I'm interested to know why police check and health clearance are just 2% of the success rate factor.
Yes, of course it’s a business but I’m sure there’s a difference if the business has a heart to it. The bigger it is, the more profit driven it is as a result, they need to have a monthly quota to meet their target profit. These bigger companies would even have their own sales people who would initially talk to clients. It becomes too sales oriented. Clients see the difference in the level of care. One needs to also understand what happens in the background, how the industry works. Those agents who are employed are usually the newbies who are gaining experience. I’ve not met an MARA agent with more than 5 years experience and has remained employed. Eventually, all these become self employed. Also, how others operate, they may look like they have lots of MARA agents but actually these professionals work as freelancers. FYI, there may be less agents in an agency but they may have enough case managers who assist the agents. Senior agent won’t sit on a case doing all the nitty gritty administrative work - assisting in collecting documents. Only newbies tend to do this. The responsibility of an agent is more making sure they are submitting compliant documents. Hence, the administrative stuff can be assigned to a trained non MARA colleague and the agent reviews the case before submission. That’s what usually happens in the background. Bottomline, the success rate cannot be determined by the size of an agency.
With regards to the 2%, by the time a case reaches visa application stage, if everything is followed, meaning correct points claimed on EOI. Agents are already almost confident it’s just a matter of time for visa grant. The only time things could go wrong is if a client did not disclose to the agent that they provided bogus documents or they actually have a criminal record. When an application is submitted we agents would have assumed that the client is indeed in good faith. The only uncertain part is health clearance as it’s a known fact that we all think we’ve got no health issues until it’s spotted. I always say this, the make or break is at the initial stage - skills assessment. If one does this right, then the journey becomes smoother. This is the crucial part where I myself would not submit an application when I think it will yield a negative outcome. Thing gets filtered as you progress in the process. A case reaches the visa application stage because it has ticked the elements of the eligibility requirements except health and character clearances. Hence, one shouldn’t be swept away by agents who announce they have 100% success rate - too “salesy” I find. From an agent perspective, it’s like yeah, obviously it’s a 100% success rate otherwise you won’t submit the application anyway.
Such strategy for me is a cheesy way/ sugarcoat approach in luring clients. In my opinion, there’s lack of transparency - but that’s me, that’s my approach. To each is different in the same way as not all agent and client relationship are a good match.
Hope this gives everyone a perspective from the agent side of things.