Migration Agent Suspended for Using VEVO Without Consent

On reading a decision by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) to suspend a Registered Migration Agent (RMA) for accessing personal and immigration information of a person who is not their client through the Department of Home Affairs’ Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system without consent, it is troubling to see the OMARA reverting to its former notoriety of draconian-treatment. Follow this link to read the decision.

Without doubt, OMARA’s role and effort in upholding the integrity of our profession and right to privacy in Australia is respectable and appreciated. However, is there a more effective manner in delivering this message? It appears that this recent decision promotes education over severe disciplinary decisions that threatens the livelihood of small business owners (in this case, RMAs).

Inevitably, as a spectator to such stories, it is only natural that we begin to doubt ourselves and eventually lose confidence in what we do best. Despite having 2 Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law in our firm as my colleagues, I am personally shaken by the array of uncertainty for a future in this profession.

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We believe that as immigration law practitioner, we need to help our fellow colleagues in the industry. It is already difficult enough to manoeuvre under the current immigration climate and the psychological and emotional endurance required to be an RMA. Not many understand the long hours we put in sharpening our skills and balancing life’s curveballs. It saddens me to see our fellow colleagues who resigned from the industry, along with approximately 700 over RMAs last financial year.  

If you are RMA or fellow immigration law practitioner and you feel that you need support, do not hesitate to contact us on (02)-7200 2700 or email us at info@agape-immigration.com. Let’s support each other in this tough and dynamic work environment.

We speak fluent English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian and Malay. If these aren’t your language, we can also help you arrange an interpreter