26 Jul Why You Need a A Registered Migration Agent

The difference between a registered and an unregistered migration agent is the difference between getting a good night’s rest and staying up for two days straight: neither plan will kill you, but one could really mess up your life.

It’s a dilemma many people find themselves in: trying to leave one country for another and finding that it’s an expensive, time-consuming and utterly baffling process. It’s even more difficult to wrap your head around the visa application process for Australia or New Zealand, two highly competitive destinations.

There Are Two Kinds of People in This World…

Only registered migration agents are fully qualified to provide assistance on immigration matters. Sure, you’ll find a handful of questionable people giving advice on Twitter or on message boards. Sure, those pieces of advice are “free,” in the sense that you don’t pay now for the mistaken tips… but you’ll certainly pay later when an error on your application (or a missing document) leads to a rejection and a loss of application fees.

This is not some scare tactic – you, your money and your future are all wrapped up in this application. If it’s not perfect, you will be rejected – that’s a near-certainty.

Even the Australian government pushes people to use a registered agent – if you think about it, why would they want to deal with an inexperienced, shady unregistered one? And why would you want to start off on the wrong foot with the government you intend to bowl over?

The Australian Government’s website has useful resources about finding a registered agent and verifying the validity of your migration agent. Hightrees Law has a 100% track record on partner visa applications. That’s about as “low risk” as it gets.

Why Hightrees

If you’re going to lodge a visa application for Australia, New Zealand or the U.K., should choose Hightrees Law because they are:

• highly experienced, with 10-plus years in the business
• actually qualified. Registered migration agents must complete Post-Graduate studies in Immigration Law. Paula McGeown, their founder, has done this and more.
• consistently successful with visa applications. Hightrees is able to maintain their perfect track record by (in their words) “being upfront and honest about your chances of success, while continuing to assess the viability of your application at each stage and milestone.”
• extremely knowledgeable and reactive. We’re not just talking about the law here. As anyone who has dealt with government bureaucracy knows, people who successfully navigate The System have to be on top of ever-changing policy, unspoken rules, and the personal whims of employees. (By the way, don’t fear The Man. Most government workers are great people – you just need a representative who is already aware of and can anticipate their quirks.)
•  highly regulated
• committed to a strict Code of Conduct
• insured. (Think about it: this is important for both of us.)
• always up-to-date with important immigration law changes, thanks to near- monthly Continuing Professional Development trainings.

Professional Help… Guaranteed

By the way, unregistered agents aren’t beholden to any of the above. They can do whatever they want with your money, leaving you without a visa and your immigration status in limbo. No one need risk that.

(If you begin to doubt the validity of the process at any point, the Migration Agents Registration Authority [MARA] is available in the event of any issues.)

But hey, don’t take our word for it. For more on why you need a Registered migration agent to handle your case, watch this official video from the Australian government – and good luck!