I answered a question the other day on the Migration Help Forum (one of the more sensible migration advice forums, because amateur “experts” are not permitted to advise others) who wanted a Migration Agent to give his forms the once-over and tell him if it’s all OK. I explained that I never do this, because the forms are maybe just 10% of the application. I could easily see this man heading for disaster, because he insists on doing it all himself despite it being clearly beyond him.

We had three lawyers as clients last year, because they were smart enough to know they needed an expert. All visas granted too! They, like all our clients, realise that there’s too much to lose because the outcome matters to them.

So what do we do? Do we just fill in forms and tick the right boxes?

We:

• Assess the applicant (and the relationship) to see if they meet the criteria written in the Migration Regulations for that particular visa Subclass. We need to know all about them, their families and/or children, and their current and any previous relationships.

• Decide what documents and items of evidence we require from them (ie. “requirements”), and explain that clearly to the clients. We do this with a customised checklist which is different for every client (as it’s based on the previous assessment of them), and reinforce this with guidebooks and videos.

• Gather and check all the collected documents and items of evidence for their accuracy and suitability. And I would guarantee you every single client gets this wrong even after we explain it all to them, so there’s a lot of fine-tuning.

• Be on-hand to answer dozens or even hundreds of emails from the client over the course of the application preparation.

• Prepare the client for how to deal with the Department (and how NOT to deal with the Department), and how to get through the process without turning into a nervous wreck.

Visa application charges for Australian Visas have gone up considerably since last year, as many of you would know. Australian partner visas have been hit hard. And there are now charges for kids too. The last rise was 1^st of September 2013.

It appears though that most people realise that it’s not about money, as September was one of our busiest months for new clients and October will probably be the same given the number of enquiries. And we remain the lowest-cost Registered Migration Agent in Manila (as far as market research tells us), yet we appear to be amongst the very few Migration Agents who actually live here and don’t operate from a Skype connection from Australia.

Partner visas are about bringing the love of your life to Australia and spending the rest of your life together. It’s not a time to penny-pinch. I brought my wife to Australia years ago. I have no recollection whatsoever what it cost me, because that wasn’t the point. And I’m sure it’s not the point with you either, is it?

Please visit us at www.downundervisa.com