Where to buy? Be a smart shopper for your next immigration lodgement.
You have to be a smart shopper these days to protect yourself, sometime you may find things cheaper in certain store, when I built my HTPC I always shop around, got my Lian Li case in Ebay, it was a second hand case in superb condition.
However when you choose about your Immigration Lawyer or Migration Agent to apply your next visa application, shopping isn’t easy as others, you can’t really tell the difference unless you hire multiple immigration lawyer or migration agents at the same time.
The first question when you shopping around is do you need someone to lodge your Visa Application?
Well, when I was a student, I lodged my student visa myself, because I thought I was a genuine student and I study very hard, there is no need for a lawyer or migration to lodge my student visa, same to you guys, if you want to lodge your visa, you have to check at DIAC website which is immi.gov.au, check all the requirements and see if you fully understand all those requirements, for visa class like student visa, I really don’t think you should pay thousands to hire a lawyer or migration agent to do it.
The second question will be, Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?
Lawyer doesn’t really mean a better service, from my personal experience, I’ve found that lawyers are quite irresponsible, I didn’t think that they check my forms or filled up my forms, I personally think my lawyer did nothing to my case but answered a few questions during the first consultation. That maybe just me, however if your case isn’t really complicated, you don’t really need a lawyer, that is the reason why there is migration agent, if everything in immigration law are that hard, there will not be migration agents.
How complex is complex?
This is a tricky questions, but personally, I would say if you met all the requirements then your case won’t be a complex one, if you somehow had a refusal or cancellation before, or if you have a criminal record, then your case would be complex.
For people who wants to apply partner visa, your prior marriage will be a complexity item as well, because there are certain rules about the marriage migration.
How much should I pay?
You can find the price online, and you can find the average price from DIAC website, certain agent or lawyer may charge you higher because they claim they have experiences, or they have some certifications such as ISO 9001, Law 9000 or accredited immigration lawyer, I don’t really care about ISO nor LAW 9000, they have nothing to do with the lawyer’s or migration agent’s experience. However according to Law society, it does take 3 years to get accredited immigration lawyer. In my opinion, if a lawyer can spend time on compliance and get ISO 9001 or LAW 9000 certified there is no way they can’t get accredited lawyer in immigration area, or their intention on getting ISO certified is just a leverage to charge you higher fees.
My immigration lawyer or migration agent doesn’t care about my case after I paid him.
If you think your lawyer or agent didn’t act professional or they didn’t care about you, you can always file a complaint to the O’Mara, giving the fact that they don’t want to lose their licence, they will do what ever it takes to make you happy.
In conclusion, choosing the right immigration lawyer or migration agent is very hard, it is not like building a PC or buying some health product, my wife brought some SWISSE health product very cheap online, and she didn’t use the cheapest migration agent, because she thinks it must a reason behind that, she didn’t use the most expensive one because she thinks that can be a con, I totally agree with her, and please be very careful when you shop around for your next visa application.
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