I was recently reading a press release from the Australian Minister of Immigration relating to an identity fraud scam in Australia which reminded me that just like "Crime Doesn’t Pay", when dealing with the Department of Immigration in relation to a Visa application or a potential client, there are no “Short Cuts”.
The press release stated that seven people were arrested across Sydney and Melbourne in connection with a $6 million identity fraud syndicate. It will be alleged in court that the principal of the syndicate was responsible for the manufacture and distribution of in excess of 200 fraudulent credit cards per week. It is estimated that these cards were being used to purchase around $500,000 of goods per week. Goods believed to have been obtained through the scheme include electronic goods, gift cards, phone cards, alcohol and stamps.
There is no substitute for doing things the right way rather than the quick or easy way. It's the old story, one has to work hard to get somewhere; there are no short cuts to success.
When lodging an application for a temporary or permanent Australian Visa, the application needs to be prepared properly, professionally and in accordance with the requirements of both the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the relevant Immigration laws and regulations. There can be no half measures or shortcuts taken, otherwise, you run the risk of having the application declined; and in some cases, this will prevent you from lodging any further applications in Australia.
IMMagine Australia prides itself in taking the long route rather than the short or easy way. We do not lodge applications until they are ready to be lodged. This might mean short-term delays initially, but in the long run, ensures faster processing of applications and reduces the risk of failure.
We operate in an industry that your average person rates on par with the ethics of used car salesmen [apologies to those ethical used car salesman out there] and we often have to overcome preconceived notions as to our integrity. It's difficult to be able to demonstrate our ethics to potential clients in markets like South Africa that do have high volumes of less than ethical business practices.
I like to think that after those who are interested in immigrating to Australia attend our migration seminars and have individual consultations with us, that they realize that we like to do our homework before agreeing to represent anyone. That cautious approach not only instils a degree of confidence in our ethics, but also contributes to our success rate in excess of 99%. We don't only take on easy cases; we also make sure that the prospective client is aware of the merits of a particular application before they enter into an agreement with us.
The high ethical standards that we have with our clients are mirrored in our dealings with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship [DIAC] in that we will never intentionally present misleading or fraudulent documentation to the Department.
We believe that whilst the mercenary, less than ethical approach to one's clients, may lead to short-term sales, this type of attitude is not only morally corrupt but also, does not lead to maintaining a good long-term reputation in the market.
Unfortunately migrants are generally a vulnerable lot and anyone in a vulnerable state is prone to believing palatable advice which is why there will regretfully always be con artists operating in our industry.
Whilst measures such as compulsory licensing of agents by MARA will go some way to rooting out the "bad eggs" it will never solve the problem entirely.
Migration Agents operating offshore don't have to be registered with MARA to represent clients.
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