your application is valid
• Preparing your visa application and a legally based submission to accompany your visa application where appropriate
• Lodging your application
• Keeping up with changes to migration law and policy to ensure your application is finalised within the shortest possible time
• Following the progress of your application through to visa grant
• Advising you as developments occur throughout the processing period
• Liaising with the Department of Immigration on your behalf
• Responding to all your questions throughout the visa assessment process
• Managing Migration Review Tribunal appeals and Ministerial intervention cases

If you do decide to use a migration adviser, I recommend that you use a MARA Registered Migration agent.

RMAs are bound by a strict Code of Conduct, have to study at the post graduate level and pass a rigorous entry exam to become registered, must be of good character and also have to undergo regular continuing professional development.

You can find out if your adviser is registered with MARA by visiting the Migration Agents Registration Authority and typing their name in the Register of Agents section of the Consumer Information link.

Tags: Australian visa, migration agent, RMA

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 10:22 am and is filed under Getting value from your RMA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.