Dodgy Migration Agent?

hi jeanpierre

he called me on an unlisted number

Ok thanks anyway but has anyone got refund from a credit card company?

Ok thanks anyway but has anyone got refund from a credit card company?

Different companies have different rules. You will need to speak to your own company.

The following appears on all my Service Agreements:

WARNING

The OMARA is an essentially useless office that is part of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and I have told them so repeatedly. With the stroke of a pen the minister can terminate them all as easily as s/he can terminate a perfectly valid visa application. The OMARA can do nothing about unregistered agents overseas or parliamentarians or DIBP officers who give, often incorrect, migration advice in Australia, or education agents who give catastrophically incorrect migration advice under the table. About all the OMARA can do, having received a complaint, is haul a registered migration agent over the coals - after the event. They cannot order repayment of money lost. They can do nothing when the minister (The Terminator) changes the rules in the middle of the game or one of his delegates or ‘designated authorities’ bungles your case. By the way, the ‘average fee’ misinformation published by the OMARA is just that.

The OMARA should be able to let you know who the professional indemnity insurer was for a RMA who was acting for you, although he Privacy Act might defeat such an FOI request. With all that, if an agent fails to inform the insurer about a claim or the likelihood of a claim, the insurer might have grounds to reject a claim; my insurer would. Insurers are good at collecting premiums and even better at avoiding payouts. You might want to take legal advice about who may lodge a claim, most likely only the insured entity.

Under the Code of Conduct RMAs can be compelled by the OMARA to attend mediation presumably ‘good faith’ would be expected. You might like to ask a solicitor what the consequences might be for a professional indemnity insurance claim, should an RMA say ‘in good faith’ anything that could be construed as an admission of liability.

Many years ago, before professional indemnity insurance for RMAs became mandatory I attended a session where the MARA (as it was then known) invited RMAs to a discussion about whether mandatory professional indemnity insurance should be introduced and if so, the amount that would be required. Vultures form insurance companies were present at this meeting offering to sign up RMAs for about 10 times what I have been paying. I have never made a claim and I do not know any RMA who has. I know of RMAs (including myself) who have not acted optimally and have advised clients - here is what I did - here is what I should have done - here is what I am doing about it. My cases involved reapplying pro bono for a skills assessment and lodging review applications pro bono where immigration got it wrong - I won them all. One of my colleagues who slipped up on a technicality, told the client what had gone wrong and lodged again pro bono.

May I suggest that you use a Freedom of Information request to get everything you can from the immigration department to find out for sure the status of your matter? The DIBP is pretty good with FoI requests and it will cost you nothing.

Just to clarify my last post, I understand that the MARA is now handling enquiries systematically and referring them as appropriate, some cases but not all may be brought to the attention of the MIA. So anyone affected by this situation should contact the MARA.

Cheers,

George Lombard

The following appears on all my Service Agreements:

 

WARNING

The OMARA is an essentially useless office that is part of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and I have told them so repeatedly. With the stroke of a pen the minister can terminate them all as easily as s/he can terminate a perfectly valid visa application. The OMARA can do nothing about unregistered agents overseas or parliamentarians or DIBP officers who give, often incorrect, migration advice in Australia, or education agents who give catastrophically incorrect migration advice under the table. About all the OMARA can do, having received a complaint, is haul a registered migration agent over the coals - after the event. They cannot order repayment of money lost. They can do nothing when the minister (The Terminator) changes the rules in the middle of the game or one of his delegates or ‘designated authorities’ bungles your case. By the way, the ‘average fee’ misinformation published by the OMARA is just that.

 

The OMARA should be able to let you know who the professional indemnity insurer was for a RMA who was acting for you, although he Privacy Act might defeat such an FOI request. With all that, if an agent fails to inform the insurer about a claim or the likelihood of a claim, the insurer might have grounds to reject a claim; my insurer would. Insurers are good at collecting premiums and even better at avoiding payouts. You might want to take legal advice about who may lodge a claim, most likely only the insured entity.

 

Under the Code of Conduct RMAs can be compelled by the OMARA to attend mediation presumably ‘good faith’ would be expected. You might like to ask a solicitor what the consequences might be for a professional indemnity insurance claim, should an RMA say ‘in good faith’ anything that could be construed as an admission of liability.

 

Many years ago, before professional indemnity insurance for RMAs became mandatory I attended a session where the MARA (as it was then known) invited RMAs to a discussion about whether mandatory professional indemnity insurance should be introduced and if so, the amount that would be required. Vultures form insurance companies were present at this meeting offering to sign up RMAs for about 10 times what I have been paying. I have never made a claim and I do not know any RMA who has. I know of RMAs (including myself) who have not acted optimally and have advised clients - here is what I did - here is what I should have done - here is what I am doing about it. My cases involved reapplying pro bono for a skills assessment and lodging review applications pro bono where immigration got it wrong - I won them all. One of my colleagues who slipped up on a technicality, told the client what had gone wrong and lodged again pro bono.

 

May I suggest that you use a Freedom of Information request to get everything you can from the immigration department to find out for sure the status of your matter? The DIBP is pretty good with FoI requests and it will cost you nothing.

so, I have a genuine question. Why is it always recommended to use MARA registered agents if the office who regulate them are effectively useless?

so, I have a genuine question. Why is it always recommended to use MARA registered agents if the office who regulate them are effectively useless?

Hi Isabel,

The bottom line is that it's the only consumer protection available. A registered agent must have professional indemnity insurance, must continually keep their knowledge up to date through undertaking appropriate continuing professional development courses, if receiving client funds must have an appropriate trust account, and is subject to character and other standards by which individuals and the profession generally may be judged. Occasionally the veneer of courtesy may tend to crack in social media but ultimately the role of the MARA is part aspirational and part regulatory.

The MARA does not exist to control unregistered agents, its role is to improve the performance of agents as far as possible, and fwiw it does seem to do that job as well as it can, given its resources and the environment in which it works. Mr Hoath - the agent whose activities generated this thread, has apparently fled overseas to avoid sanction. If the MARA were really toothless then it's surprising that he didn't remain in Australia.

Cheers,

George Lombard

Hi Isabel,

 

The bottom line is that it's the only consumer protection available. A registered agent must have professional indemnity insurance, must continually keep their knowledge up to date through undertaking appropriate continuing professional development courses, if receiving client funds must have an appropriate trust account, and is subject to character and other standards by which individuals and the profession generally may be judged. Occasionally the veneer of courtesy may tend to crack in social media but ultimately the role of the MARA is part aspirational and part regulatory.

 

The MARA does not exist to control unregistered agents, its role is to improve the performance of agents as far as possible, and fwiw it does seem to do that job as well as it can, given its resources and the environment in which it works. Mr Hoath - the agent whose activities generated this thread, has apparently fled overseas to avoid sanction. If the MARA were really toothless then it's surprising that he didn't remain in Australia.

 

Cheers,

 

George Lombard

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply George. I guess I just feel frustrated for the guys on here who seem to have done the right thing by choosing a MARA agency, albeit whose registration has now lapsed, and the best advice they're being given is to contact their credit card companies! Why' isn't the indemnity insurance or dedicated client account kicking in for them now!?

Hi Isabel,

Not a lot you can do about outright thievery from the clients (trust) account and it's shocking that he's on Facebook and apparently living it up but that's a police matter. Any form of restitution would take a long time which is why the credit card companies are the best option in the short term. Latest I heard there are over 100 applications affected. Of course, if he were unregistered, I doubt if even the credit card companies could help.

Cheers,

George Lombard

Hi Isabel,

 

Not a lot you can do about outright thievery from the clients (trust) account and it's shocking that he's on Facebook and apparently living it up but that's a police matter. Any form of restitution would take a long time which is why the credit card companies are the best option in the short term. Latest I heard there are over 100 applications affected. Of course, if he were unregistered, I doubt if even the credit card companies could help.

 

Cheers,

 

George Lombard

Hi George L

I have lodged my application to my credit card company and I'm not pretty sure of the success because it's not guarantee and even they said to me that I gave permission to my agent. I am worried lots, I need Some refund to restart my application.

i used his services back in 2012 and back then he was really onto things, appeared knowledgeable, replied to messages quick i assume everything you'd look for in an MA. then the second time around, he had gone bigger, opening offices around the world and was just inefficient. i also had paid him for his services and luckily he lodged my visa before going AWOL which means i haven't lost the departmental fee. i choose to appoint a different MA instead of doing it myself. so in the end i lost money time and feel very bad as i just could feel that something was not right. i shouldn't feel ashamed as I'm the victim, but i do. anyway, if he doesn't get sanctioned properly by the law, I'm sure something like karma or else will get him.

i hope that your issue was resolved TobyOsmond.

unfortunately many of us have been victim of his scam. i don't know if you could get your money back but do let us know if you did.

I'm curious to know if you managed to get your employee to obtain his visa.

just an update on Mark Hoath, immigration have started an investigation, they have pointed out the don't really have an powers to get peoples money back. so we may have lost everything we paid !! and been left with a big problem on our visa situation

we did have some good news, in that on our second application for work rights was approved and we are now getting back on our feet financial after been left dead in the water, so to speak.

i will keep you updated on the situation in time.

just an update on Mark Hoath, immigration have started an investigation, they have pointed out the don't really have an powers to get peoples money back. so we may have lost everything we paid !! and been left with a big problem on our visa situation

we did have some good news, in that on our second application for work rights was approved and we are now getting back on our feet financial after been left dead in the water, so to speak.

i will keep you updated on the situation in time.

That's wonderful new that you got your work rights.

has he fled ? he was on face book a few months ago ?

YES! he has stolen an excess of $10,000. I submitted all of our info - then the portal went off line. Has anyone began to take legal action? law suit? this guy belongs in prison

the government have started an investigation, you have to contact MARA .gov.au.

it seams they can not do a lot about the money he has stolen, we just have to right it off !!!! un less we want to risk spending more money on the courts ????? but we may still not get it back !!

as to the visa situation ! we don't even know what he submitted ! as we have no access to the account . he also lost me my work rights for the last year ! $$$$$$ but we did fight to get them 2 months ago and was successful , will still take time to re gain the losses .

as to mark hoath ! he has money a new bird and a new home !!!! but i bet he needs sleeping pills !!!!!

he was registered up till December 2015.

just saw a client with the same situation about this Mark...he paid for a 457 visa, didnt do what he was suppose to do within the 28 day period the application was refused.

Hi Everyone

Me and my partner at the time dealt with Mark a number of years ago. He processes our sponsorship which was great but then he completely messed us around with the PR. He submitted the visa without all the information and it was rejected , he then told us he would appeal and let the 28 days lapse, he then said he would re-submit the application free of charge as it was his fault and then told us that we don't have a valid case and he wasn't wasting his time or money re-doing it. He just left us high and dry....

Thankfully now 2 years later we both have our PR. Just wondering did anyone manage to successfully report him ? I just hope he can't practice anymore.

well the stress of dealing with Hoath and his company got to me and my partner in the end!   after losing our money ,work rights, job, and a lot of lost earnings , we split up 12 days before the made the decision , and now i have 12 days to appeal to the AAT !

it seams immigration do not take in to account any mitigating circumstances  at all ! and do not feel that if there immigration agent off their mara list ! steels your money that it has anything to do with them !!!! 

i can not believe a government agency can treat people like this !!!