Are we getting the best from our Migration Agent???

[jillabong]

Hi All

 

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a little advice/insight,

 

we have appointed a migration agent to help in this minefield that is migration (and our dream) and it seems to me that they are not living up to their promise,

 

-we never hear from them unless we email them, even though there are always changes happening (they did not even let us know that the new SOL was out)

 

-I am not actually sure if our SS was sent to DIAC in time as agents have never sent us any proof or acknowledgment (when I went onto the SA tracker to check it said nothing and when I entered our TRN ref only then did it say it was acknowledged) this is of great concern to me, when we emailed agents to check it was all done they just said that SA do it, but I was under a different impression???

 

As most of you will understand I am feeling very worried and apprehensive about everything, especially with all the new 'cap and cease' business going on...... and really feel that we should be kept a bit more updated by our agents, that at the very least they could let us know when changes happen (even if they don't affect us), and that things are still ticking along. After all we have paid them a fair deal of our hard earned savings!!!!!

 

I know this is a long process and that things are moving very slowly at the moment and we are all in the same boat, but I would greatly appreciate your experience of how your migration agents are and what sort of contact they keep with you and whether they update you to the changes that keep happening etc???

 

If it wasn't for PIO I wouldn't know about any changes and just wanted to say to you all 'thanks so much' , and here's keeping fingers crossed for us all :wink:

 

Now lets just hope my head doesn't explode before our visa is granted!!!!!:arghh:

 

Many Thanks in advance

 

Jill

 

------------------

 

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009 (Cat 5, LR)

[Ozzieland]

Hi All

 

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a little advice/insight,

 

we have appointed a migration agent to help in this minefield that is migration (and our dream) and it seems to me that they are not living up to their promise,

 

-we never hear from them unless we email them, even though there are always changes happening (they did not even let us know that the new SOL was out)

 

-I am not actually sure if our SS was sent to DIAC in time as agents have never sent us any proof or acknowledgment (when I went onto the SA tracker to check it said nothing and when I entered our TRN ref only then did it say it was acknowledged) this is of great concern to me, when we emailed agents to check it was all done they just said that SA do it, but I was under a different impression???

 

As most of you will understand I am feeling very worried and apprehensive about everything, especially with all the new 'cap and cease' business going on...... and really feel that we should be kept a bit more updated by our agents, that at the very least they could let us know when changes happen (even if they don't affect us), and that things are still ticking along. After all we have paid them a fair deal of our hard earned savings!!!!!

 

I know this is a long process and that things are moving very slowly at the moment and we are all in the same boat, but I would greatly appreciate your experience of how your migration agents are and what sort of contact they keep with you and whether they update you to the changes that keep happening etc???

 

If it wasn't for PIO I wouldn't know about any changes and just wanted to say to you all 'thanks so much' , and here's keeping fingers crossed for us all :wink:

 

Now lets just hope my head doesn't explode before our visa is granted!!!!!:arghh:

 

Many Thanks in advance

 

Jill

 

------------------

 

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009 (Cat 5, LR)

 

Hi... I think you are just a little anxious but I can't blame you, it is a scenario where you would like to know what is going on. The thing is that every thing is so uncertain and until DIAC say anything on their websit only will an agent come back because that will be the real truth !!

 

Processing times are a bit slow right now for anyone's liking and all we need to do is just wait and be patient. I know it is hard but just hang in there :biggrin:

[Jobo]

i can't really comment on whether you are getting a raw deal from your agent or not as i don't fully appriciate what is typical or not. however i can tell you that our agent called us on the day of the 8 May announcement to tell us the bad news that we'd missed the deadline (he couldn't get hold of us so e-mailed both our e-mail addresses). he then called us this Monday morning soon after arriving back from the DIAC conference/update presentation that George Lombard wrote a post about to expain what he had been told about the new SOL, cap and cease etc from DIAC that day.

 

perhaps we are just fortunate to have a very good agent who treats his clients like real people not numbers. Obvioulsy you are in the DIAC visa pipeline but you are potentially at risk of cap and cease (as you state you are cat 5) - there are 2 year's worth of applictions in the queue and if you are not on the new SOL what do you think the minister will do with your application? i know its all speculation but you'd hope your agents would at least e-mail you with updates.

 

All the best

 

J

[Que Sera Sera]

Hi All

 

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a little advice/insight,

 

we have appointed a migration agent to help in this minefield that is migration (and our dream) and it seems to me that they are not living up to their promise,

 

-we never hear from them unless we email them, even though there are always changes happening (they did not even let us know that the new SOL was out)

 

-I am not actually sure if our SS was sent to DIAC in time as agents have never sent us any proof or acknowledgment (when I went onto the SA tracker to check it said nothing and when I entered our TRN ref only then did it say it was acknowledged) this is of great concern to me, when we emailed agents to check it was all done they just said that SA do it, but I was under a different impression???

 

As most of you will understand I am feeling very worried and apprehensive about everything, especially with all the new 'cap and cease' business going on...... and really feel that we should be kept a bit more updated by our agents, that at the very least they could let us know when changes happen (even if they don't affect us), and that things are still ticking along. After all we have paid them a fair deal of our hard earned savings!!!!!

 

I know this is a long process and that things are moving very slowly at the moment and we are all in the same boat, but I would greatly appreciate your experience of how your migration agents are and what sort of contact they keep with you and whether they update you to the changes that keep happening etc???

 

If it wasn't for PIO I wouldn't know about any changes and just wanted to say to you all 'thanks so much' , and here's keeping fingers crossed for us all :wink:

 

Now lets just hope my head doesn't explode before our visa is granted!!!!!:arghh:

 

Many Thanks in advance

 

Jill

 

------------------

 

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009 (Cat 5, LR)

 

 

Hi Hun my advice would be to email your agent and tell them exactly what you have said here. Bear in mind the agents arent pychologists and some of their clients need 24/7 advice others just want to be contected when there is something to say. Our agent Go Matilda was fantastic whenever I emailed them with an issue, I had a response straight away. Good luck :wubclub:

[jillabong]

Thanks all for your replies

 

I neglected to mention in my previous post that when the 23 September 09 changes hit, which affected us in a massive way, our agents didn't even get in touch with us then, we had to send them an email to clarify.

I accept the fact that I am feeling very stressed out about everything at the moment (as many of us are), but I suppose the point I was trying to get across last night was that with changes happening all the time, and especially ones that affect us directly, I would expect our agent to keep us informed, after all this is what we pay them for is it not?

 

Again thanks to those that replied, and would love to hear from anyone else about their experiences with their agents and what type of contact they keep with you

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill

 

-----------------------------

 

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009

All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009

475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009 (Cat 5,LR)

[kevin jc]

Hi Jill

I was also very dissapointed with my agent, Much the same mine never got in touch to let us know of the changes and it's only being on PIO that i had kept up to date with events. I think they must have thought we had no other sources of information.

Although i will say my agents never dragged thier heels when it came to forwarding me bill's for no apparent reason.

The odd mail shot or email they sent us was at a cost of around £300 a time and info that was always at least a week or so after DIAC anounced it.

to sum it up we got charged almost £3,000 before i had even done vetassess, that does not included vetassess fee's too.

So we dropped them before i had to sell a kidney,,,Again,,

Im waiting for practical results and when they come in i will be getting in touch with Go Matilda.

 

By no means are ALL agents cash cows,,,,,but there are a few.

Give them an idea of how you feel about the way things are going and see how they react, they might go all out to help and happy days,,,,if not, take your money elsewhere.

Good luck

Kev

[Ozzieland]

Thanks all for your replies

 

I neglected to mention in my previous post that when the 23 September 09 changes hit, which affected us in a massive way, our agents didn't even get in touch with us then, we had to send them an email to clarify.

I accept the fact that I am feeling very stressed out about everything at the moment (as many of us are), but I suppose the point I was trying to get across last night was that with changes happening all the time, and especially ones that affect us directly, I would expect our agent to keep us informed, after all this is what we pay them for is it not?

 

Again thanks to those that replied, and would love to hear from anyone else about their experiences with their agents and what type of contact they keep with you

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill

 

-----------------------------

 

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009

All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009

475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009 (Cat 5,LR)

 

Jill...

 

I agree with KevinJC.

 

It is definitely not a good sign that your agent did not inform you of the Sep 09 changes more sol since they affected you. My agent is George Lombard and although he is a continent away from me, I have never got this feeling that I am not updated. Whenever there are changes, I receive a mail from his office. That's how it should be, at least a mail to let me know what is happening. Yes, PIO is a real blessing as there is a lot of first hand information which is required especially with so much happening around you.

[kevin jc]

Hello Again

 

would like to add that the two agents that seem to pop up most on here are Alan collett of Go Matlida and George Lombard, Good Choice Ozzieland, I wish i had found this site before i found an agent.

It seems those two Agents come recomended quiet alot on here, I think that is also as they contribute to the site and are always on hand to give general advice to us all.

Kev

[Guest Mango1402]

I've gone with Peter Chiam at PTLabs... Peter specialises in IT migrations, and I chose him for the number of recommendations that are floating around the internet.

 

If you are an IT specialist you could do a lot worse than Peter.

[kevin jc]

yeah i bet there are plenty of good agents and only a few that get spoken about for the wrong reasons.

Would be nice if there was a data base of happy clients or unhappy for that matter.

not to sure the bad agents or the ones that over charge would like that though.

lol maybe at the end of the day i was just that unlucky to find my first lot and the rest are all good poeple.

now that would be nice.

Kev

[Guest trigger]

Hi we where and still are [but not as bad] feeling the same way about things, but just take a step back and take a big breath of air. As im afraid this is the way it is. Just everynow and again keep on top of them with a few questions and that way it helps you that they are stil there. we have had all of your thoughts just keep concentrateing on your normal day to day life in the uk and you will get there. We have been waiting two years so far but got caught up with all the skilled visa changes. We had our state sponsership granted the end of feb and that gave us a great boost. And now we are just waiting for the next stage. We are all on a bit of a high at the moment as we are on our reccie trip visiting schools and looking at property.Keep with it we know exactly what you are going through you will get here one day.

 

Kind regards

[jillabong]

Thanks so much again guys for all your posts, will email our agents and give them a little piece of my mind.......with all the emotional turmoil we are already going through to get our visa's it's just a pity that we get even more from our agents!!!!

here's wishing some good luck for all of us, soon, please......... :err:

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill :wideeyed:

 

------------------

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

[Guest bindog1uk]

Hi Jill, we are not far from you in Newton Abbot, I work at Fermoy's. Where are you moving to. :wink: Lesley

[jillabong]

Hi Jill, we are not far from you in Newton Abbot, I work at Fermoy's. Where are you moving to. :wink: Lesley

 

Hi Lesley

 

lol, small world hey!!!! I am a frequent visitor to Fermoy's, especially in the winter for our coal..........and other tasty goodies!!!! :wink:

We are heading to Adelaide if all goes to plan, my folks and brother live in Brisbane, but our State Sponsorship is for SA, unfortunately OH job wasn't on QSL list, but at least being in the same country to folks will be better than on other side of the world!!!

Where are you guys hoping to end up?

 

Jill

 

-----------------

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Having visited two of the recent DIAC and MIA sessions on the recent changes, from speaking with many agents I can say two things with certainty:

 

a) agents are as overloaded with understanding the changes as anyone else, perhaps more so bearing in mind that the changes affect a number of their clients all in different ways and different reasons, so the workload for change is huge; and

b) agents are afraid of giving the wrong information to clients until they fully understand the issues. This is prudent, and only giving sound advice is required by the MARA code of conduct.

 

That said, everyone should get some sort of update from agents as the changes are made, even if it is just to say "wait a bit until we get clear on a few things".

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Jamie

 

a) agents are as overloaded with understanding the changes as anyone else, perhaps more so bearing in mind that the changes affect a number of their clients all in different ways and different reasons, so the workload for change is huge; and

 

 

If an agent can't understand changes quickly and explain them to a fee-paying client equally fast, then this agent isn't an "expert" and is nothing more than a mere scribe imho.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Hi Jamie

 

 

If an agent can't understand changes quickly and explain them to a fee-paying client equally fast, then this agent isn't an "expert" and is nothing more than a mere scribe imho.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

You'd rather a quickly put together guess than a properly prepared piece of advice? The agent has a duty to avoid the first. Donlt forget that agents deal with people in myriad different circumstances and on different visas. The best way, imho, is to say wait a bit and then send solid advice.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

You'd rather a quickly put together guess than a properly prepared piece of advice? The agent has a duty to avoid the first. Donlt forget that agents deal with people in myriad different circumstances and on different visas. The best way, imho, is to say wait a bit and then send solid advice.

 

 

HiJamie

 

If an "expert" - who is supposed to know the relevant Law inside out - is so slow about assimilating changes that the clients are told nothing for several weeks, that is a reason to complain to the MARA about poor service and lack of any genuine expertise in my view.

 

It is nonsense to stick up for people who don't know as much as they should know. George Lombard doesn't spend several weeks working out what something means, so what excuse does anyone else have for dragging their feet?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Jamie Smith]

HiJamie

 

If an "expert" - who is supposed to know the relevant Law inside out - is so slow about assimilating changes that the clients are told nothing for several weeks, that is a reason to complain to the MARA about poor service and lack of any genuine expertise in my view.

 

It is nonsense to stick up for people who don't know as much as they should know. George Lombard doesn't spend several weeks working out what something means, so what excuse does anyone else have for dragging their feet?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Hi Gill

 

George has the advantages of

 

a) years of experience with reading, understanding and applying changes of policy

b) long established contacts that can give a bit of a heads up from time to time

c) perhaps a slightly bigger business resource wise than other agents

d) a more stable client base and cash flow, built up over many years and across different visa types

e) an experience in applying those changes to his business

f) membership and resources of MIA and perhaps other institutions

 

I wouldn't compare an agent in George's position to someone like a sole trader who does not have the same Government service background and has lesser experience of change behind them and who is not MARN or MIA.

 

As you are well aware, not every agent is the same. Would you rather an agent acted with guesswork and uncertainty? You bag agents for doing that, yet here you want them to continue?

 

That said, there should be some type of time limit for when agents should be able to update clients with confidence. Those who still give wrong advice after several weeks should exit the industry.

[Guest trigger]

Hi Gill

 

George has the advantages of

 

a) years of experience with reading, understanding and applying changes of policy

b) long established contacts that can give a bit of a heads up from time to time

c) perhaps a slightly bigger business resource wise than other agents

d) a more stable client base and cash flow, built up over many years and across different visa types

e) an experience in applying those changes to his business

f) membership and resources of MIA and perhaps other institutions

 

I wouldn't compare an agent in George's position to someone like a sole trader who does not have the same Government service background and has lesser experience of change behind them and who is not MARN or MIA.

 

As you are well aware, not every agent is the same. Would you rather an agent acted with guesswork and uncertainty? You bag agents for doing that, yet here you want them to continue?

 

That said, there should be some type of time limit for when agents should be able to update clients with confidence. Those who still give wrong advice after several weeks should exit the industry.

a good useful post,wish i would of joined POI before we chosse our agent

[jillabong]

Having visited two of the recent DIAC and MIA sessions on the recent changes,

a) agents are as overloaded with understanding the changes as anyone else, perhaps more so bearing in mind that the changes affect a number of their clients all in different ways and different reasons, so the workload for change is huge; and

b) agents are afraid of giving the wrong information to clients until they fully understand the issues. This is prudent, and only giving sound advice is required by the MARA code of conduct.

 

That said, everyone should get some sort of update from agents as the changes are made, even if it is just to say "wait a bit until we get clear on a few things".

 

That is my point Jamie, we never hear anything from our agents, they haven't even as yet let us know about the new SOL, which has been out for quite a while now, and also they have not let us know anything about the 'cap and cease' and what might happen with that. I think both these changes are quite major and would have expected to hear about it from them?????

 

A quick question for you: do all agents go to these DIAC and MIA sessions?

 

 

Hi Jamie

 

 

If an agent can't understand changes quickly and explain them to a fee-paying client equally fast, then this agent isn't an "expert" and is nothing more than a mere scribe imho.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

We are not expecting the moon on a stick, but as you say Gill we are fee-paying clients and therefore expect a certain level of service. And never having done this before, using an agent, we are not exactly sure what is expected from them, hence I started this thread. I just want to be kept up to date with what is going on........

 

The best way, imho, is to say wait a bit and then send solid advice.

 

This would be perfectly acceptable if they ever sent us any advice

 

 

I wouldn't compare an agent in George's position to someone like a sole trader who does not have the same Government service background and has lesser experience of change behind them and who is not MARN or MIA.

 

That said, there should be some type of time limit for when agents should be able to update clients with confidence. Those who still give wrong advice after several weeks should exit the industry.

 

Our agents are a relatively big company (I'm not going to name names), their senior migration agent does a lot of work for a very big popular migration magazine that is sold in the UK, and they are MARN registered, also, they are based in Australia, so have no excuse for being behind the times!!!!!

 

I also agree that there should be some sort of time limit for updating clients, this should be drawn into our contracts and them we would know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

 

 

So all that said, Jamie and Gill, what do you think is the best way to proceed with my agents, because the way we feel at the moment I just want to go in' all guns blazing', but in all reality this is probably not the best way forward........do you have any suggestions? Any help is greatly appreciated,

 

Thanks to you all once again and for all the fantastic work you do for all us PIO, have a good day/sleep :notworthy:

 

Jill

 

--------------------

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill

 

George has the advantages of

 

a) years of experience with reading, understanding and applying changes of policy

b) long established contacts that can give a bit of a heads up from time to time

c) perhaps a slightly bigger business resource wise than other agents

d) a more stable client base and cash flow, built up over many years and across different visa types

e) an experience in applying those changes to his business

f) membership and resources of MIA and perhaps other institutions

 

I wouldn't compare an agent in George's position to someone like a sole trader who does not have the same Government service background and has lesser experience of change behind them and who is not MARN or MIA.

 

As you are well aware, not every agent is the same. Would you rather an agent acted with guesswork and uncertainty? You bag agents for doing that, yet here you want them to continue?

 

That said, there should be some type of time limit for when agents should be able to update clients with confidence. Those who still give wrong advice after several weeks should exit the industry.

 

Hi Jamie

 

It is well known that my opinion of the MARA-registered migration advice industry is that it should either be forced to pull its socks up and acquire some genuine professionalism in a hurry or it should be scrapped completely, in which case providing professional advice on matters of Aussie Immigration Law should be left to Australian-qualified barristers, solicitors and judges and not to anybody else.

 

There is no "third option" with this one because no client should be expected to pay for a service which is sub-standard or for so-called "professional" advice which is less than professionally and fully able when push comes to shove.

 

If some MARA-registered agents are so hopeless that you have to make excuses for them and to argue that since they aren't George Lombard, allowances should be made for them, the industry needs to clean itself up and to sharpen up its collective act- in a hurry. There is simply no excuse for taking money off a client unless you are 100% sure about what you are doing and saying, and what you are doing and saying is 100% up to scratch in every respect.

 

Unfortunately, far too many RMAs labour under the delusion that the whole thing is really only about sales targets. As long as their salesmanship is good enough for them to garner money off the client in the first place, they have zero interest in whether or not the client gets a good service in return for the money because they do not understand that aspect of the whole thing. Sales people simply sell the product - eg the new kitchen. They neither know nor care about the quality of the installation subsequently.

 

If I were Jillabong, I would give her Agents 7 days in which to pull their socks up dramatically or to face a formal complaint to the OMARA if it does not happen. If they don't pull their socks up then I would complain to the OMARA and be done with it. A formal complaint is guaranteed to secure their undivided attention immediately.

 

The OMARA's website is below:

 

https://www.mara.gov.au/

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[jillabong]

Hi Jamie

 

It is well known that my opinion of the MARA-registered migration advice industry is that it should either be forced to pull its socks up and acquire some genuine professionalism in a hurry or it should be scrapped completely, in which case providing professional advice on matters of Aussie Immigration Law should be left to Australian-qualified barristers, solicitors and judges and not to anybody else.

 

There is no "third option" with this one because no client should be expected to pay for a service which is sub-standard or for so-called "professional" advice which is less than professionally and fully able when push comes to shove.

 

If some MARA-registered agents are so hopeless that you have to make excuses for them and to argue that since they aren't George Lombard, allowances should be made for them, the industry needs to clean itself up and to sharpen up its collective act- in a hurry. There is simply no excuse for taking money off a client unless you are 100% sure about what you are doing and saying, and what you are doing and saying is 100% up to scratch in every respect.

 

Unfortunately, far too many RMAs labour under the delusion that the whole thing is really only about sales targets. As long as their salesmanship is good enough for them to garner money off the client in the first place, they have zero interest in whether or not the client gets a good service in return for the money because they do not understand that aspect of the whole thing. Sales people simply sell the product - eg the new kitchen. They neither know nor care about the quality of the installation subsequently.

 

If I were Jillabong, I would give her Agents 7 days in which to pull their socks up dramatically or to face a formal complaint to the OMARA if it does not happen. If they don't pull their socks up then I would complain to the OMARA and be done with it. A formal complaint is guaranteed to secure their undivided attention immediately.

 

The OMARA's website is below:

 

https://www.mara.gov.au/

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Thanks so much for that Gill, and that is exactly what we will do :biggrin:

So much appreciated and for everything else you do! Hope your having a good day.

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill

-------------------

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

[Smirfyduo]

Hi Gill

 

George has the advantages of

 

a) years of experience with reading, understanding and applying changes of policy

b) long established contacts that can give a bit of a heads up from time to time

c) perhaps a slightly bigger business resource wise than other agents

d) a more stable client base and cash flow, built up over many years and across different visa types

e) an experience in applying those changes to his business

f) membership and resources of MIA and perhaps other institutions

 

I wouldn't compare an agent in George's position to someone like a sole trader who does not have the same Government service background and has lesser experience of change behind them and who is not MARN or MIA.

 

As you are well aware, not every agent is the same. Would you rather an agent acted with guesswork and uncertainty? You bag agents for doing that, yet here you want them to continue?

 

That said, there should be some type of time limit for when agents should be able to update clients with confidence. Those who still give wrong advice after several weeks should exit the industry.

 

Jamie,

Sorry to put my 5 cents worth in here, but agents generally charge similar fees - from comments on PIO, George's rates are competitive, and his service is of an exceptionally high standard.

 

Are you saying that, even though I could pay a different agent around the same amount in fees, because they don't have the same level of experience as George, I should accept a lower level of service that what George provides?

 

I know you are aware of some of the issues I had, but I genuinely thought I had researched my choice of agent, and at the time knowing nothing of the migration process, (or PIO) I found a few things out the hard way. I understand not all agents have the legal background that people like George & others have - but surely if they should not be expected to provide such a high level of service, they should not be allowed to command the same fees that he can? That might make it easier for the simpletons like me to be able to discern an experienced and agent from a not so experienced agent?:wacko:

 

:wubclub:

Jules

[Guest Jamie Smith]

That is my point Jamie, we never hear anything from our agents, they haven't even as yet let us know about the new SOL, which has been out for quite a while now, and also they have not let us know anything about the 'cap and cease' and what might happen with that. I think both these changes are quite major and would have expected to hear about it from them?????

 

Hi Jill

 

I assume your current contact details are accurate at the agent in question ie not changed address etc.

 

In which case they are not doing a good job with you. I don't know your occupation but if it's not on the new SOL or you're not lilley to get C&C'd then the agent MIGHT have decided the news was not relevant and save themselves some time with all the other clients who might be affected more, I don't know. But they should really say hey it's out and bad luck you're not on it but at least you're not being ceased, if that's the case.

 

SOME communication would be good in these uncertain times, even if it's just "wait, please".

 

 

A quick question for you: do all agents go to these DIAC and MIA sessions?

No, only the ones who are a) MARA registered b) available and c) get invited and d) return their registrations before the place gets full (DIAC hired rooms that were too small for the last events, I registered the day I was advised and they were already full....but I gatecrashed becasue I know 5-10 never turen up for some reason.

 

 

This would be perfectly acceptable if they ever sent us any advice

Yes

 

Our agents are a relatively big company (I'm not going to name names), their senior migration agent does a lot of work for a very big popular migration magazine that is sold in the UK, and they are MARN registered, also, they are based in Australia, so have no excuse for being behind the times!!!!!

They might be overloaded with work to rehash some cases, on the other hand they should have the resources to redeploy for communicating the updates. It's also possible that the changes have slowed down client sign ups and the cash flow crunch has hurt their manpower levels, who knows?

 

But there should be some communication, I agree.

 

I also agree that there should be some sort of time limit for updating clients, this should be drawn into our contracts and them we would know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

Have another read, it should be that they are obliged to keep you updated in which caser you can remind them :-)

 

So all that said, Jamie and Gill, what do you think is the best way to proceed with my agents, because the way we feel at the moment I just want to go in' all guns blazing', but in all reality this is probably not the best way forward........do you have any suggestions? Any help is greatly appreciated,

Let them know that you're suprised to have heard nothing about how the SOL and C&C might affect you, and give them maybe 3-5 days to reply.