How to tell if a Migration Agent is acting professionally?

RheaMARN1171933

Hello there, I've been reading sad stories about Migration Agent experiences in this forum lately and thought I could perhaps share some tips on how to gauge an agent at the very beginning.

First and foremost, at the initial or even before the consultation,do your own check. Make sure the agent is a registered one. You should easily find his MARA registration number on the agency's website, email, brochures, and the like. Do an agent search on www.mara.gov.au by entering either the name of the agent or the MARA reg number.this search is very important as it will tell you their professional history, whether a complaint has been filed or has been sanctioned.

Secondly, you should be given the Code of Conduct which agents must adhere to and any breach on this Code can be raised up to the MARA, the governing professional body. Also, you should be provided the Consumer Guide to inform you how to go about escalating the agent's behaviour to the MARA. These two documents are very important and are required to be handed to prospect clients by the MARA. This was imposed as to make sure the general public are protected against malpractice of any agent. Not receiving these documents should be enough reason to be wary.

Hope this helps when shopping around for an agent. Good luck.