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A question to the helpful MARA agents here or anyone who is knowledgeable. When using an agent to lodge an EOI and eventually the visa application, as a client, is one able to view what has been submitted right from the EOI? Is this something that agents offer their clients or are meant to offer? How does the client stay on top of their application process - it is their life so a bit invested in the process as you’d imagine. Thanks

I'm looking for an experienced agent to speak with to help put together an application with the AITSL.

Hi has anyone ever heard of or ever worked with Australia Immigration Professionals? They are a registered MARA and what sort of charges have your agents charged AIP is charging US$6500

Agent fees Why fees vary Under the Code of Conduct for registered migration agents, the amount your agent charges (fees) must be fair and reasonable. Your agent will set their fee based on your circumstances. Agent fees vary and depend on: Your visa application type. The amount of time it will take to prepare your application. Some visa applications take longer to prepare than others. You can check how much your agent might charge you in the list of fees in the Agent fee data table below. The level of service you need. If you need extra help or have complex circumstances. For example your agent might charge more if you have dependants on your application (such as children). The experience and qualifications of your agent. If your agent is a lawyer or has many years of experience, their fees might be higher. If your agent’s fees seem too high, discuss this with them before signing a contract. Consider talking to a few agents about their service and fees, before you choose one and sign a written contract with them. Agent fee data Every year, agents give the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority information about the average fees they charge. This table represents the range of fees charged by registered migration agents for the period 1 January to 31 December 2015. It gives you an idea of how much you might pay an agent to help with your visa. Agent fee data - 1 January to 31 December 2015 Temporary visa services Bridging visa Business (visitor) Graduate - Skilled Other temporary resident Other visitor Student Student Guardian Temporary Graduate Temporary Non-business Temporary Work Skilled (457) Tourist Working Holiday $150 - $700 $500 - $1,500 $900 - $2,200 $550 - $2,800 $400 - $1,500 $500 - $1,650 $500 - $1,800 $900 - $2,200 $500 - $3,500 $1,800 - $5,000 $300 - $1,000 $200 - $1,100 Permanent visa services Australian Declaratory visa Business Skills Child Migration Employer Nomination Scheme General Skilled Migration Humanitarian Offshore Onshore Protection Other Skilled Parent Migration Partner Migration Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme Returning Resident Skilled Independent Special Migration $500 - $4,000 $4,000 - $15,000 $1,100 - $3,300 $2,000 - $5,500 $1,500 - $4,400 $1,200 - $3,500 $1,500 - $4,000 $1,500 - $4,500 $1,500 - $3,800 $500 - $4,000 $2,500 - $5,500 $500 - $2,000 $1,800 - $4,000 $1,600 - $4,400 Other New Zealand Special Category visa Review Application $500 - $3,500 $1,300 - $5,000 Note: These fees are in Australian dollars and include Goods and Services Tax (GST). These fees do not include visa application charges payable to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). Initial consultation fees Many agents will meet with you in person or by telephone to provide general information and answer your questions before you sign a written service agreement with them. This is an initial consultation. Some agents do this for free and others charge for this service. Those who charge must tell you in writing how much you have to pay before your meeting (in person or by telephone). Agreement to Services and Fees Before starting work, your agent must provide you with a written estimate of fees you will be charged for their services. The estimate of charges will include: professional fees, either by the hour or by the service disbursements (these are other costs such as visa application charges). You should accept these financial terms in writing through an ‘Agreement for Services and Fees’. This agreement must include: services to be performed fees for the services (either charged per service or per hour) disbursements (money paid by the agent on your behalf, such as a visa application charge). Do not pay your agent until you have read, understood and agreed to the Agreement for Services and Fees. Payment in advance or on completion of services Some agents charge by asking you to pay in advance into their clients’ account (see below). Some only charge when their services are complete. Clients’ account Before your agent can take their fee, they have to give you a written statement of services. The statement must show: the work your agent has performed how much your agent charges—by service or by hour. The statement of services must match what your Agreement for Services and Fees says. A flowchart comparing how your money is handled by your agent if paid before or after services is provided is in this guide. Guidance for Registered Migration Agents: Parts 5 & 7 of the Code of Conduct (169 KB PDF) Clients' account If your agent charges you before services are completed, they must have a bank account called a ‘clients’ account’. This has to be separate from their business accounts or personal bank accounts. When your agent takes money from you before providing services, they are holding on to it for you. They must deposit it in the clients’ account and they cannot use it unless they need to pay for something on your behalf, such as your visa application fee. Your agent can only take money from the clients’ account to pay for their professional fees once they have completed a service or a large amount of work, and provided you with a statement of these services. Changes to your fees Your agent must give you written notice of any change to the amount they will charge for providing you with services. Your agent has to do this as soon as they become aware of the change (for example, extra work your agent did not know about when they agreed to work for you). Your agent must not carry out work for you in a way that unnecessarily increases the cost of the work, for example by seeking advice from specialists when not needed. Fee disputes

Are these fees unreasonable?

Hi everyone,

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I hope its ok to start up a new thread like this.... I contact a MARA agent to help with the confusing and ever changing visa situation. His help was invaluable. Unfortunately my occupation (student Counsellor) is now only on the STSL but it is on the QLD list of occupations shortages. I asked about doing an EOI for QLD (with a view to a 190 visa) and this was his reply: While you can complete an EOI and in theory be selected from SkillSelect by an employer interested in your skill set, in reality this is government rhetoric and there is no reliable evidence to show that this process works. I wondered what people thought and whether anyone on here has or knows someone who has been successful via EOI and skillset? Instead I'm going out to volunteer in a community centre (ie proper volunteer position) on a tourist visa and see if I can find a sponsor. If anyone also has any advice on getting sponsorship whilst in Australia I'm all ears! Many thanks Kat

Hello All! My first time on the forums, I'm quite excited, yet daunted by this whole process! I need a Statement of Service from my employer. I've drawn up something that looks like this: Statement of Service Mr X is currently employed full-time (around 35 hours per week) as a Fitness Centre Manager from January 2010, in a permanent role and his employment is ongoing. Mr X's salary is in the range of circa £10,000 anually. While working at our company, Mr X has been working on the following duties. A few of the duties are listed, include, but are not limited to: Ø Cash register reconciliation & cash management Ø Staff induction and training Ø Pool Lifeguard - Apply first aid & Operate an automatic defibrillator in an emergency Ø Monitor pool water quality Ø Maintain stock levels of retail goods while hitting sales targets for the same Ø maintaining customer service standards & Advise on products and services offered Ø Follow occupational health and safety policies Ø undertaking administrative tasks Ø promoting and marketing the business Ø dealing with enquiries, complaints and emergencies Ø Manage a small team Ø Work in a socially diverse environment I can confirm that the above tasks were completed to industry standards. Signed, Centre Manager (For Worcester City) Contact Number I've seen mention of Units of Competency. How do I find out what the UoCs for a Fitness Centre Manager are? I was wondering if anything needed to be included in this letter? Also, I would like to hire a good immigration agency to make sure this works out for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? I think December is a really bad time for all this, but hey ho, that's how it goes I suppose! Thank you in advance!

I have over 10 years of experience in ICT mainly in web development and online marketing but do not have an ICT related qualification. I have to get an RPL assessment done before I can apply for any kind of immigrant visa. I checked the ACS website. There is a lot of information there but since I have a very diverse experience I'm not sure which skill code should I apply for. Any help and guidance will be much appreciated. I can share my resume if required. Also, if there are any recommended MARA agents who can guide and assist me in RPL assessment application, it will be great!

Hi, Happened to see a couple of threads from folks who are having all manner of troubles with their agent. Got me wondering if we could have a thread on here for each agent we have experience with and what the experience has been like. If the agent is on here, they could respond as well. Kind of like trip advisor but for MARA agents. It would really help in terms of agent selection and maybe even make them more accountable. Not sure about the etiquettes and legalities of this. Perhaps the mods could pitch in there.

Here is the official sites of MIA and MARA registered agents http://mia.org.au/search-agent also check https://www.mara.gov.au/ Just search the name here for a MARA registered agent and soon u will know whether he is real or fake.If he is on the list, his MIA no and MARA number will appear . I just found this useful hence i posted it over here Beware of fake agents who can cheat you in the name of immigration. Regards, TIJO MATHEW

Hi, I had physical job verification and there was conflict for few of answer between my answer and my boss's answer. I was not present at work place during verification. what are the negative effect on my application???

Hi all, I am drafting this post with severe dissatisfaction from my agent who is not registered MARA agent as well as my case officer. Here I have briefly explained my situation in terms of the way it has processed from DIAC. I have applied online in September 2009 as a skill independent applicant (175) and my occupation was falling in CSL category(Country INDIA).I have found first update in document checklist on 15/12/2009 then after there was a complete silence from DIAC.I did my medical in early October 2009 and it finalized on 29/10/2010. In May 2010 I have approached to my case officer through mail and on the same day Form 80 and 1221 was requested from him. Then after my employer received job verification call just after 5 days from submission of Form 80 and 1221(on 15 May 2010). In July 2010 I have submitted my PCC on the same day status of work experience and specific work experience has changed to "Further checking Required". Still it shows the same status "Further checking Required". From May 2010 to till date I have inquired about status of my application once in every month.But every time I got same reply from my case officer that my application is under routine process.Here I have pasted last received reply form my case officer. Dear Client, Thank you for your email in relation to your visa application under Australia's General Skilled Migration program. At present your application is undergoing routine processing. Unfortunately, ensuring all the legal requirements are met in relation to an application can take some time. Please note that in an attempt to strengthen the integrity of the General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa categories, the department is increasing the level of verification of documents received from applicants for GSM visas. As a result of this increased verification there may be some delays in finalising applications. We appreciate your patience in this matter. You should not undertake to re-do any expired clearances until you are requested to do so by a case officer. Regards Please help me and suggest me that should i use complaint box of DIAC?

Hi everyone 24 November 2010 was a red letter day for registered migration lawyers, agents and visa applicants - it marked the first successful proceeds of crime action for migration fraud, sending a strong warning that illegal operators in the migration industry will not be tolerated. A Western Australian woman was ordered by the District Court to pay the Commonwealth $50,000 for allegedly practising as an unregistered migration agent. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) launched an investigation into the woman after receiving a complaint from one of her clients. The woman was found to be acting without accreditation as a migration agent for dozens of individuals or businesses on temporary skilled migration matters. DIAC says that people with information about migration scams or illegal operators should phone DIAC’s Dob-In Line on 1800 009 623 or visit the department’s website: www.immi.gov.au/contacts/forms/services/services-form.htm Source: Media Release, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship “Migration fraud will not be tolerated” 24 November 2010

Hi All, I have doubt regarding document checklist for south Australia's state sponsorship. I am offshore candidate and I am going to apply for state sponsorship for south Australia. Should I have to send copy for proof of fund along with other document? or Should I send proof of fund when they will request to do so? because document checklist doesn't mentioned about proof of fund for offshore candidate. It shows only for international student for financial support from their parents. please guide me. thanks. regards, tejas

Gday all The information about whether the agent's contact details given are for the agent's Primary business location or Secondary business interest has now gone missing on the MARA website. Why don't DIAC/OMARA ever think to ask agents if the info is displayed as required? Agents are obliged to list all their immigration business interests and say where is their main (Primary) office. The info used to be in the pdf files, now it's gone again. :policeman:

Hi All The latest version of the above is here: MARA - List of registered migration agents I want to know which Registered Migration Agents (if any) currently claim to be associated with Global Visas in London. So I cllicked on the link to the G to M section of the latest (and now only) version of the Register. Within about four entries the thing offered me names beginning with S. If it is searchable, I do not understand how to search it. Can anybody help, please? Many thanks Gill

I am an April 2008 175(C# specialist) applicant with IELTS 8 and without a CO. I have applied through a MARA agent. From the beginning the agent was reluctant to collect information from DIAC and relying on the application to take its own course. Forums have provided valuable information to us. We passed the same info to agent but still he kept delaying till late April 09. Only then he called up DIAC and DIAC informed him about a mistake in Occupation entered in my application. It different from ASC approved assessment occupation. He then had sent 1023 form to correct the same, which again was not informed to us and so, that has gone without my signature. Now I am unsure about the current status of the application. He even hesitates to send PLE's inspite of repeated pleading. I am thinking of discontinuing with him by filling the relevant forms and taking up things under my control. Wanted to know if there are any pros and cons for doing so, at this point in time. Please advice.

hi gill Just thought I let you know that I received an email today from Chris Thompson of Mara. Good news my complaint along with two others have led to a decision in our favour. Not sure whether I can post all info on here, but the report is available on the Mara site. I really want to get my money back now - so anyone who knows of a solicitor familiar with this sort of case, I would be most grateful of suggestions. I would like to thank Gill for supporting me with this and hopefully my next good news might come from The tribunal. Regards tonia

hi everyone, I have recently applied for Migration Agents registration with MARA and received a notice of 'intention to refuse application' on the grounds of Section 289A of the Act, as my application was 1 day late. However before the lodgment I spoke to MARA Infoline and stated the whole situation. As the last date was a Sunday, the operator advised me if MARA can receive my application by next working day then it should be okay. I sent the application by express post and MARA received it on the next working day but now they are asking me to give them a submission that why they should not cancel my application as they did not recieve it one day earlier which was Sunday. If someone has any idea about it could you plzzz help me out here....... and yes please pardon me if I am in the wrong forum......

Can a registered migration agent actualy certify documents? I have checked the DIAC and the ANMC web sites and they both clearly state who can certify documents. I have been informed thet agents are alowed to certify documents, I don't think so, does anyone know if they are allowed to or not?