There have been at least 150 reports of a scam in which some AU$35,000 have been handed over to scammers by Indian and Pakistani nationals after they received phone and email threats that their immigration papers were out of order and that they were going to be deported unless they paid fines and fees to fix the problems, according to SCAMwatch, a division of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Migrants are being warned to be aware of calls from scammers claiming to be from the 'Department of Immigration' threatening them with deportation and demanding money.

The ACCC and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) have been getting reports of scammers claiming to be government officials. The scammers call migrants and temporary visa holders and threaten them with deportation supposedly because of problems with their immigration paperwork or visa status.

“Scammers are demanding up-front fees of around $1,000 to resubmit forms. These scam phone calls appear to be targeting people from India and Pakistan. The ACCC has received 150 reports of this scam since February with more than $35,000 reported lost,” according to the ACCC statement.

“Scammers may try to pressure you by calling repeatedly and harassing you, even threatening to send the police to your house – but if you give your money to a scammer you will never see it again,” warns the ACCC.

The DIBP has confirmed that it does not ask for any payment of fines or penalties by telephone.

Be on guard, if you receive a phone call from someone threatening you with deportation and asking you to pay a fee, hang up and do not respond. If in doubt, don’t use any contact details provided by the caller - look up the government department or organisation yourself in the phone book or online and phone or email them.

ABCs 4-Corners investigation this week reported that education agents in China are blatantly cheating the enrolment system and putting at risk Australia’s education industry. The report reveals an industry in “a sorry state: corruption, widespread plagiarism, cheating and exploitation.”

Every University the ICAC (the Independent Commission Against Corruption) had spoken to has said they have had problems with their brokers at one time or other in regard to false documentation for the purposes of enrolment, according to the report.

THE IRONY IS THAT THE UNIVERSITIES SEEM TO HAVE NO QUALMS  about continuing to use these unregulated brokers who are colluding with students to falsify documents for entry into Australia. The risk then is that these unregulated brokers are going to put applicants through to the university with fake qualifications, or who they know have cheated on tests, or who are trying to undertake some sort of visa fraud.

The ABC used hidden cameras in their investigation of some of the biggest education brokers that recruit for Australian universities in Beijing and found some were willing to accept forged documents; and others were advising students on how to avoid the tough English language requirements.

Among the named agencies were EduGlobal and Shinyway – which recruits on behalf of many Australia’s most prestigious universities.

Migration Alliance has been provided with the following information:

The Government has made changes to the Temporary Skilled (Subclass 457) visas.  These changes action the recommendations in the 457 Integrity Review.  Assistant Minister Cash announced the Government Response to the 457 Integrity Review on 18 March 2015.

The Government:

This is certainly a welcomed question aspiring migrants seeking to get over the language hurdle can ponder on nowadays given the acceptance of more than one English language test under the migration regulations.

Australia’s immigration department began accepting TOEFL scores (amongst others) for student visa purposes in late 2011, ending a 20 year monopoly enjoyed by the rival International English Language Testing System.

More recently, TOEFL together with several tests have been accepted by the department of immigration for various other visa subclasses. The sc457 visa is the latest visa subclass to allow these new tests and with lower requirements indicating that the government has finally taken a more practical and flexible approach to English-language requirements for migration purposes, after a long review of the issue which started with the labour government back in 2008.

TOEFL is now a sponsor of the Migration Alliance. Several prominent RMAs have commented on this news and shared interesting comments on what they thought of the rival tests – the blog comments are certainly worth a read.

TOEFL is run by the US-based non-profit organisation ETS. Helen Cook, ETS Australasia Associate Director, said that accepting the TOEFL iBT test for 457 visas will help Australian businesses remain globally competitive, given the need to attract skills necessary for economic growth and improved productivity.

The RRT have permitted the following information to be sent to members:

"Dear NSW community liaison network members,

Kay Ransome, the Principal Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal will be holding information sessions about the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth in May 2015.