Confused ! Please help

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ria on May 17, 2010 at 2:55

Dear Susan

Please reply, I only have 28 days to decide on this and send the paperwork.
thanx

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zaman on May 20, 2010 at 7:06

Hi
I can understand your emotion. So far I know there is no guarantee that one's reply will be answered. It may be or may be not. Hope your problem will be solved by some means or other. Do not leave us.

Hope for the best
Zaman

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sky Rumsey on May 20, 2010 at 14:23

Ria,

I would love to be able to respond with a helpful answer or even some ideas, but I'm just another applicant! Your matter seems rather complicated, and if you are paying a consultant and they are not helping, then I may suggest in asking for a refund?

I can understand your frustration in wanting a timely response, and if I were you, I would cross post across as many forums you think are usable if time is of utmost urgency.

Since I've been on Embrace Australia, I have found it be insightful, polite and clutter free of spurious topics that dilute the real content.

I've also come to admire the key members such as Lisa and Susan. I've seen them try their best to reply to every question raised (which is numerous). For Susan especially, there is much admiration, which you acknowledge in your opening paragraph. To be a migration agent, and offer advice for free (no idea if she works on commission or salary for this site), which would normally be $100's of consultation fees, is a wonderful act of altruism! I often wonder why migration agents give such knowledge willingly when it may proof to be a loss of business!

But this is always why I am very mindful never to takes things for granted when posting. I think I have managed to always avoid asking my first question to anyone in particular. I feel have no right to expect someone to answer me, on a public, fee-free forum service, only to patiently hope. Only if someone has replied may I then feel I can direct the response to them (politely of course!).

All said and done, without informative agents on a site, or timely response, a forum would be prove rather useless!

In summary, if time is an issue to a question, ask as many people on as many sites as you can and hope that some of the answers you get back (if any) are helpful! Given that Visa's are normally on timeframes of months to years, 28 days is a bit of a shock to have to deal with. It's like being a tortoise all your life, then suddenly got to catch up with the hare!

I have to admit, when I ventured into applying for a Visa, I thought I would be very much alone when it came to seeking advise, but forums (well, this one) has provided me excellent and calming information that without, I may have most likely not applied to Australia (that's a another yarn!).

good luck with it all and all the best

kindest regards

Sky

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on May 22, 2010 at 6:23

Hi Ria

Your consultant was wrong.

Firstly, you can have two visa applications running in parallel.

With regard to cancellation, what happens is that if you have two applications running and one visa is granted, for example the 175, it gets cancelled when the second visa is granted, for example the 485. The second visa would then become your Australian visa.

Unless your agent wrote to DIAC to advise that you wanted to withdraw your 485 visa, there is no way DIAC would have known your circumstances had changed, which is why it is now seeking supporting documentation for that visa.

On another note, Ria, I'm sorry you're not happy with the fact that you have had to wait for eight days for me to respond to your query. Let me explain why.

I have a serious legal and ethical responsibility to act in the best interests of my clients. In addition, I feel a strong moral responsibility to do my utmost to help these people, who have entrusted me with their and their families' future. Just to clarify, by "clients" I mean people who have signed a client agreement with me and on whose behalf I have submitted a Form 956 to DIAC.

On 7 May, DIAC made an unexpected announcement that it had decided to temporarily suspend its acceptance of offshore general skilled migration visa applications. Can you imagine what impact that had on my clients and how much time I needed to spend in explaining each one's options, as well as continuing my work with clients from other visa categories? Do you seriously think it would have been the mark of an ethical person to keep these people waiting so I could answer your post, when they each had a relationship with me that was based on trust and integrity; and were so in need of my advice ?

I usually put time aside on the weekend to visit the forum and answer questions, but I needed to prioritise my clients that weekend.

Then, on May 17, the day you posted that you only had 28 days to make your decision, DIAC announced its new Skilled Occupation List. Once again, causing great concern amongst my skilled migration clients and necessitating more research, strategic advice and written advice from me.

Accordingly, Ria, I have not had time to even visit this forum until today, because I must address my responsibilities to my clients above all else.


Best regards
Susan

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ria on May 22, 2010 at 18:09

I understand the situation you were facing. I apologise for the hard comments I made at that time. Actually I was too confused at that time that I didn't even knew what I was doing. During the time I read 28 days I couldn't think of what to do first. As I need to undergo medicals, get police clearance, from India as well as Australian Federal Police, send in Assessments and fill up forms and also needed to find out about the right guidance. As my migration agent is really dumb, I needed help at the spot. Only place I could thought of was embrace australia.

I would also like to mention that Glenn Rayner, an Australian Migration Agent really helped me at that time in taking the right decision. He came back with the answer in no time. So, I greatly appreciate him. He came up with the same answer as you. So, You cleared up more on this query, So, thanks Susan. I apologise for what I said before.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on May 22, 2010 at 23:44

Hi Ria

No need to apologise - migrating can be such a frustrating, worrying and stressful time, as many members of our community have experienced.

I'm so glad you're happier now; and that you've come back and visited us again.

It sounds as though you've now received some good, strategic advice from Glenn Rayner that's put you on the right path.

I hope the rest of your application process goes smoothly - keep us posted on what happens!

Best regards
Susan

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on May 22, 2010 at 23:48

Hi Sky

Thank you so much for your post above. Just to clarify, I don't get a salary, commission, or any contra, such as advertising on the site - it's all purely voluntary.

Happy hiccuping weeked!

Cheers
S

• ▶ Reply