A recent press release from Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, warns visa applicants to be wary of unscrupulous migration agents.
This follows on the heels of recent allegations about AUSFIS, an offshore web-based migration agent, accused of taking payment for visa applications that were never lodged.
Senator Cash said the AUSFIS website invites people to register their interest online, after which they are charged fees ranging from $300 to $3000 in return for an Immigration Package to Australia. Several users have alleged that, once payment has been made, they either hear nothing further, or receive an email advising they are ineligible to apply for a visa.
The press release advises that where people have paid AUSFIS (or any other migration agent) by credit card for a service they did not ultimately receive, they can lodge a disputed payment’ complaint with their credit card provider in order to attempt to retrieve the funds.
According to Senator Cash, The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has no record of visa applications lodged by AUSFIS and the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) does not list any registered migration agents connected with AUSFIS”.
Details of registered migration agents can be obtained from the MARA website.
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