pinkpheonix

i applied with global visas in 2008 for a visa for my self and family under the skilled, state sponsored, i passed my vetasses etc our papers submitted by global in oct 2009. they have never emailed me any updates regarding any changes that may effect our visa, i was always being told by a friend who had her own agent, and was at the same stage as ourselves, after about 5 different agents dealing with our case or whom none had never read our case file i now find out that they have put us in as a family sposorship, we have never asked for this or asked any family member to sponsor us, every email recieved from there selves states that we were at catogory 2 as we were state sponsored. now they ar dening we were ever state sponsored or never put in for it, i remember paying it for the 3rd time as they said they didnt pass on the card details etc, my agent told me it had gone through, now they are saying we diodnt pay there fee for it and never asked for state sponsorship, although i have every email from them, they have entered detail of my children wrong and are trying to say its my fault, i asked them , if they thought that i was family sponsored surley they would have sent forms to the mysterious uncle who was to sponsor us, to fill in, wouldnt they have noticed them missing after a year, when it was submitted i asked them 3 times if there was anyother documents needed to send to them like defacto, i was told twice no the 3rd time in capitals no, i do not need send any they had everything, now i am being told a year later i need to. sorry they missed it. i was told once when i had asked for information that i had been missed placed in a reallocation. now they want to send me forms all over again, wont tell me where my payment is i made, wont rectify any of there mistakes, and the only answer i get is , i know its frustrating, frustrating i want to ring there necks, they take over a week sometimes to answer emails, and i was even told not to phone, i had the agent and the case manager go over my file today and they found everything messed up. now todaqy i found hundreds of complaints about them how they have fleeced themout of hundres, i paid £1,700 thats not including immigration papers. what do i do.???

Marocco

1. You should never use an "immigration agent". These people are not qualified immigration attorneys, they just take your money and (if all goes well) fill in the forms for you.

2. You can either forget it and consider it a lesson learned, or take them to small claims court.

Pollyana

If the agent you used is registered with MARA then you need to contact them with your complaints.

If not, probably not much you can do. Thats why we always recommend if people are using an agent, make sure they are registered with MARA, then they have to adhere to certain standards, and you have some comeback.

Pollyana

For Australian immigration you need to use a "Registered Migration Agent" if you use anyone at all, not an ""immigration attorney" - I believe that term is usually applied when dealing with US immigration, which is very different from Australian.

Dorothy

In Australia the term is "Migration Agent". Attornies are not necessarily MARA registered, and therefore are not allowed to give migration advice in Australia. The only people who can give advice (and take a fee) are MARA registered Migration Agents

Why would the OP take someone to small claims court? If their agent is MARA registered he/she would contact MARA www.themara.com.au and follow the complaints procedure there.

Before you go spouting off you should probably know what you're talking about.

oz_dreamz09

after getting to know about the experience of many like the OP, I feel it is always better to do some research and DIY than to blindly trust an agent if your case is not very complicated. For a complicated case, one needs to actually research about good migration agents, I have got in touch with agents while I was planning to apply for the visa and found that in many cases, they were not even as informed as I was regarding the latest info... I guess there are a few exceptions like George Lombard who is on this forum and is most of the times the first one to post or to comment about a new change from DIAC or the assessment agencies..

Weebie

to be a reg nigration agent all you have to do is complete a grad certificate at Uni. Hardly extra work.

Pollyana

Using a Registered Migration Agent gives the applicant some recourse to MARA if things go wrong. RMAs have to abide by the MARA Code of Conduct.
I don't know whether you are right about "complete a grad certificate at Uni" but there are other ways of ensuring that the agent you use is competent - such as previous case history, personal recommendations etc. I have also found through my years on this forum that a really honest agent will often recommend an applciant uses someone different if they feel someone else is more suited to the case. For instance, Peter Bollard is often recommended for medical cases - not just by people who have used him in the past, but also by other agents who acknoiwledge his skill in that area.

Dorothy

Really? Have you looked into what that certificate entails? And what it takes to maintain your registration afterwards? No? Thought not.

Pollyana

I would imagine even if its relatively straightforward to qualify, keepng up with all the policy changes, new laws etc would be a mammoth task. Hard enough to keep up with the main changes, never mind the details needed for more complex cases.

lloydk

This is very true. Most agents (even those highly recommended) had extremely outdated information. It was ridiculous.

pumpkin blossom

Too true! There don't seem to ba many exceptions.

pinkpheonix

when i first looked into immigration and read about people who are mara registered, i got a list from some expat forum, maybe poms in oz , i cant remember which one now, there were good review about them thats why i took them on. and global visas showed up as mara registered, now i cant find them on there list, if they are not registered now i will be reporting them to the mara and already have a comlaint form waiting, they even advertise that they are mara registered, when i looked before for reviews on them i couldnt find any bad now there are hundreds about the founder liam clifford fleecing money out of hundreds, our app has been submitted i have my trn number etc, but its completely the wrong application they have put, i am going to seek a lawer today.

Bermudashorts

To the best of my understanding it is not possible for an organisation to be MARA registered, the registration is only given to individual people. I could ne misinformed.

Global Visas might have some registered agents and they are a legitimiate organisation, however I am not sure I would direct somebody I know towards them, I think a more personal touch would be preferable IMHO.

Dorothy

No, Gloabal visas does not show up as MARA registered. As Bermuda says, only an individual can be registered. You said you have had communication from a number of individuals from Global. What is the name of the actual agent dealing with your file? It should be on the contract you signed or at least some of the communications between them and you.

IMO seeking a lawyer is not going to do you any good. You have not gone through the correct channels in the first instance, so what exactly is it you are hoping to achieve? Do you want a refund? Your application to be lodged correctly? A lawyer is not going to be able to get those things from you, however the office of MARA is. Did you look at the link I provided before? If not, read that before shelling out money for lawyers' fees.