Graham Paddington (MMIA) is the firm's principal and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. After successfully completing the Immigration Law course at Victoria University, he applied to the Migration Agents Registration Authority, (the MARA) for registration as a Migration Agent. His registration number is 0006555. You may verify this by visiting www.themara.com.au

Graham has vast experience in many areas of business and has travelled extensively throughout the world. He is a member of the Migration Institute of Australia (membership number 1795). Visit www.mia.org.au for further information. Graham is also a member of the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (www.austarab.com.au) Having lived in the Middle East and worked as a migration agent, he is acutely aware of the cultural and religious sensitivities and requirements, not only of the Nationals, but also the Expatriates. This cultural awareness and understanding, is not limited to the Middle East. To follow are some of the places in the world to which he has travelled and/or provided immigration advice:

• Abu Dhabi	• Bahrain	• Bangkok	• Beijing	• Brazil	• Dubai	• Egypt	• France
• Hong Kong	• Iran	• Iraq	• Ireland	• Italy	• Jordan	• Kuwait	• London
• Monaco	• New Zealand	• Niece	• Oman	• Qatar	• Seoul	• Shanghai	• St Tropez

As you can see, there would not be many other agents (registered agents) that would be able to boast such a diverse range of clientele. His areas of expertise include:

• Business Visas

• Employer sponsored Visas

• Parent Visas

• Skilled Visas

• Spouse Visas

The Australian Government recommends that you only deal with agents who are registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the MARA). The MARA imposes very strict conditions on the conduct of agents and this is your protection against unscrupulous and unregistered agents.

As of 1 July 2005, all agents applying for re-registration must hold professional indemnity insurance. To be eligible for re-registration, an agent must attend and successfully complete the necessary annual CPD (continuing professional development) course, to demonstrate his or her proficiency in matters of immigration law. Please visit the MARA website at www.themara.com.au and read the “Code of Conduct”, to which Registered Migration Agents must adhere. On the MARA website, you can also confirm whether or not the person who is giving you immigration assistance and/or advice, is registered. Simply click on the link “Register of Agents”. If an agent cannot provide you with their 7-digit registration number, it is likely they are not registered. If he or she is not registered, DO NOT deal with them, because it is most likely, that you will have NO protection. Any guarantees or refunds that they are offering, may not be enforceable and you could be left with nothing. Worse still, your chances of obtaining a Visa may be lost forever.

It is worthwhile to note the significance of a “Registered Migration Agent”. Throughout his travels, Graham has seen many “agents’ who masquerade as “registered” migration agents. He has also seen companies that have their principals as registered migration agents but, who employ staff (salesmen and women) who are not registered and, who give immigration advice to the clients, this practice is totally unacceptable. These people have no formal training or qualifications and, are only interested in “sales”, because that is what their income is dependent upon. Please note, that only Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or New Zealand citizens who hold a special category visa can be registered migration agents, pursuant to the Australian Government law and, the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Therefore, if you are being given advice by anyone, other than a person who has registration as a migration agent with the Migration Agents Registration Authority, not only should you not accept or trust the advice, YOU SHOULD NOT PAY FOR IT.

These would have to be some of the most misleading and inaccurate “services” to be offered. Typically, you will be asked to complete a “free” on-line assessment. It will come as no surprise, that the majority of people are “congratulated” because they “qualify”. You will then be asked (encouraged) to go to the next step in this “exciting” process and, pay a “fee”, so that your application can proceed further. What a load of rubbish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you do this, you will most likely be led down a path of deceit and, DISASTER!!

In order to properly assess a person’s eligibility, particularly for skilled migration, the minimum amount of information required is:

• Date of birth

• Qualifications

• Name of university/training institution

• Class pass/grade

• Work experience, including job title, dates of employment, duties and responsibilities etc.

• Spouse details (as per the above)

• Whether or not you have any relatives in Australia

Before you pay any money, or commit to any sort of contract, you must ensure that:

• You are dealing with a registered migration agent

• You have the registration number of the agent (the one who is actually giving you the advice) NOT the one who owns the company

• You check his or her current registration status at www.themara.com.au

If you do not perform these basic checks, you will find yourself committed to a “virtual agent”; who will take absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for your application. You will be told:

“We will guide you through the entire process”
“We will save you money”
“We will educate you on how to lodge your own application”

What you will not be told is, that they will take NO RESPONSIBILITY for your application because, YOU HAVE PREPARED AND LODGED IT YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!. Whatever contract or agreement you have with them, will be full of disclaimers whereby they will not accept any responsibility for the outcome of your application. Typically, you will be offered (and usually at extra cost) a half hour telephone consultation. This is simply not acceptable. Do not look for the answers that you WANT to hear, look for the answers that you NEED to hear!!!!!!!!!! Graham has “rescued” many unsuspecting and innocent people from this free on line assessment “trap” and, in the process, saved them from not only wasting their time and money, but more importantly, saved them from the emotional trauma of the disappointment of an inevitable failure. So many of these people, are risking their life’s savings to pursue and, hopefully secure a better future for their family. It is absolutely unconscionable and unacceptable, to mislead these innocent people, the way that these “free on line assessment” websites mislead and misguide them. The cultural understanding of, and sensitivity to, these people, is what makes Graham such a unique, caring and capable individual, a person who you can truly trust and, depend upon. Internet based applications and electronic lodgement, does not and cannot, provide the personal advice that is required for complex Visa applications. The information freely available on websites is frequently out of date, incomplete and, misleading. We strongly advise that you deal with a person, not a machine. As previously advised, please make sure that person is a Registered Migration Agent, registered with the MARA.

Unlike the “free on-line assessments”, Graham will take personal responsibility not only for your initial enquiry, but also your assessment and (if you qualify), through your entire application process. You will have direct access to him, either by telephone, fax or, email and you will not simply be a “number”. Your enquiries will be attended to within 24 hours, seven days a week.

The most important thing for you to do now, is to decide on which Registered Migration Agent you wish to consult. Once you have made that decision, you should forward your enquiry to them and, he or she should advise you of your options. If, at any time you do not feel comfortable with your choice of Agent, find another one. You should not commit to any agent by payment of fees or entering into a contract, until such time as you are satisfied that they can help you achieve your goals. Graham will provide all the necessary preliminary advice and assessment, without any charge whatsoever and, without any contractual obligation. Graham will also be happy to provide you with extracts of the relevant regulations and/or legislation, to support his assessment.

Once it has been determined that you are eligible to make an application and, you decide that you want to make an application, it will then be necessary for a contract to be signed and, the agreed fees to be paid. This is a legal requirement, which is contained in the MARA Code of Conduct. It is also a legal requirement that a Registered Migration Agent must provide a copy of the document titled “Information on the Regulation of the migration Advice Profession” (IRMAP), before commencing work for a client. Click the following link to view this document: migration advice

Unlike other websites that you may visit, we have deliberately not crowded this with irrelevant information and/or “sponsored” links. This has been done to avoid the inconvenience to you of having to navigate your way through pages of information and web links, in order to find some basic information, guidance and advice. If you require any information that does not appear on this site, please email us and we will be happy to provide the specific information requested. We think you will agree, this is a much more efficient, time saving and personal approach to your requirements.