9 MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT USING AN OVERSEAS BASED (OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA) MIGRATION AGENT/LAWYER

1
9 MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT USING AN OVERSEAS BASED
(OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA) MIGRATION AGENT/
LAWYER OVERSEAS AGENTS HAVE CONTACTS IN THE LOCAL
AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY SO THEY ARE BETTER An
overseas agent may have been known in the local
Embassy but nowadays that is less and less likely
as, since the bombing of the Australian Embassy
in Jakarta, Indonesia and the increase in
worldwide terrorism the Australian government has
subcontracted out most visa receipting to private
companies based outside the Embassies and so the
local agent can often not even get into the
Australian Embassy regularly if at
all Bombing of Australian Embassy, Jakarta
9 September 2004 OVERSEAS AGENTS ARE CHEAPER AND
THEREFORE I SAVE MONEY If the cheapest agent is
your primary reason for who you chose as an agent
then good luck! We can probably find you an even
cheaper one in Sydneys Chinatown but whether he
will still be in business in 6 months is
debatable at best the cheapest are usually the
cowboys of the industry OVERSEAS AGENTS KNOW MORE
ABOUT VISAS BECAUSE THEY ARE OVERSEAS this does
not even make sense. All registered agents must
do a minimum amount of continuing professional
education every year to retain their license.
These courses are rarely offered overseas.
Furthermore, agents outside Australia do not even
need a license to give migration assistance so
they are unaccountable to Australian
authorities. OVERSEAS AGENTS ARE SAFER BECAUSE
THEY ARE LOCAL AND YOU CAN VISIT THEM with the
internet it is not necessary to visit any agent -
you can always visit us in Australia or we can
interview you by webcam. Furthermore, it is not
visiting an agent that protects you, it is their
license, experience and track record. Please read
about ours on our website www.australianimmigratio
nlawyers.com OVERSEAS AGENTS KNOW LOCAL
CONDITIONS BETTER THAN AN AUSTRALIAN BASED AGENT
once again, the internet has taken this
advantage away from local agents. We can Google
search anything within minutes and or contact the
Australian Embassy ourselves for answers on any
local matter. With our excellent reputation
worldwide we normally get relies from embassies
(except the notoriously slow New Delhi) with 24 -
48 hours.
2
OVERSEAS AGENTS ARE MORE HIGHLY RESPECTED IN
AUSTRALIAN EMBASSIES - not true at all. Any
immigration lawyer is respected due to the
length of time he has been an agent, his
reputation for honesty and his track record of
success not where his office is or where he
lives. Furthermore, in our experience over 15
years of successful migration applications as a
law firm, we also note that respect is given to
lawyers who know migration law as no immigration
officer wants to be proven wrong it is not good
for their career. OVERSEAS AGENTS ARE
REGULATED UNDER AUSTRALIAN LAW not true at all
see point 3 above. It is high time this myth
was exposed for what it is a myth. OVERSEAS
AGENTS CAN BE TRUSTED MORE AS THEY WORK IN THE
LOCAL COMMUNITY OVERSEAS If this were true
where would the expression an inside job have
come from in relation to bank robberies and the
like? Often, the locals are the most dangerous as
they think they can bribe Australian officials in
Embassies. In fact, in 2000 when Justin Rickard
was working with the Australian embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya he was told by officials there
that the Australian government was doing a secret
internal investigation to flush out rampant
bribery in that Embassy by local agents. Dont be
naive it does go on. OVERSEAS AGENTS SHOULD NOT
BE ASKED TOUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT THEY WILL DO
FOR ME ON MY VISA APPLICATION I AM BETTER TO
TURN A BLIND EYE not a good strategy when it
comes to something as important as your
migration. Here are some tough questions to ask
(we can provide more if you need them) I. Are
you a practising lawyer as well as a registered
migration agent or just a migration agent? If you
are not a lawyer, why not? How will you deal
with legal issues on our case? II. How long have
you been practicing in the area of migration
law? III. How many cases have you had approved?
If less than 50O, then why? IV. Can you give me
any authentic written testimonials with contact
details of any of your clients with cases the
same as mine that you have had approved? If not,
why not? V. What percentage of your cases is
approved? If less than 95, then why? VI. Have
you ever done a case the same as mine? What
happened? Was it approved? If not, why not? I.
Will you take a percentage of your fee only when
my case is approved? If not, why not?