Why You Should Not Use A Registered Migration Agent To Process Your Visa Application
Applying For Australian Visa On Your Own
Australia is one of the most livable countries in the world, with its beautiful beaches, friendly people, great weather and endless opportunities. A lot of people wish to migrate and call Australia home due to these reasons. If you wish to migrate to Australia you must consider a number of different visa options depending on your circumstances.
To understand those, you may engage the services of a Registered Migration Agent, they are professionals who possess in depth knowledge of visa application and process. All of their work is monitored by the Department of Home Affair in order to ensure professionalism and accuracy of their work.
A migration agent also must be registered at the Office of the Migration Agent Registration Authority and must adhere to MARA’s Code of Conduct. It covers a wide range of obligations such as their interactions to their clients, fees and charges. As part of the code, a registered migration agent is prohibited from giving any “positive guarantee outcome” of their work, as the outcome of the visa application is set by the Department of Home Affair.
It makes you wonder why you employ a service of a professional if they can not even guarantee 100% positive results to your visa application.
It makes much more sense to prepare the visa application yourself. If you are confident enough and you have plenty of experience and time, a do-it-yourself (DIY) visa application may be worth the risk.
Some of the benefits of doing your Australian visa application by yourself are:
1. Full Control of your Visa Application process
You will have full control, responsibility, and freedom of every decision. You may take your time and learn from the Department of Home Affair website to get the information required. You may participate at various online visa forums or even seek assistance from friends and family who have done the similar process.
2. Saves money
A “Decision Ready” visa application that is 100% correct and professionally prepared by a Registered Migration Agent is very costly. It may cost thousands and thousands of dollars for an application that will guarantee you NO REFUSAL.
The service of a professional is very expensive, but they will get the job done and remove all the stress and pressure from doing something that you know very little about.
By processing the visa application yourself, you are guaranteed to save money and if you are applying for a skilled visa, you are saving $3,000 up to $5,000 or even more, depending on your case’s complexity by doing this yourself.
Doing the visa application yourself is 100% cheaper and all you need to do is to pay for the visa charges.
What Happens If Your Visa Application Gets Refused Or Rejected?
Visa refusal is a nightmare for every visa applicant. You must avoid visa refusal at all costs. Now you have lodged the visa application yourself based on the guide and your research from the Department of Home Affair, online forums, and or information from friends and family.
You have followed all the procedures, provided supporting documents and even come up with your own checklist. At this stage you are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
So now let’s see what are the worst possible outcomes of the visa application?
1. Visa Refusal Steps
The first worst possible outcome of your visa application is a refusal. There is a fair chance that you miss something, whether it’s missing the deadline for submitting additional information requested or missing the submission of a piece of documents.
Believe us, this happens a lot! Even the smallest mistake could lead to a visa refusal.
So, what can you do now if your visa gets refused by the Department of Home Affair (DHA)?
- AAT Appeal
- In case your visa application is refused, you will be able to appeal but the process is time-consuming, confusing, and even more expensive.
- You may appeal for your visa application refusal or cancellation through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
- AAT is the only authorized body that can review the decision from the Department of Immigration. Generally, you will be given a set amount of time to appeal once you receive your refusal letter. In most cases it is 28 days.
- If you miss this deadline, you will lose your appeal merit thus the decision for your refusal is final.
- If you decide to appeal, it could take more than one year after you lodge your appeal for it to be processed. Once your appeal case is open, you can present additional evidence in order to support your case. The application fee to appeal for migration refusal through AAT is $1,826 or $952 for any character related decision refusal.
- Federal Court or Ministerial Intervention:
- What happens if your appeal at AAT has failed? You will then have two options: appeal to the Federal Court or ask for Ministerial Intervention. The first option is if you feel that there was a mistake in AAT’s decision. This includes an incorrect test used to determine your visa eligibility or an inappropriate or unfair procedure that was used when the decision was made. The latter, Ministerial Intervention, is if you feel that even though you do not meet the requirements for the respective visa, you have a compelling reason for it to be granted. You will need to have an extremely compelling case for both since it is a case-by-case basis which a registered migration agent can assist with. The Federal Court appeal cost may vary depending on the condition of your case. On the other hand, Ministerial Intervention does not have any cost but the successful requests are few and far between.
2. Longer Processing Time If Your Visa Refused
The waiting time will be the second worst outcome of your DIY visa application. As we mentioned earlier, you will only be given a very strict time limit to use your appeal merit. This time limit will vary depending on the type of your visa decision.
The AAT does not have any power to give extension beyond this time limit. Moreover, you can only appeal for your visa refusal once. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to not miss your appeal window. In addition, it could take up to two years until your refusal case is opened for a review by the Tribunal. Until then, you need to apply for a Bridging visa (E).
3. Higher Cost To Appeal Visa Refusal
There is a fair chance that you will need professional advice or assistance for your refusal. Why? The refusal letter that will be provided to you for your unsuccessful application will be filled with numbers of the violated or unsatisfied visa criteria explained by the case officer in-charge.
Depending on the complexity of your refusal, a professional assistance of a registered migration agent for your refusal appeal will cost you around AUD $5,000 up to $9,500. This is far above what would initially cost you if you were using a registered migration agent service for your visa application.
Read More: What To Do If Your Visa Application Refused
What Are The Benefits Of Using A Registered Migration Agent
As tempting as it may sound to manage your personal data and information as well as to minimise the cost of your migration decision, a DIY visa application comes with big consequences.
On top of that, in the middle of all the stress and despair, you will then find yourself wondering if you should have sought professional help from a registered agent in the first place.
Using the services of a professional and registered migration agent can benefit you in multiple ways.
Here is the reason why you must use a registered migration agent:
1. Registered migration agents are authorized to represent you
Registered migration agents are bound by a professional code of conduct. They are allowed to offer immigration assistance and advice.
They have an obligation to keep you well informed on your application and must act within your best interest. A registered migration agent can represent you more effectively and even can let you know your visa outcomes in a timely fashion.
Besides, the Immigration department always recommends visa applicants get help from an expert for their application due to the complexity of the process.
2. Up-to-date knowledge about rules and regulations
The process of a visa application is already complicated to begin with and can get even more complex after a refusal. Your application will be filled with legal jargon you don’t have an understanding of that a registered migration agent would.
While on the other hand, registered migration agents undertake continuing professional development to maintain their knowledge. They have information about the most recent migration policies and regulations. Ultimately, they have good and up to date knowledge of the latest immigration procedures and laws. They are better equipped to cope with them.
3. No misleading evidences that can lead to rejection
Hiring registered migration agents can have rest assured in the knowledge that you are working with best advice and your documents are in order. They will check your application properly and make sure that every additional request by the Immigration is met within the deadline. They really care for your outcome so they will be attentive to every detail of your application in order to ensure you get the best outcome as your success is their success.
4. No more additional stress of visa application refusal
With the ever changing visa regulations, the visa application process looks likely to be even more problematic and complex. Registered migration agents can do much more than just filling your application. The benefits of hiring a registered and authorized agent are substantial. Getting professional advice and assistance early on will give you the peace of mind to what would otherwise be a stressful and lengthy process.
5. Improving the chance for a successful visa application
There are so many documents to provide for a visa application, and years of experience in the industry have made a registered migration agent familiar with not only the required documents but also the supporting documents for your application. They understand this like the back of their hand. This will lead to easier and faster processing, thus improving your chances of being granted a visa.
6. It is cheaper compared to the cost of your application being refused
Having realised how much it will cost you for the lengthy and complicated appeal procedures, you will then automatically regret your decision to apply for a visa by yourself. The initial cost for hiring a migration agent to assist with your visa application would have been up to three times less than the total cost of the entire appeal process.
Conclusion
You can absolutely do your visa application by yourself but let’s revisit the advantages and disadvantages. Applying on your own means that you have the full control of your application. This includes managing your own documents and all personal related data. It gives you a fair chance to save your money.
However, a single mistake in your application and it will be rejected. The process for an appeal will take a long time and cost even more money.
Bearing the points above in mind, do you still want to take the high risk of refusal? Do you think you can handle the stress and complication of doing it alone? By using a registered migration agent service, who is by law authorised to represent you, your chance for approval of your visa application is greatly improved.
Not only that they will give you the best advice that is tailored to your circumstances, they will significantly reduce your stress and pressure in dealing with the already complex process. All in all, your money will be worth every penny.
So why risk your application if you can get the best outcome from an expert? Avoid the regret by doing it right the first time.
Convinced Enough?
We understand that applying for a visa to Australia is certainly very complex. It is even harder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our visa specialists at ONEderland Consulting will help you assess your visa options. We have a 98% success rate and one of the most recommended migration agents in Australia. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.
We specialise in complex visa cases. As a registered Australian migration agent with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), we are regulated in our professional practice and bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.
Take the first leap and get in touch with us. Our migration agents and our team are professional and honest. Our team members are also able to speak in various languages such as Mandarin/ Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, Polish, German, and Russian.
Contact us through email at [email protected] or via phone on 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you may book your consultation online and it is 100% refundable if you become our client.
