ARE YOU PENNY WISE BUT POUND FOOLISH?

Recently a client came to my office to engage my professional services to act for him in a review application to the Migration & Refugee Division (MRD) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). His wife’s partner visa application had just been refused by the Department of Immigration & Border Protection. Whilst receiving his instructions it dawned upon me that this client had come to see me for initial advice about his wife’s partner visa application about one and a half years ago. At that time after I had advised him and also quoted him my professional fee he left my office and I had not heard from him since until recently.

During his recent consultation at my office he informed me that his partner is from a high risk country in Africa and he himself first arrived in Australia as a refugee from that same country. Apart from his young wife he also wanted to include three of her younger siblings as secondary applicants. He informed me that those three siblings were his wife’s dependent siblings as her parents had died in a car accident some years ago.

During his recent visit to my office I asked him why he did not return to my office to engage my professional services to act for his wife in her partner visa application. He replied that when he “shopped around” with another couple of other migration agents one of them quoted him a fee that was very much cheaper than the professional fee I had quoted him when he came to consult me one and a half years ago. In fact that migration agent quoted him a fee of only $3,000 to act for not only his wife but also all the three secondary applicants that were her siblings. Bearing in mind that the application includes three younger siblings whom the young primary applicant claimed were her dependents would be a difficult application to get past the Department of Immigration. As it turned out the application was refused on grounds that the Case Officer did not believe her parents were dead, nor the three siblings were members of her family unit nor were they her dependents. Now that the visa application is refused the sponsor husband is prepared to engage my professional services to act for him in his review application. Obviously my professional fee to act for him at the MRD would be much more than the initial professional fee I had quoted him to act for his wife in her partner visa application.

The moral of the story therefore is “you pay peanuts you get monkeys” to act for you in whatever visa application you intend to apply for particular partner visa applications. Otherwise you will only be “pennywise but pound foolish.” Whenever you have a visa application to apply for and you are looking for a competent and proven migration agent to act for you do not look for the cheapest quote to handle your application. The cheapest is not always the best and most competent! Otherwise you will end up with a refused application and then you will be up for more unnecessary expense.

For all your visa applications particularly as in the above case where it is a partner visa application you are invited to contact James Tan Immigration Lawyer. James has 21 years of professional experience in acting for hundreds of previous clients successfully in their visa applications. James has an inflexible and firm work ethic that after interviewing a prospective client he will only agree to take on the case if he is more than reasonably convinced that he will deliver a positive result to the client. Therefore if you do have an application, particularly and difficult one please do not hesitate to contact James Tan Immigration Lawyer.