# Can Anyone Recommend A Good Migration Agent In Brisbane?



## drz (Sep 23, 2009)

I am looking for a 1 hour consultation to get a clear idea of how to proceed with my Australia visa options. 

Can anyone recommend a good (and affordable) MARA registered migration agent that may be able to assist me?

Thanks and kind regards, 

SZ


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Have you tried the Visa Wizard facility on Department of Immigration & Citizenship , blue panel on left.
No immigration agent is going to have a magical wand.

And nope, don't know of any.


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## elkitten (Jul 6, 2009)

Isn't there an immigration/DIAC office in Brisbane?

You can get appointments with an actual DIAC person and ask them questions and talk to them about your options--personally, from some of the stuff I have heard, I think its a much better idea to do the application yourself with the help of "real" immi people.

Otherwise, you can always call the immi helplines--sure you won't be face to face, but you can still get plenty of info out of them.

Do what wanderer said--the "Visa Wizard" so you can get some idea of what visa's you are eligible for and what you might like to try, then go talk to an immi person.

That's my advice =)


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## Susan Wareham McGrath (Sep 5, 2009)

Hi drz

I just had a quick look at your post from 23 September about your visa options - if you obtain a subclass 175 skilled migration visa, it will supercede your Working Holiday Visa. 

Quick disclaimer - this is only general advice, as I don't know your specific circumstances - but depending on the duration of your relationship and other eligiblity factors, you could also consider being added to your partner's visa which would also allow you unrestricted work rights.

Re your point above about speaking to a MARA registered migration agent, many agents do not charge for an initial consultation. 

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

Best regards
Susan


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## jjneufeld (Mar 15, 2009)

*Stay away from any migration agent*

I had a registered migration agent steal $6000.00 from me in NSW and I found out through immigration only 3 months later that my application was denied because he never paid the fees....go figure huh when I treid to call or email NO RESPONSE........A registered migration agent doesnt mean squat...they are not worth any money....YOU CAN do it yourself it's very easy....especially online. Let me give you the details

With agent: Stole 6000 bucks and 6 months went by lost time.

Then starting over

Myself: Applied online for sponsorship through WA.... and applied and paid the fee myself for DIAC subclass 176....the visa is in the final stages...and only 4 months

DO NOT USE AN AGENT>>>>>>>>>> THEY ARE OUT FOR YOUR CASH....

ALL THE PEOPLE HERE CAN HELP YOU.......


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## Susan Wareham McGrath (Sep 5, 2009)

Hi jjneufeld

I am a registered migration agent and am not just out for cash, nor do I steal $6,000 from clients. 

Like many other registered migration agents, I charge a reasonable fee for honest, quality, strategic work that presents my clients' applications in the best possible light.

I have assisted clients get visas when they thought there was no pathway and had almost given up hope. I spend hours posting on forums like this one for no fee, to assist people like you at no charge. And if, in my professional opinion, a client has no pathway, I refuse to take their case.

You are wrong - and, in fact, misleading readers by saying the visa application process is easy. It is not necessarily easy to obtain a visa. You are simply fortunate to have good English skills and be applying for one of the less complex visas.

Do you have a sick child that hasn't passed its medicals and need someone to lodge a detailed, precedent-based submission to DIAC? 
Are you 44 years old and concerned that your skills assessment won't come through in time for you to make a valid application? 
Are you from a non-English speaking background, and unable to understand the forms or DIAC's advice? 
Will you be able to represent yourself at the Migration Review Tribunal, or write a legally based submission to obtain Ministerial approval against the MRT's decision if your application hits the rocks over the next few weeks?
Are you aware that the fact your visa is in its current stages could well be to do with changed processing priorities, not with who drafted the application?
Are you aware that if your application is not on the Critical Skills List, the "final stages" you are referring to could well drag out to late 2012?
Are you confused about the process to transfer from a temporary to permanent visa?
Are you struggling to obtain the appropriate IELTS level for your visa and need advice about your options?

Obviously not, but many people are. And they need professional help, not a quick and easy DIY fix.

You appear to have been treated disgracefully by your Migration Agent, but it is totally inappropriate and highly offensive for you to include honest, qualified and ethical people such as myself in your allegations above.

Sincerely
Susan


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## jjneufeld (Mar 15, 2009)

I'll tell you what Susan.......I call it as I see it.. I would be more than happy to give you the migration agents contact information and maybe YOU can have a professional conversation with him about ethics in this field. I highly doubt he will listen to you either. 

Your governing body doesn't do too much about it either ...other than take the complaint keep it on file and try and contact the agent to resolve the problem however they will not and cannot force HIM to pay the money back. 


I am not the first person this has happened to......people way less fortunate that I, have been stung as well. I am allowed to have my opinion from my experience.If you are legitimate and honest then your reputation will preceed you with multiple referalls from other clients. In the future, I would simply advise you to address this issue at professional conferences with other agents in order to stop this abusive behaviour from other so called migration agents.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Hey jjneufeld,


> *If you are legitimate and honest then your reputation will preceed you with multiple referalls from other clients.* In the future, I would simply advise you to address this issue at professional conferences with other agents in order to stop this abusive behaviour from other so called migration agents.


That is true for any profession and also it is true there will be good and bad in any profession or occupation and that can include the unscrupulous when it comes to fees.
MARA - The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) has undergone a recent organisational change and time will tell what actually changes at the workface but it does not need agents themselves to raise matters at professional conferences, usually a place for discussion of issues already raised.

But if you feel you did not get appropriate service and something was not investigated properly, perhaps any complaint to be lodged may now be seen differently.

I do not go out of my way to support agents btw and if anything I encourage people to make use of the immigration web site with its wealth of information and the way processes are laid out with reference to checklists etc.

At the same time I understand if someones situation is more complex or they have difficulty working through an application process themselves for reasons Susan indicates, then using an agent is something that can be considered.

The MARA site does give some good information re selection of agents and not all agents are going to be of the quality or have the lack of it and we should not just focus on one agent who has answered a call of distress in this case.


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## Chris McGrath (Oct 11, 2009)

*Hey jjneufeld*

Yes you are entitled to have your opinion. The problem is that you have had a bad experience with 1 agent (one), and from that you citiicise ALL agents, thats where you are wrong. Give Susan the agent's details and further details of what actually happenned to you. Yes there are people in all walks of life that are not honest, or maybe are honest but not competent. As you give no details of your experience, I cant comment on what you write, other than say, dont criticise all agents because of the actions of one. I have over 26 years in this field and have seen it all.

So relax, be fair and try to resolve your issues. Give Susan more details andsee what she can advise.

Cheers



jjneufeld said:


> I'll tell you what Susan.......I call it as I see it.. I would be more than happy to give you the migration agents contact information and maybe YOU can have a professional conversation with him about ethics in this field. I highly doubt he will listen to you either.
> 
> Your governing body doesn't do too much about it either ...other than take the complaint keep it on file and try and contact the agent to resolve the problem however they will not and cannot force HIM to pay the money back.
> 
> I am not the first person this has happened to......people way less fortunate that I, have been stung as well. I am allowed to have my opinion from my experience.If you are legitimate and honest then your reputation will preceed you with multiple referalls from other clients. In the future, I would simply advise you to address this issue at professional conferences with other agents in order to stop this abusive behaviour from other so called migration agents.


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## jenholic (Oct 12, 2012)

i had a migration lawyer in bne to handle my case..

im now on my bridging to get my working visa.. fingers crossed

they have been really professional so far.. pm me if u need their contact


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## Jatinder Kaur (Oct 15, 2012)

Susan Wareham McGrath said:


> Hi drz
> 
> I just had a quick look at your post from 23 September about your visa options - if you obtain a subclass 175 skilled migration visa, it will supercede your Working Holiday Visa.
> 
> ...


Hi Susan,
Do you have office In Brisbane


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## graxaua (May 7, 2013)

Hi there jenholic, 
would want to know the contact of your migration agent in Brisbane, please?

Thank you


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## chicken999 (May 2, 2013)

I used a phillipino migration agent / lawyer here in Brisbane and she totally screwed me over. Marilyn ...... Is her name . She submitted only 3 of my 8 stat decs including one she submitted twice. And only 30 of my 200 photos mostly us on our own resulting in our visa being denied of course as "we had no friends in common" and no "common interests" we'll of course diac thought that as they didn see our evidence to the contrary. Her excuse? "'I thought I snt enough" and " maybe I made a mistake" but I'm still using a lawyer this time for our appeal and second visa lodgement. This time around I did my research. When I saw his 19 page submission letter to diac telling them exactly how wrong they were last time I knew he was worth every cent. Well worth the big bucks. So fingers crossed now. We are up to medicals now, just done at the six month ark so fingers crossed

Sent from my iPad using Australia


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## turpsss (Aug 5, 2012)

Hi Susan 
I am happy to use a migration agent but if i may ask one question, If my partner has Hep B but non active is it impossible for her to migrate here on a 820 partner visa or is this something a professional agent could get past ?


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

You can do a search on this forum for "Hepatitis B" and a few threads will come up that might be relevant. Unfortunately they're outdated, so I'm not sure they'll be ENTIRELY accurate. You're probably best off consulting a migration agent - George Lombard is said to be the best of the best when it comes to medical issues. He and his group could probably at least give you an idea of what kind of battle you're facing. I'm using them, too (for different medical issues) and have found them very forthcoming, honest and helpful.


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## turpsss (Aug 5, 2012)

Yes ty College Girl 
I have researched and found those but very old and not clear I will hopefully get a answer from Susan Also who an


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## turpsss (Aug 5, 2012)

Also where is you agent ?


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

George Lombard is based in Sydney, but helps clients worldwide. I'm in the US and I've had no issues working with him.


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## viki87022 (Jul 14, 2013)

*need lawyers details*

Hi mate saw your post here so can you recommend your migration agent details for my visa purposes. Thanks.


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## turpsss (Aug 5, 2012)

Freedom Migration seems ok


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## Nemmoo (Oct 23, 2013)

How do we actually raise a complaint against a useless migration agent? My wife and I just met the most typical former migration officer-turned-agent who run his business from home in South side of Brisbane where there's most Asians around. 

My wife told him that her parent did not succeed first time around. He assured this time would be different. Then, rejection letter for the visas again. Apparently, my wife told the initiatives to ring around for better advice and some good overseas agent actually told us what to do. We attended to each reason of rejection and tried to present evidence to the appeal. With the hearing approaching, we had all the evidences of appeal submitted. In this meantime, the agent simply did nothing to help. We went back to him this morning and he insisted he helped solved a big part of the matter. We argued this was not the case and we knew the approach only from other agent who was kind enough to give advice to present the evidence to the hearing. We would definitely reluctant to pay his fee, which we would be happy to pay the overseas agent who advised us what to do.

Lesson learnt: never ever trust a migration agent who gave assurance about any outcome. And always check for the agent's credentials although they are registered in MARA website.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Here you go: https://www.mara.gov.au/Consumer-Information/Making-a-complaint-about-a-RMA/Complaints/default.aspx


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## Nemmoo (Oct 23, 2013)

Ok. Thanks for the link. I shall get on with it.


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## MarkMaryna (Aug 24, 2012)

*AusPR*



Susan Wareham McGrath said:


> Hi drz
> 
> I just had a quick look at your post from 23 September about your visa options - if you obtain a subclass 175 skilled migration visa, it will supercede your Working Holiday Visa.
> 
> ...


Hi Susan, I don't mean to jump in on this post and am new to this site well i got some good info off here about 2years ago and I'm wanting to know about a pathway for PR for me, I am having no luck at all,
I can't do Points Based Skilled Mirgration and my skill is not on the list,
Employer Sponsored Migiration means we'll have to wait for 2years,
Im a Kiwi on a SCV(444) My wife is on a 5year 461visa she originates from Ukraine,
Can you advise us a few options if possible?

Cheers

Mark & Maryna


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## nelly212 (Feb 22, 2014)

jenholic said:


> i had a migration lawyer in bne to handle my case..
> 
> im now on my bridging to get my working visa.. fingers crossed
> 
> they have been really professional so far.. pm me if u need their contact


Jenholic, I think of im. Agent assistance as well...could not send a pm to you. Can you please pm me their details? Thanks!


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## Owen Small (Feb 5, 2014)

Your best bet is to check out the MARA website and do some research regarding the migration agent's business or company. That way you can come to your own conclusions and may find out some feedback on different websites. 

Kind Regards,
Owen


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## dhungel (Mar 3, 2014)

Hi Susan,
I am looking for a good migration agent in Brisbane meanwhile i saw your post and thought you must be good for my case. I need some advise for sponsor visa , as we are on 485 and nearly expiring in couple of month, working full time in related field , completed final skill assessment and waiting for IELTS . In case we run out of visa and still waiting ielts score looking for a good option to stay in Australia.
Employer is also willing to help if there is not much hassle. Looking forward for your help. If i could call you or visit you would be so grateful .


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## naveen hr (Feb 24, 2015)

drz said:


> I am looking for a 1 hour consultation to get a clear idea of how to proceed with my Australia visa options.
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good (and affordable) MARA registered migration agent that may be able to assist me?
> 
> ...


There are many visa consultants to get your visa soon, i suggest you to to try [edited out] has a team of expert ICCRC , CRCIC , MARA registered lawyers who does Assessment of the profile thoroughly before accepting the PR process , documentation processing, application & filing services for those interested in immigrating


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Naveen, you're welcome to post on the forum and help people, but the fact that as soon as you could post links you posted an ad for this migration company, and you bumped a year-old thread to do it, looks like you're trying to use the forum for advertising, which is not allowed here. Thanks.


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## kobyfindley (Oct 14, 2016)

*Migration Agents Perth*

If you are looking for Migration Agents Perth then I have website which you can contact and get a lot of benefits.


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