Question: What are my chances of success? Can you definitely get me the visa?

A common question I get from visa applicants, sponsors, and employers is “What are my chances of success?” and “Can you guarantee to get a positive outcome?”.

The fact of the matter is, applying for anything with the Department of Immigration, whether it is a visa application, sponsorship, nomination, or revocation, is a “judicial process“. In other words, there are a set of procedures and prescribed rules (requirements) that you must follow in an “application process”, where a “decision” is made by an authority (ie. Immigration).

Due to this fact, it is not possible to guarantee an outcome because the decision maker must use their own personal (and very human) judgement on whether your documents, evidence, and circumstances fit within the prescribed rules (according to them).

In fact a lot of people get negative decisions, made by Immigration, overturned (to a successful decision) when they apply for a review (appeal) to the Migration Review Tribunal. This can occur when the evidence or circumstances have been misinterpreted, or if the legislation has not been applied correctly, by Immigration.

The truth is, you can only prepare an application as perfectly as possible to maximize the chances of a successful outcome.

That is why it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the procedures and requirements when it comes to lodging an application to the Department of Immigration. That way, you can competently prepare what is needed to comply with the legislation and policies at the time you apply.

It is equally important to also interview your migration agent, if you will be engaging one to handle your application because if you are paying a professional to manage your case, you have to be confident that they have the experience, proof of past successes, and a system (to replicate their successes) to prepare an application that will possess the highest possible chance of success.

One warning sign of an incompetent agent, is if they “guarantee” a positive outcome. Now that you know that applications are a judicial process, you know that a positive outcome cannot be guaranteed.  In fact it is against the Migrations Agents’ Code of Conduct to guarantee an outcome and make claims of being able to do so.

So my recommendation is “do your research first”.

Whether you have the time to research the procedures and requirements yourself, or hire a migration agent to professionally do it for you, you have to clearly understand:

1. What the procedures are,
2. What the requirements are,
3. If you can comply with the procedures, and
4. Be able to demonstrate that you can comply and meet the requirements

Only use an agent if you cannot do any one of the above yourself, or if you do not have the time to execute the above steps competently or in a timely manner.

Contact us if you require help with your application.

From the desk of Yuri Marshall | Changing Lives Everyday