Be careful who you trust!

Things my cat didn’t know about Immigration, Part 1.

Everything my clients tell me is 100% confidential. If I need to talk about something I tell my cat. Cookie is a chill guy, and a great listener. He suggested I change some names so I could share a few war stories to help people make better decisions. The following story is based on a real case, and is Cookie-approved.

Be careful who you trust!

If you lied on a visa application you would expect it to be refused right? But what about an incorrect answer on a visa application approved last year, could that effect you now?

Wendy Darling lived in London, but dreamed of moving to Australia. Her first step was to get a Working Holiday Visa. Wendy paid Peter Pan & Co to arrange that visa for her. They made the process so easy, preparing and lodging the whole application for Wendy. Once in Australia, Wendy landed her dream job and was delighted when her boss offered to sponsor her for permanent residence. During the sponsored-visa application it came up that Wendy’s old working holiday visa application had falsely stated she held a university degree (the truth is that Wendy had withdrawn after her first year and never completed it). The Australian Government reacted badly to what they called “false or misleading information” which they had “on file”. Wendy’s sponsored-application was refused and she was banned from applying for an Australia visa for 3 years. Wendy was understandably very upset when she called me saying “I never even saw that form! Peter Pan & Co did it for me!”. Wendy’s case has some prospects of success on appeal, but it’s going to be a long road, and her dreams of permanent residence will be on hold until it can be resolved.

I see situations like this regularly. Things like,

– Work experience declared on a visa application does not match a previous application

– Work experience in Australia indicates that visa conditions were breached to get it

– Resume is contradicted by the person’s old neglected LinkedIn profile

False information declared on your visa application, or your previous visa application can result in visa refusal and being banned from Australia for 3 years. In some cases it can be much worse.

If your name is on a visa application the law:

– Deems that you completed the form

– Holds you responsible for the truth of every answer

– Makes no allowance for a mistake

The Australian Government can waive the 3-year ban, but will only do so if convinced it is in Australia’s national interest to do so (that’s a very high bar), or that there are compassionate/compelling circumstances that effect the interests of an Aussie.

If I was going to trust someone else to lodge a visa application for me, I would (at least) want to see the draft before it was lodged.