Is Your Agent Migration Agents Regulatory Authority Qualified

How to Choose a Good Visa Service Provider.

In Australia we normally refer to a Visa service provider as a Migration Agent. These are professionals that help people who are seeking to obtain a visa to enter Australia, in return for a fee. Most will be qualified and should be registered with the Migration Agents Regulatory Authority. However, this is not a legal requirement and anyone may help you apply for a visa.

It is usually better to engage someone who is qualified and really knows what they are doing, as it can be a complex process. There are often many hurdles to overcome in order to obtain a visa and you don’t want to make any unnecessary mistakes. These could cost you dearly as they may involve giving an unfavourable impression about you to the authorities; something you had no intention of doing but did inadvertently anyway.

What is the Migration Agents Regulatory Authority?

As with most professions, there is a professional body that sets standards of practice and a Code of Conduct. It is to an agent’s advantage to be registered with this body. However, in order to be registered they must meet the qualifications and standards required by that body. The official body is known as the Migration Agents Regulatory Authority.

Australia has had some form of regulation in this industry for a long time now. From time to time it has been improved or tightened up and, again, just recently. The main focus of the latest changes has been to remove the total self-regulation of the industry. This self regulation has caused concern to many and harmed the image of the profession, so people haven’t had the level of trust in these professionals that the Government would like them to have.

As migration decisions are life-changing and involve considerable financial and emotional investments on behalf of the prospective migrants, it is important they have confidence in the professionalism and integrity of their migration agent.

If you will go to the website of the Migration Agents Regulatory Authority, you will find a lot of information to help you. If you have a visa service provider in mind that you would like to engage, you can do a search on the website against that person’s name. You will be able to find out if that person is registered or not.

What is the Code of Conduct that ALL Visa Service Providers MUST abide by?

The Migration Agents Regulatory Authority has established a Code of Conduct that all Visa service providers are required to adhere to. If they don’t comply with this Code and are discovered then they may lose their registration.

Without going into the whole code in detail, there are some interesting items that are worth looking at. For example, they are required to have a sound knowledge of the Migration Act and Regulations. Policy changes can have an enormous impact on applications so you want to ensure your Agent is up-to-date with all amendments. As an example, if you are seeking a skilled migrant work visa you want to be sure that your category of work is still on the SOL, i.e. the Skilled Occupations List.

A registered agent is not permitted to act for someone if they have a conflict of interest and that includes anyone they might intend to go into business with.

Visa service providers are often dealing with vulnerable people and so they are in a position where they could easily take advantage of these people, without those people being aware they’re being “taken for a ride”. There is no scale of fees but that does not necessarily mean that they can charge whatever they like. Under the Code of Conduct they are required to charge what is reasonable in the circumstances. Of course “what is reasonable in the circumstances” allows for a lot of difference from one visa service provider to another. To find out if there is a general level of fees being charged, or an industry standard for a particular service, you should ring around and get some quotes so that you can make comparisons.

Skilled Migrant Work Visa.

If you want a skilled migrant work visa, then it is advisable to engage a visa service provider, as it can be a very complex process. On the other hand, if you want an Australian student visa you may be able to simply apply on-line and may not need to engage a visa service provider. With a skilled migration work visa, there are numerous hurdles to overcome and you will find the process much easier with the help of a professional agent.

If you are contemplating using a non-registered visa service provider, be cautious and ask them about their qualifications and their experience and look for some evidence. Also, ask them why they are not registered.  Having said all that, however, it gives the public a measure of confidence if visa service providers are registered with the Migration Agents Regulatory Authority.