Immigration Agent providing the Sponsor for 457 Visa

bigbadcon

Hi folks,

I've searched around the forum and cant find anything relating to this but apologies if i've missed anything..

A friend of mine is looking into heading to australia, he is a painter with 11 years experience.

Unfortunately he cant apply for the 175 visa as he doesn't have the recent work experience as he has been out of work a lot recently and doesnt have the required months work in the last 24 months.

He has been chatting with a migration agent (from quite a large company) and they are claiming that they can set him up with the sponsor for the 457 visa and that all he would have to do is get the documentation together and do the skills assessment.

I am a bit worried that they will help with the visa application but will not be very helpful when it comes to getting the sponsor which is the hard bit.

Has anyone else used an agent who has helped them to get a sponsor for a 457 or similar employer sponsored visa?


Thanks in advance...

aido79

Think he need to find out a little bit more about this. No sponsor = No visa application. A 457 visa is 100% reliant on the person having a company in place to sponsor them. If the agent knows of a company willing to sponsor him then he should do a bit of research on this company. If he comes to Australia and things don't work out with the company then he has 28 days to find another company or leave the country.

Forcefield

Has he tried looking at the state sponsorship?
I know that NT and WA are mad looking for people at the moment and are offering these visas.
Any immigration lawyer will be able to advise better.
The big companies can be a little unhelpful from my experience. So try and find an individual. Check the mara.com website for a list of agents.

bigbadcon

Forcefield wrote: »

Has he tried looking at the state sponsorship?
I know that NT and WA are mad looking for people at the moment and are offering these visas.
Any immigration lawyer will be able to advise better.
The big companies can be a little unhelpful from my experience. So try and find an individual. Check the mara.com website for a list of agents.

The problem with the state sponsorship (176 vias )is that you need to have 12 months work experience in the last 24 which he doesn't have even though he has 11 years experience in total...

Pope John 11

Surely, he can bull**** in some way, by getting to say he worked for such and such a company, especially if he is in dire straits regarding getting work

Forcefield

better off being as honest as possible on these things.
He could always apply directly to the state that he may be interested in. Seeing as the state premier of NT was over in ireland this year recruiting, I would imagine that there may be some sort of solution available.

sponge_bob

Pope John 11 wrote: »

Surely, he can bull**** in some way, by getting to say he worked for such and such a company, especially if he is in dire straits regarding getting work

they will look for proof of employment and a letter from your employer just isn't enough on it own. he would also have to provide, payslips, taxation documents, bank statements showing his wages being lodged every week/month, p45, etc.
easy enough to get a letter from some company but the rest would be allmost immpossible unless you were actually working for the said company.

mandrake04

^ yeah they ask for P60 end of year tax summary.

Zambia

This sounds dodgy ... tread carefully

Oh and come on lads/lass's no encouraging people to lie on applications , its illegal visa advice and banned on charter.

LizOHagan

The Australian government operate a very strict visa process and have thorough checks in place to maintain the integrity of the visa program. Revenue documents as well as employer references are required and application can be audited so approach with honesty at all times.

For the OP I would say finding the sponsor is the hard part so get that first and then look at investing time and money in the various visa stages. Main point is to always get advice in writing and check the credentials of the individual who is liaising with you. In some cases large companies have one accredited visa specialist but dozens of staff so you need to ensure that at all times you are getting expert advice - don't be afraid to ask questions or seek recommendations in writing and ask what experience/success they have had.

Visas are life changing so act with caution and good luck.

sponge_bob

mandrake04 wrote: »

^ yeah they ask for P60 end of year tax summary.

iam self-employed so its a bit different, but they asked me for bank statements, invoices, accounts, and taxation documents for 3 out of the last 4 yrs.

DeclanClune

bigbadcon wrote: »

Hi folks,
......Has anyone else used an agent who has helped them to get a sponsor for a 457 or similar employer sponsored visa?


Thanks in advance...

Hi Bigbadcon,

If your friend does not have current work experience, then the key visa optiions will involve getting a job offer from an employer/sponsor.

This will open the doors of

• 457 Sponsorship (Temporary Residency)
• Employer Nomination Scheme (Permanent Residency)
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa (Permanent Residency)

In order to apply for any of these visas, you need to have the job offer in the first place in order to lodge the visa application. So the company offering to assist with getting the job offer is probably doing this so that they can then help you with the visa application !?

If you have a company that can assist you in getting this job offer and assuming that they are MARA registered, there should be no issue.

Regarding the concern of the size of the company, I have worked with a number of visa companies - some large and some small. In my opinion, the larger companies tend to have much more experience in advising on different visa options and give appropriate advise when unusual circumstances arise.

A smaller agent may not have the experience to deal with your queries or may not have the manpower to answer all your queries throughtout the visa process.

On a separate note, there are a range of documents that are that you can provide to prove evidence of payment for your employment in the trade.
This includes but is not limited to p60s -for example payslips, bank statements will also work. As Spongebob said - if you are self employed the types of documents you need will be different again - accounts, tax documents, invoices etc.

Hope this helps.
Declan Clune

mandrake04

LizOHagan wrote: »

In some cases large companies have one accredited visa specialist but dozens of staff so you need to ensure that at all times you are getting expert advice - don't be afraid to ask questions or seek recommendations in writing and ask what experience/success they have had.

Visas are life changing so act with caution and good luck.

DeclanClune wrote: »

A smaller agent may not have the experience to deal with your queries or may not have the manpower to answer all your queries throughtout the visa process.

Obviously few points to consider.

LizOHagan

Please note there is no such thing as a company being MARA registered - registration is for individuals only. So when dealing with a company make sure that the individual who will assist you throughout the process is MARA registered and experienced with your visa type. The first two digits of the MARA number indicates when an agent first became registered so ask for proof of expertise. In Australia only MARA agents can provide visa advice under Australian Law but outside Australia anyone can call themselves a visa expert so act with caution.

You can find full details at www.mara.gov.au or do a search for agents on www.immi.gov.au and you will see the advice provided by Immigration (DIAC).

Good Luck.

Zambia

I did not know that? Thanks

DeclanClune

Yes - anyone operating IN Australia giving visa advise or assistance MUST be MARA registered. It is a legal requyirement. Whereas those operating outside of Australia are not required to be registered with MARA.

However, any decent company operating outside of AUstralia should employ the services of a registered agent as MARA agents are required to undergo continual professional development and keep abreast of changes within the industry.


As a general rule - stay well clear of pub talk.

Declan Clune