Being an international student in Australia, it becomes very essential to avail of education & migration services. Most of the students often require either education services or migration services at one or the other phase of their course in Australia. As most of the international students come to Australia with a motive of getting PR, it is at the later stages of their student life that they seek assistance from an immigration consultant, whether to take admission into another course or for application of another visa (or PR).
Australia welcomes thousands of international students every year, and nearly all of these students seek the services of an immigration consultant. Be it in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra or elsewhere, there are thousands of migration agents offering a variety of visa services especially in Melbourne migration consultants are registered one so you can choose any of them before confirming are these MARA agents. While some deal in speciality services like work visas, others provide almost all kinds of education and migration services.
In light of such a rush of immigration consultants, getting confused is very easy. However, at the same time, it becomes very important to choose the right migration consultant – both in terms of services and affordability.
Here’s a valuable guide that can help international students and professionals choose the perfect immigration consultant for availing of education & migration services.
Guide to Choose the Right Immigration Consultant
Know if the Consultant is a MARA Agent
MARA agents are registered and authorized by the Government of Australia to apply and correspond on behalf of their clients. Having the visa applied via a MARA agent adds more credibility to the application and increases the chances of a positive outcome.
MARA agents keep themselves updated about all the latest happenings in the immigration industry and know the tips, tricks and loopholes to help their clients. Hiring a MARA agent is worth it as they even have the right and authority to challenge the visa outcomes if it comes out to be negative by any chance.
On the other hand, applying for the visa through a non-MARA agent may not guarantee a desirable outcome. Moreover, negative outcomes cannot be challenged and the client may even end up being deported in certain cases.
Amidst all the fraudulent cases coming into light these days, it is always recommended (and wiser) to hire a registered MARA agent for any and every kind of visa service to avoid the loss of time, money and peace of mind.
Check for Visa Success Rate of the Consultant
The business of immigration consultancy thrives alone and alone on the visa success rate. Any immigration consultant/agency that doesn’t bring out positive visa outcomes gets out of business pretty quickly, and this is the reason that visa success rates play a pivotal role in agencies’ credibility.
Most of the immigration consultants keep a record of their successful cases, which their potential clients can see. It is either displayed on agencies’ social media platforms or at their offices. One just has to visit the agency’s office and look for successful visa outcomes.
Therefore, as a client, one must look at the visa success rate of the agency before taking any services.
2.1 Specialty Services
Some migration consultants deal with only certain kinds of visas or deal especially in refusal cases. As a client, one can take the services of such agents, but only after going through the visa success rate.
Go Through Social Media Reviews of the Agency
We are living in the era of social media. The clients are much more informed than they were earlier and they do their homework regularly. The clients do not hold themselves back anymore in giving a negative review for unsatisfactory services. Likewise, great services attract positive reviews!
Therefore, when seeking an education or migration service, one can check for reviews on the social media portals of agencies. Google Reviews and Facebook Reviews can help a great deal in taking the right decision.
Take Suggestion for a Close Friend or an Acquaintance
Once it has been a while on the international land, one tends to make connections with other people who too are from other nation(s). Well, the chances are certainly high that one or more such people (either in first- or second-level acquaintances) have taken the services of an immigration agent during the course of their stay. These connections can be of extreme help in suggesting a good migration consultant.
Just like many other industries, the immigration industry also functions on strong connections and word of mouth. Good agents become popular really quickly and get a lot of repeat and referral clients.
In case there are no friends or acquaintances that have taken any immigration services, social media reviews and forums can prove to be extremely helpful.
Inquire for Services and Prices from at Least 3 Agencies
One cannot rate anything good unless it is compared. Therefore, it is highly suggested to visit at least 3 immigration consultants before finalizing.
While most of the consultants present their best picture to the potential clients, it eventually depends upon the type of service that the client is seeking and whether the agent/consultant has had success with that service in the past.
In addition to the above, affordability also plays a key role when it comes to finalizing a consultant. One cannot take the service of a consultant if it is unaffordable. Well, one can find all kinds of immigration consultants in the market, from affordable to very expensive.
Going through different consultants can help the service-seeker get a clearer picture of the visa success rate and pricing of service. It also helps the service-seeker take benefit of healthy competition between the agencies.
Bottom Line
This 5-point comprehensive guide can help the clients get better education & migration services and overall better value for their money with increased chances of positive visa outcome. In addition, it also helps them choose the right immigration consultant more quickly and affordably. Once one has found the right immigration consultant that suits their needs (and pocket), they can stick to the consultant’s services for the future as well.
