Mary Heath - a Registered Migration Agent for all visas, including Skilled Migration, Partner Visas, Temporary Employment (Subclass 457), Business Visas.

Offices in Perth, Western Australia and online services.

Visa Selection and Assessment

To pay for one of our services, there is a secure credit card facility on this site, or we can supply bank details for electronic transfer. Costs for the initial assessment are from A$350 - $450, depending on the visa. For this fee you receive a formal assessment of your situation, sent by email attachment. If it looks like you may be low on points, or there is another problem, I make alternative suggestions for gaining more points, or other visa options.

If your case looks good, we send out a Service Agreement with prices and government fees, followed by the forms and documents for visa application. We provide an Agreement for all visa application services.

Viacorp Migration application package for a Skilled Migration Visa

We mail all these documents at one time by post, unless a client is very short of time.

1. Skills Assessment application forms for the Skilled Migration Program visas. This application goes in first to the relevant assessing authority.
2. State or family sponsorship forms, if you need them.
3. Your visa application forms to the Australian Government.
4. Health forms, and a list of 'panel' doctors who are authorised for Australian migration medical examinations in your local area.
5. Character forms for your Police Clearances, or country-specific instructions.
6. A list of all documents and certificates we need from you as supporting evidence for the visa application.
7. Invoices and Receipts for the application and our charges. See Costs and Payments and Invoices.

Skills Assessment application

Visa Application

I advise people their document preparation and skills assessment will take one to two months and State nomination another few weeks before everything is ready to send off to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

When we have a positive Skills Assessment, and other documents and forms are in order, we apply for your visa. Preparation of visa applications will normally take us several weeks, depending on family numbers, which visa you are applying for, and if you have sent in correctly prepared documentation.

Costs

Family Migration visas cost less than other permanent visas because there is no skills assessment. Health checks cost A$300 for each person. These are ball-park figures to give you an estimate.

The charges by Viacorp Migration for skills assessment and visa application vary with the type of visa, whether you have family or employer sponsorship, whether the visa requires an Assurance of Support, and other factors. As a guide only, Skilled Migration Visas cost more than A$3800 and Family Visas cost less than that. The States of Australia can nominate a particular skill in demand in their area. The State does not charge for this benefit.

Payment and Invoices

For a migration visa we will estimate in advance and provide a contract, but consultation on minor matters is usually charged by the hour.

About Registered Migration Agents

What we do

An Australian Migration Agent advises people who want to come to Australia, or who want to remain here. If you are not a citizen of this country, then you are required to have a special permit to stay here: this is called a visa. Visas fall into roughly three categories. Firstly there are the Holiday, Visitors and Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) Visas. These are all short term and do not allow the holder to work here. Secondly, there are the working holiday and temporary long stay visas that do allow work. The best known of these is the Temporary Business Visa, Subclass 457, that allows an overseas worker to work and live in Australia for up to four years. The 457 visa is sponsored by an employing sponsor, either in Australia or overseas, to guarantee you an income while you are here. Other temporary visas are the Investor Retirement Visas, Student Visas and the less common Entertainment Visas (for a singer on tour, for example) and Religious Worker Visa.

Lastly there are migration visas for permanent residence. Family and Partner Visas form one section, where an Australian or permanent resident can sponsor their foreign partner to live here permanently. Parent Visas and child visas fit into this category too. In our office we see many girls (and men, and also same-sex partners) applying for a visa who have met their partner on the internet. Visa law requires everyone to at least meet their partner before they can apply.

Skilled Migration Visas are the largest grant category in the permanent sector. This is at the heart of Australian migration policy. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) carefully screens applications to make sure people arriving here from other countries can speak English, are young enough, have a qualified skill and some work experience. The Skilled Migration Visas are points tested to allow some flexibility. But a permanent migration visa on skills is a large application.

Migrants can also apply if they have an employer to sponsor them - these visas are called the Employer Sponsored Migration visas. For this sector, the employer applies in Australia for government permission to bring an overseas worker over here. There is a temporary (Subclass 457) and a permanent employer sponsored visa, and the temporary can lead into the permanent.

Business Skills Migration visas are in the skilled migration section, as applicants have to prove they not only have the finance to start a new business to benefit Australia, but they also have the expertise and a good track record of past business success. Business Skills applicants must have researched location and feasibility, and formed a Business Plan, before they can apply for this visa.

Can you help with a refused or cancelled visa?

We advise on appeal cases of visa refusal if there are good grounds for appeal. Many students come to us with cancelled visas. It is worth being very careful of the regulations when you hold a Student Visa.

Do Migration Agents help with the refugees?

Some Agents are employed by the Catholic Migrant Centre or other community groups to assist refugees gain a Protection Visa to remain in Australia, or to come here from war zones where civil law has broken down, such as Afghanistan and the Middle East. However, this is a specialist area, and not all Agents take on refugee clients unless their office is set up to handle these cases. Viacorp Migration does not handle refugee cases.

Are you a registered profession?

Migration Agents are registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) to be qualified in Australian Migration Law. In Australia it is illegal, with fines and prison sentencing, to practice as a Migration Agent without registration. In the past too many 'agents' have given foreigners false information, or simply been ignorant of the law themselves. Quite a few queries come through from Bangladesh or China, where a local 'Migration Agent' gave them bad 'advice'.

There is a complaints procedure in place, should a client have cause to complain of an Agent's conduct. This is through the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), as stated in the Code of Conduct.

Where does your business do business?

We have a city office in Perth and run an active internet service too.

Contact us.