Can agents swings things Sender: welshtony

Hi TC

The grant of a visa is an enbreastlement of any applicant if they meet all the relevant criteria for the grant of that visa.

An experienced and, preferably registered, Migration Agent, will:

have up-to-date knowledge of the Regulations and Procedures for all visas, will hopefully be aware of possible pit-falls, will know what visas you may be eligible for and advise you on any advantages of one over the other, will know of critical dates that could relate to age, experience or change of rules with buttessing bodies.

So there is no influence as such, just a sound knowledge of the law and procedures and knowing what DIMIA want for each visa application. Although the visa system is highly regulated, there are still many areas that come down to the discretion of the case officer - it is these areas where an agent is invaluable as the agent can present the case so as to maximise the chance of the discretion coming down on the side of the applicant-client.

A practical example might be that you have been out of work for the last 4 months, it takes you 3 months to stumble through the skills buttessment, you lodge your visa application thinking yo uscore 120 points as you have only been out of work for the last 7 months and still have 3 years experience in the last four years for the 10 extra points you need. You have overlooked the fact that you also need 12 months experience in the previous 18 months and your application is refused. You have to work another 12 months before you can re-apply and turn 30 in the mean time.

Using an agent in the above example would have immediately highlighted the possible problem with being out of work and a speedier skills buttessment could have been effected and the importance of finding a new job soon, stressed. So having an agent could have meant the difference between getting and not getting a visa in this case.

Agents who handle many applications, would get some rapport with case officers and managers, this helps the lines of communication but certainly does not mean the agent can exercise any influence.

I hope this answers you question some bit.

Tony

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