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South Australia (SA) is set to follow in the footsteps of the ACT, NSW and WA in charging school fees for 457 visa holders. Currently the children of 457 visa holders do not pay public school fees. The new ruling means households with an income greater than AU$77,000 will pay AU$5,100/year for primary school and AU$6,100/year for secondary students. Those arriving in SA after January 1, 2017 will pay the new charge and from January 2018, this will apply to all 457 visa holders.

There is a document called a Code of Conduct for migration agents, which lists an agent’s obligation to their clients. These obligations include: interactions with your clients; fees and charges, record keeping and financial management; responsibilities toward other agents; any employees an agent may have; the requirement for an agent to respond if a complaint is made against them. As a client, you should see this document prominently displayed in the waiting area of your agent’s office and on their website. The agent should provide you with a hard copy if you request to see it. Not abiding by the Code of Conduct means an agent could face a fine, suspension or de-registration. The Code of Conduct can be found here. Later posts will detail how to seek remedies towards an agent who has breached the Code of Conduct.

Agents’ fees vary depending on a variety of factors including: Your visa application type. The amount of time it will take to prepare your application. The level of service you need. The complexity of your circumstances. The experience and qualifications of your agent. If your agent is a lawyer or has many years of experience, their fees might be higher. This is why it is difficult to ask a migration agent how much they charge for a particular visa type. An agent cannot provide you with an accurate quote until they have taken the time to understand your situation. This is also a sign of a good agent. However, the Migration Agent Registration Authority (MARA) has provided some guidelines on the price range for certain visa types. If the fee you are being charged appears to be above those published in the table, discuss this with your agent. The table is only an indication of what MARA believes to be fair. Have you been charged excessive fees? We would love to hear from you.

Which visa should I apply? For some of us this question is quite easy to answer, however for the majority of people it can be quite confusing because Australian Migration Law is always changing. For example, an international student graduates from university with an engineering degree and has already signed an employment contract with Rio Tinto for a role located in a regional Australian mining town. There are several questions the graduate student needs to answer: Should I apply as a general skilled migrant or ask to be sponsored by my employer? If I apply as a general skilled migrant, which of the 3 subcategories do I apply under? If my employer decides to sponsor me, which visa is the correct one? As you can imagine, these question can make things very confusing and applying for the wrong visa is not only a waste of time and money, but it can also mean you have to leave the country to apply for the correct visa. In this case, the graduate student could lose his employment contract. Below are some tips on finding the right answers: Tip #1 Do a quick search using the “Find a visa” tool on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website (click here). This gives you a list of visas which may apply to your particular situation. Tip #2 Ask yourself “Do I want a permanent or temporary visa?”. This will allow you to eliminate some of the visas from the list in Tip#1. Tip #3 Ask yourself “Can I apply for the visa on my own or can I be sponsored?” This will eliminate some more visas from that list in Tip #1. Tip #4 Call up the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to see if they can help you determine which visa you should apply for. Bear in mind, the immigration officer on the other end of the phone may not always understand migration law and might just use the same steps I have already highlighted above. Tip #5 If you still cannot decide which visa is best for your situation, contact your nearest migration agent for a consultation. Migration agents are trained professionals in this area and are often more qualified than immigration officers in assessing your needs. Tip #6 Whatever you do, DO NOT take advice from friends or family who claim to have been through the same process. The reason behind this is everyone’s situation is different and the migration legislation could be quite different between when they lodged their application and the time you decide to lodge yours. We hope the tips will help you in finding the correct visa for your particular situation and we would love to hear back from you too. Please use the comments box below or alternatively use our contact form on our website to keep up to date with the migration world.