Visa scam victims get very little support

Migrating to Australia is a lucrative business for those involved in organising such a move. So lucrative, in fact, that fraud is not uncommon. As current law and practice stands, there's often little that can be done to protect the vulnerable victims of such fraud.

Nearly three thousand visa scam allegations have been reported to the Australian government since 2014. 

But the true number of visa scams and amount of misconduct in this area occurring may be much higher. 

Sanmati Verma is senior immigration lawyer at Victorian law firm Clothier Anderson. 

Ms Verma says those who have been scammed are often not in a position to formally complain. 

"The consequences of that misconduct are that you end up getting a visa cancelled or a visa refused...you're left without a visa. And your first priority is obviously to secure your situation in the country, and so pursuing a complaint might be way, way down your list of priorities."

To hear the full report, click on the audio link above.

If you have a visa / migration-related experience to share, please [email protected]

Listen to 

SBS Punjabi

 Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on 

Facebook

 and 

Twitter

. 

More from SBS Punjabi

Migration agent’s ‘widespread fraud’ has Indian woman’s visa in limbo for 8 years

‘Victim of agent’s fraud’: Indian migrant’s 7-year long battle for visa

Fake migration agent accused of duping international students arrested