looking migration agent

ponzej63 · April 10

any suggestion for migration agent, tnx u

Conboyboy · April 12

I do not have any suggestion but below are my observations from those GSM applicants who have engaged services of a migration agent/office:
1. mabagal ang responses or di approachable
2. masungit
3. walang timely update
4. some do allow to mirror accounts, some discourage it

the list goes on. good to ask hope some would share more insights.

mathilde9 · April 12

@ponzej63
Kung di naman complicated yung case mo and you have time, iDIY mo nalang. It will save you a LOT. After all ikaw din magpproduce talaga lahat ng documents. They will just counter check your docs (depende pa kung mabusisi makuha mo), and guide you in case may kulang etc.

Kung complicated case and money isn't an issue, go for those onshore or at least those with proven record of handling successful cases of Pinoy client living in the Ph or overseas. Magbaon ka lang ng mahabang pasensya in case you want to pursue, hindi agad yan magrreply since di rin nila controlled kelan ka maiinvite/maggrant.

Onshore - Traci Migration

loopyrabbit · April 12

You can start checking for migration agencies in your area and look at reviews. Ganun lang ginawa ko. My agency was very transparent sa pathways na pwede kong kunin like they absolutely discouraged me from taking the student visa route if I wanted PR in the end. I prefer working with an agent because I don't want to make mistakes..mid 30s na rin ako so I can't afford to lose any time. My agency also provided me with a lot of free review materials for PTE and some notes for NAATI, and I got really good scores in both.

Okay naman yung agency ko during the initial phase (arranging all docs for EOI) pero after masubmit na lahat and naexhaust na lahat ng ways para mapataas and points medyo mabagal na din sila magreply at kelangan habulin pa para sa mga simpleng tanong. Akala ko din dati maguupdate sila sakin every now and then pero wala palang ganun lol.

ponzej63 · May 7

Maraming thank you sa mga sagot ninyong lahat po.

ponzej63 · May 7

yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

RheaMARN1171933 · May 8

@ponzej63 said:
yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

Yes we are legit. And no we don’t own this forum but assist here to provide a professional perspective.

The best way to check if agent is legit is via

https://portal.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/

This link will also give you an overview of the history of the agent ie previous sanctions. The the first 2 digits of the MARA registration number indicates the year of their first registration.

Hope that helps

Complex · May 8

@ponzej63 said:
yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

They're legit. Been with Visa Consort since 4th quarter of 2022, waiting for my visa now. Started from scratch, did the skills assessment, but they've been transparent and helpful. They ask for lots of documents upfront probably to avoid more questions later. Check the "Waiting for grants" section for successful visa stories with them. Hope this helps!

1stym · May 8

Hello, sana may mkapansin, ambigat ng pinag dadaanan ko ngaun. Inisponsoran ako ng company nmin at nag lodge nmn ung agent nmin walang tanong2 sken hindi man lng nagtanong kung meron b s family member ko n may health conditions n alanganin. Ngaun nag lodge ung agent ng 186 DE which is walang waiver. Hirap n hirap nako kakaisip kung pwede bang mngyare ung gusto ni agent..😔 since wala daw waiver pwede daw tanggalin ung anak ko s application at palalabasin na hindi ko n sya family member bsta maipakita s immigration na may kukupkop sa anak ko. May asd kasi ang anak ko. Kung may waiver sana pwedeng i shoulder nlng nmin ung iba. Kaso nga walang waiver ung 186 DE. Ang sken nmn pwede ko nmn tanggapin ung gnung plano nya pra pa isave lng ung application nmin, apat kasi kmi s application. So kung tatanggalin ung bunso ko mgiging 3 nlng ung maiiwan. Sabi ko sa agent nmin pra malabo yan, sabi nya pwede daw kasi lalabas n hindi ko n sya family member nun. Hayyyy buhay akala ko tlga may waiver ung nilodge nila sken, ngaun prang damage control ung ginagawa nila. Sana may mkapansin.

MTfighter · May 21

ponzej63 · May 23

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@ponzej63 said:
yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

Yes we are legit. And no we don’t own this forum but assist here to provide a professional perspective.

The best way to check if agent is legit is via

https://portal.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/

This link will also give you an overview of the history of the agent ie previous sanctions. The the first 2 digits of the MARA registration number indicates the year of their first registration.

Hope that helps

mayron po ako kasi nabasa sa isang group na page kaya nag duda ako. tnx u po

RheaMARN1171933 · May 24

@ponzej63 said:

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@ponzej63 said:
yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

Yes we are legit. And no we don’t own this forum but assist here to provide a professional perspective.

The best way to check if agent is legit is via

https://portal.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/

This link will also give you an overview of the history of the agent ie previous sanctions. The the first 2 digits of the MARA registration number indicates the year of their first registration.

Hope that helps

mayron po ako kasi nabasa sa isang group na page kaya nag duda ako. tnx u po

http://linkedin.com/in/visaconsort

RheaMARN1171933 · May 24

@Complex said:

@ponzej63 said:
yong po bang Visa Consort 90% rate sila dito sa page o sila po may ari ng page nato... legit po ba yan?

They're legit. Been with Visa Consort since 4th quarter of 2022, waiting for my visa now. Started from scratch, did the skills assessment, but they've been transparent and helpful. They ask for lots of documents upfront probably to avoid more questions later. Check the "Waiting for grants" section for successful visa stories with them. Hope this helps!

Thank you for your kind words

ponzej63 · May 24

bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

mathilde9 · May 24

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

ponzej63 · May 24

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

salamat po ma'am sa comment nyo po. nakaka-inspired po ung nangyare sa inyo. congratulations po at granted po kayo. sana ako din pag nag simula.

thank you so much po ma'am sa mga suggestion niyo.

mathilde9 · May 24

@ponzej63 said:

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

salamat po ma'am sa comment nyo po. nakaka-inspired po ung nangyare sa inyo. congratulations po at granted po kayo. sana ako din pag nag simula.

thank you so much po ma'am sa mga suggestion niyo.

Hindi pa po ako granted haha. Waiting for grants sana soon. 😅🤞🏼Goodluck po sa inyo

RheaMARN1171933 · May 25

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

I agree. At times those who give negative feedbacks are the difficult clients. I myself, during initial consultation, seize up the client as well. If I see an attitude I don’t take the case as I know they’ll be a headache in the end. Or I wouldn’t even hesitate to terminate a case if the client is difficult. I’ve done this a few times. Some can be rude to my staff as well. Unfortunately there are those who think because they are paying they own our souls. I would much prefer to end the working relationship and lose money over a case then endure the headache.

I do think it’s also not just the fees, it’s also the integrity and sincerity of an agent yung deciding factor. I’ll be honest, skills assessment is the crucial and frustrating part for us. There have been instances where nagkakainisan both parties. I myself, very nitty gritty when it comes to supporting documents. I tend to ask more than less since we aim for decision ready applications. I’m always upfront with clients but once we get the outcome they become very appreciative in the end. I do believe this approach had pave way to success rates of our skills assessments.

Anyway, @mathilde how does one know the success rates of agents? As far as I know one needs to access our agent portals and immiaccount to see it for themselves. I’m very curious how people find these out as I wouldn’t even know success rates of other colleagues myself.

mathilde9 · May 25

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

I agree. At times those who give negative feedbacks are the difficult clients. I myself, during initial consultation, seize up the client as well. If I see an attitude I don’t take the case as I know they’ll be a headache in the end. Or I wouldn’t even hesitate to terminate a case if the client is difficult. I’ve done this a few times. Some can be rude to my staff as well. Unfortunately there are those who think because they are paying they own our souls. I would much prefer to end the working relationship and lose money over a case then endure the headache.

I do think it’s also not just the fees, it’s also the integrity and sincerity of an agent yung deciding factor. I’ll be honest, skills assessment is the crucial and frustrating part for us. There have been instances where nagkakainisan both parties. I myself, very nitty gritty when it comes to supporting documents. I tend to ask more than less since we aim for decision ready applications. I’m always upfront with clients but once we get the outcome they become very appreciative in the end. I do believe this approach had pave way to success rates of our skills assessments.

Anyway, @mathilde how does one know the success rates of agents? As far as I know one needs to access our agent portals and immiaccount to see it for themselves. I’m very curious how people find these out as I wouldn’t even know success rates of other colleagues myself.

Some agents have posted their success rate on their websites. It's just upon our discretion as clients whether or not be convinced by the numbers they post.

Personally, I check the staffing. The more lawyers/agents/admins they have, the better. Some also disclose this info on their websites. The registration year and number of successful clients as at of date/year. This although not accurate, can do some math and help decide whether to hire an agent or not.

I do not 100% agree that the difficult clients are the ones posting negative feedback. There may be unmet expectations during the contract and may be agents/clients were not able to resolve them amicably hence clients ended up sharing the sentiment/experience.

That's why I mentioned earlier sa fees lang magkakatalo because that's the only certain and outright quantifiable factor before engaging with an agent. The working style/customer service/success of the case definitely are experienced after sign-up so hindi pa talaga yan maggauge unless maexperience talaga ng client. Hence, may feedbacks whether be it positive or negative.

RheaMARN1171933 · May 26

@mathilde9 said:

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

I agree. At times those who give negative feedbacks are the difficult clients. I myself, during initial consultation, seize up the client as well. If I see an attitude I don’t take the case as I know they’ll be a headache in the end. Or I wouldn’t even hesitate to terminate a case if the client is difficult. I’ve done this a few times. Some can be rude to my staff as well. Unfortunately there are those who think because they are paying they own our souls. I would much prefer to end the working relationship and lose money over a case then endure the headache.

I do think it’s also not just the fees, it’s also the integrity and sincerity of an agent yung deciding factor. I’ll be honest, skills assessment is the crucial and frustrating part for us. There have been instances where nagkakainisan both parties. I myself, very nitty gritty when it comes to supporting documents. I tend to ask more than less since we aim for decision ready applications. I’m always upfront with clients but once we get the outcome they become very appreciative in the end. I do believe this approach had pave way to success rates of our skills assessments.

Anyway, @mathilde how does one know the success rates of agents? As far as I know one needs to access our agent portals and immiaccount to see it for themselves. I’m very curious how people find these out as I wouldn’t even know success rates of other colleagues myself.

Some agents have posted their success rate on their websites. It's just upon our discretion as clients whether or not be convinced by the numbers they post.

Personally, I check the staffing. The more lawyers/agents/admins they have, the better. Some also disclose this info on their websites. The registration year and number of successful clients as at of date/year. This although not accurate, can do some math and help decide whether to hire an agent or not.

I do not 100% agree that the difficult clients are the ones posting negative feedback. There may be unmet expectations during the contract and may be agents/clients were not able to resolve them amicably hence clients ended up sharing the sentiment/experience.

That's why I mentioned earlier sa fees lang magkakatalo because that's the only certain and outright quantifiable factor before engaging with an agent. The working style/customer service/success of the case definitely are experienced after sign-up so hindi pa talaga yan maggauge unless maexperience talaga ng client. Hence, may feedbacks whether be it positive or negative.

I’m only speaking for my experience regarding those who make comments. There are always two sides of any story and like I said I agree with what you said about one’s experience cannot speak for others and why we agents also refuse some cases because we can tell already we won’t get along during the journey. Yes, that’s correct, some cases are terminated because of both the experience from both sides. I agree with transparency to make sure expectations are laid down even at the initial consultation but despite this, relationship still can go south. also agree that the actual experience cannot speak for others. And it’s not not everyone is perfect but rather no one is perfect.

I’m not sure if the fees would be the deciding factor. Our fees are one of the lowest if not the lowest…but despite that not all who I’ve consulted would end up signing up. Some still choose those with higher fees. The fees of course help in deciding but it isn’t really the only deciding factor I do think it’s a matter of personal choice.

Thank you for sharing the basis for gauging success rate from client’s perspective. I’ve always been curious about this because in reality those mentioned don’t really determine success rates from a migration agent perspective.

Staffing - not sure the co-relation of success rate but for sure it can be used as an indication of how a client is seen by the agency. The bigger the staff, the more business like vibe it is. They need to maintain overheads hence they need to be pressured to keep monthly target to cover their profit and expenses. Clients are seen as $$ and they lose the personal touch approach. Some clients are ok with this but most want to feel the level of care and that they are not seen as a number.

The registration year is more an indication of years experience more than anything else. With disclosing the number of clients and success rate, not all do that but it doesn’t mean they have low success rate. A lot of agents don’t do such approach as it can be misleading. I explain this all the time when prospective clients ask at initial consultation - that of course I could also say I have 100% success rate as a fact, what most are not aware of is by the time a case reaches the visa application stage, we would have an idea that there’s around 98% chance of visa grant. Agents normally will submit applications which they know would yield a positive outcome otherwise they won’t even continue it as this is against the code of conduct….hence, the success rate is almost always 100% and unlikely will yield a negative outcome. The 2% would all depend on police and health clearance. This is even reduced if the applicant is certain that the documents he’s presenting are true and correct, and that he’s had no convictions.

Agents already have an idea from skills assessment outcome how the case will pan out. This stage is the make or break. I think, 🤔 f there’s anything to watch out for is the success rate for skills assessment outcome rather than the visa application. In short, it’s so easy to say success rate in a 100 %, that’s no brainer for us agents - if that makes sense.

mathilde9 · May 26

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@mathilde9 said:

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

@mathilde9 said:

@ponzej63 said:
bakit nawala poh ung comment ko. may nag delete poh ata nung screenshots na post kagabe..

Research carefully about migration agent if you plan to hire one. Not everyone is perfect at handling cases but there are those with proven records and high success rate. Sa fees lang talaga magkakatalo.

One's experience will not speak for the other. But negative feedbacks could not be avoided kasi wala ngang perfect ano ba. Ako I prefer agents who are transparent at the same time understanding kung saan nanggagaling ang concern ng clients. Hindi basta tanggap lang ng case, tapos pag nakabayad na, halos wala nang cadence. Maybe the reason why some agents refuse to take a case una pa lang eh mukhang troublesome or masyadong matrabaho for them.

I agree. At times those who give negative feedbacks are the difficult clients. I myself, during initial consultation, seize up the client as well. If I see an attitude I don’t take the case as I know they’ll be a headache in the end. Or I wouldn’t even hesitate to terminate a case if the client is difficult. I’ve done this a few times. Some can be rude to my staff as well. Unfortunately there are those who think because they are paying they own our souls. I would much prefer to end the working relationship and lose money over a case then endure the headache.

I do think it’s also not just the fees, it’s also the integrity and sincerity of an agent yung deciding factor. I’ll be honest, skills assessment is the crucial and frustrating part for us. There have been instances where nagkakainisan both parties. I myself, very nitty gritty when it comes to supporting documents. I tend to ask more than less since we aim for decision ready applications. I’m always upfront with clients but once we get the outcome they become very appreciative in the end. I do believe this approach had pave way to success rates of our skills assessments.

Anyway, @mathilde how does one know the success rates of agents? As far as I know one needs to access our agent portals and immiaccount to see it for themselves. I’m very curious how people find these out as I wouldn’t even know success rates of other colleagues myself.

Some agents have posted their success rate on their websites. It's just upon our discretion as clients whether or not be convinced by the numbers they post.

Personally, I check the staffing. The more lawyers/agents/admins they have, the better. Some also disclose this info on their websites. The registration year and number of successful clients as at of date/year. This although not accurate, can do some math and help decide whether to hire an agent or not.

I do not 100% agree that the difficult clients are the ones posting negative feedback. There may be unmet expectations during the contract and may be agents/clients were not able to resolve them amicably hence clients ended up sharing the sentiment/experience.

That's why I mentioned earlier sa fees lang magkakatalo because that's the only certain and outright quantifiable factor before engaging with an agent. The working style/customer service/success of the case definitely are experienced after sign-up so hindi pa talaga yan maggauge unless maexperience talaga ng client. Hence, may feedbacks whether be it positive or negative.

I’m only speaking for my experience regarding those who make comments. There are always two sides of any story and like I said I agree with what you said about one’s experience cannot speak for others and why we agents also refuse some cases because we can tell already we won’t get along during the journey. Yes, that’s correct, some cases are terminated because of both the experience from both sides. I agree with transparency to make sure expectations are laid down even at the initial consultation but despite this, relationship still can go south. also agree that the actual experience cannot speak for others. And it’s not not everyone is perfect but rather no one is perfect.

I’m not sure if the fees would be the deciding factor. Our fees are one of the lowest if not the lowest…but despite that not all who I’ve consulted would end up signing up. Some still choose those with higher fees. The fees of course help in deciding but it isn’t really the only deciding factor I do think it’s a matter of personal choice.

Thank you for sharing the basis for gauging success rate from client’s perspective. I’ve always been curious about this because in reality those mentioned don’t really determine success rates from a migration agent perspective.

Staffing - not sure the co-relation of success rate but for sure it can be used as an indication of how a client is seen by the agency. The bigger the staff, the more business like vibe it is. They need to maintain overheads hence they need to be pressured to keep monthly target to cover their profit and expenses. Clients are seen as $$ and they lose the personal touch approach. Some clients are ok with this but most want to feel the level of care and that they are not seen as a number.

The registration year is more an indication of years experience more than anything else. With disclosing the number of clients and success rate, not all do that but it doesn’t mean they have low success rate. A lot of agents don’t do such approach as it can be misleading. I explain this all the time when prospective clients ask at initial consultation - that of course I could also say I have 100% success rate as a fact, what most are not aware of is by the time a case reaches the visa application stage, we would have an idea that there’s around 98% chance of visa grant. Agents normally will submit applications which they know would yield a positive outcome otherwise they won’t even continue it as this is against the code of conduct….hence, the success rate is almost always 100% and unlikely will yield a negative outcome. The 2% would all depend on police and health clearance. This is even reduced if the applicant is certain that the documents he’s presenting are true and correct, and that he’s had no convictions.

Agents already have an idea from skills assessment outcome how the case will pan out. This stage is the make or break. I think, 🤔 f there’s anything to watch out for is the success rate for skills assessment outcome rather than the visa application. In short, it’s so easy to say success rate in a 100 %, that’s no brainer for us agents - if that makes sense.

What I meant po with Staffing was - the more lawyers/agents/admins they have, the ratio of agent : client is lesser. Hence, more focus on a client's case. Unlike several clients : under staffed firms, more likely prone to confusions and mistakes. As to their business model, which is business naman po talaga yan di ba kahit saan tingnan, bahala na yung mga agents dyan. The amount of time and carefulness with each client's case po yung sinasabi ko that will definitely affect the case's success. Thanks

I'm interested to know why police check and health clearance are just 2% of the success rate factor.

RheaMARN1171933 · May 26

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.

mathilde9 · May 26

@RheaMARN1171933 said:

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.

I believe in your good intentions. Thanks for your insights.

AUyeaah · August 28

Hello! I would like to ask what is best to do in my case. I have a criminal record years ago na reckless imprudence resulting to homicide. 3 months imprisonment and a fine for my civil offense. I filed for a probation and was granted six months. Wala naman akong funda, but do I really have to avail the services of a migration lawyer as I may have to submit a letter from a lawyer regarding the nitty gritty details? Or does it mean my lawyer sa case? Or an immigration lawyer? Thank you sa mga sagot ninyo!