This is the question on everyone’s lips. If there was an easy answer you wouldn’t be asking!

Please check out our path to PR article here.

This is the most commonly asked question by prospective students. Nobody can answer it, because lets say we say “Civil Engineering”, but by the time you graduate the pathway for Engineers may be gone, the occupation can be removed from the list, or so many other study it that it becomes so competitive you can’t get in (which is what happened with Accountants).

The best advice is either study something you love, because that will be good for you, and your career, and your life, OR study something on the main list of occupations. But don’t blame us when it’s removed!

Technically no, unless they are based outside of Australia, or they have a registered migration agent or lawyer working for them. You will find most student agencies help you lodge your student visa yourself, and it’s “free”. Student agencies make money by getting a commission on your course fees, so actually their help is not free.

While we cannot say you should not get their help to lodge, please be aware that as they lodge it under your name, you cannot blame them if it causes any problems later. For example, if you choose not to mention your partner because the student agency thinks it reduces your risk for your application. That may be true, but it may also prevent you adding your partner later, and/or get your visa cancelled on fraud grounds.

This is a tricky one for us. The short answer is yes, BUT, please be aware we deal with multiple calls and emails every day, and we have paying clients who always come first, so if you want free advice you will need to wait till we have free time.

If you need urgent answers or have a complex situation then you need to consider paying a fee to retain us to do some research or work on your behalf.

Unfortunately no. We have our hands full with the department of immigration, assessing cases, lodging visa applications, and responding to department requests for further information. It’s up to you to find a job.

Everything you tell us is in confidence. We will not share your information with anyone.

It’s important for you that you tell us all information that may effect your visa, for example if you worked illegally or committed a crime. If we don’t know about it we can’t advise you of the consequences.

If you are a company then we will need to know some of your financial information to represent you. This information is held in the utmost confidence and will never be shared with anyone except with the DIBP when required for your application.

To give migration advice and to lodge applications on behalf of others you need to be a Registered Migration Agent (RMA), unless you are a lawyer, or you are outside of Australia.

Lawyers are allowed to give migration advice and lodge applications.

However, Lawyers are not required to study Migration Law to give migration advice, while all Registered Migration Agents are required to study Migration Law and pass an exam, and to work supervised for 1 year before they can register as an agent.

Put simply, you are better protected, and more likely to get better advice, with an Registered Migration Agent than with a Lawyer.

The short answer is no. Not only are we bound by the code of conduct, we have our own ethics.

We will not work on a Partner Visa when the relationship is not genuine, which is why we always meet couples we work with.

We will not take a case if we believe there is no chance of success. Again, this is governed by the code of conduct, Migration Agents are not allowed to lodge vexatious applications (ones with no chance of success).

Do all Migration Agents follow the code of conduct & our ethics. No…they should, but unfortunately there’s definitely some highly unethical Agents out there!

There’s many reasons to get a professional to lodge your visa application for you, including:

• reduced risk of refusal – and thus wasting your time & money.
• increased speed of approval – by submitting approval ready applications.
• less stress – wondering if you are doing it correctly, and whether your visa will be refused.
• less time – while you can spend hours searching the internet and reading forums (with all the chance of getting the wrong or outdated answers), we use our experience and access to the legislation to do it right first time.
• it costs about $33,000 AUD to become an agent, plus $3,000 per year to remain one, achieving that level of expertise, plus our years of practical experience just to lodge one visa makes no sense.
• as MIA members we have access to MIA forum, as well as professional support from MIA. Instead of reading random forums of hearsay, we interact with other professional agents to discuss complex legal issues.
• we maintain our understanding of legislation changes (mandatory), and we go beyond what is required, doing our own legal research.
• we regularly look at cases which have gone to AAT hearings to better understand the law and how it’s interpreted using other peoples misfortunes (and success) as practical examples.
• when we need skilled/professional help, be it accounting, medical, automotive, construction, hair, or good food and wine, we also pay professionals to do what they do best.

That’s a good question, with a long answer!

The short version is the company was founded for a different industry (video games), and then rather than start a new company when we began trading as migration agents we just used the “trading as” option to trade as first Bravo Melbourne, then Stellar Migration.