An unregistered migration agent has been convicted and sentenced for migration fraud offences in the Magistrates Court of Victoria, according to the office of the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) into unlawful migration assistance to visa applicants, according to a statement from the Minister’s office.

Maria Nani was found guilty of providing false documentation to visa applicants in return for money. The former migration agent continued to provide unlawful assistance to visa applicants after her registration was cancelled by the Office of Migration Agents Registration Authority, who had determined that she was not a fit and proper person to give migration assistance. Nani was found guilty of having assisted non-genuine applications for skilled and family visas.

At the court hearing earlier this month, Nani lodged a plea of guilty and was convicted. She was sentenced to a community corrections order of 300 hours' community service over 18 months across all charges, fined $10 000 and ordered to pay $113.90 costs and $4075 in repatriation orders.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, Magistrate Peter Mealy said,”She was dealing with vulnerable people she chose to exact from them moneys she knew she was not entitled to… She chose to enrich herself at their cost."

Prosecutor Raphael de Vietri said Nani duped 17 visa hopefuls in believing she could help them secure residency. She charged almost $30,000 and had received payment of more than $11,000 before her arrest.

Written by:

JUSTIN RICKARD B.A LL.B M.A (Syd.) M.M.I.A

Australian lawyer* # 11272 (N.S.W) & Registered Migration Agent # 9790625

Last year, nearly 29,000 sc457 visas were cancelled due to poor business conditions, forcing these temporary workers to go back home. The Australian reports that the number of foreigners ­applying for a four-year work visa fell below 50,000 during 2013-14 — and the number of foreign tradies looking for work halved to 12,000.

Referring to unpublished DIBP statistics, the report states that compared to last year, the total number of sc457 visa cancellations increased by about 45%.

The lower skilled visa applications were hit the hardest as applications from foreigners for clerical and administrative jobs crashed 80 per cent to just 660 during 2013-14, compared with 3370 the year before.

With Australia’s unemployment rate levels above 6.1 per cent, the number of foreign managers applying to work here fell 41 per cent to 9720. Visa applications from professionals fell almost a third to 24,810.

The biggest employer of foreign workers — the tourism and hospitality sector — saw applications halve to 5330 during the year.

The following was an email I sent to the CEO of the Office of the MARA this morning:

The idea for a new permanent visa for entrepreneurs of small businesses who create jobs in Australia has been floated by Labour’s Chris Bowen who believes that temporary visa holders who prove that they can create jobs are important for the Australian economy and should be allowed to remain permanently, reports the Australian.

Chris Bowen introduced the significant investor visa which during his time as immigration minister never really got off the ground. But his idea has in the recent year gained a great deal of traction with 1095 SIV applications in the pipeline and some 343 SIVs granted.

Mr Bowen is now talking about introducing a more basic entrepreneur visa which essentially is  not based on a dollar value but rather on the number of jobs the entrepreneur can create during their stint on a temporary visa.

According to the Australian, Mr Bowen told a Queensland Media Club luncheon that someone on a temporary visa could be asked to demonstrate how they could turn $50,000 into a company employing 15 people. If their start-up plan worked, they would be given a permanent visa.

"We can do better when it comes to attracting people with the entrepreneurial spirit…If you've managed to take $50,000 and turn it into a company, which is employing 15 people in three years, I reckon you're going to make a pretty important contribution to the Australian economy going forward.

"New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore, among other nations, have all introduced specific entrepreneur visas and Labor believes in going down this road as well."