"**** **********" based in Edinburgh featured badly in Daily Record

[Guest Nick11]

Just wanted to wish all you guys the best of luck.

Emmigrating is difficult enough even with a good and well respected agent - never mind a bad one!

[Gollywobbler 20]

Hi ..did you try 314688 . The reason I say this, I had to input a password into the goverment website to ascertain what was happening with the visa but I wasn't privvy to the password as this was set up by VC. Clare replied to my email immediately and did say that she didn't have access to my file at the time and it might be "blah" and "blah". None of which were right and I had to try combinations..which did finally work. But I'm thinking, by the sounds of things here, she may well be in Australia and therefore not have access to your file therefore gave you the wrong number. I'm just surmising..but it might be the case.

 

I had an email Tuesday morning, from aspc, about handing over from Clare to myself and it basically said that I hadn't given the correct agent information i.e. the visa agent wasn't actually clare. I emailed her at 5.30 am our time and I got the quickest response and she told me who the name of the agent was. It was a name I'd never once heard before which makes me think this was indeed the MARA agent you're talking of. Clare was extremely helpful with any emails I batted over all morning. I then phoned the aspc and they too were extremely helpful. I spoke to a woman there and said "does this set back on the "956" form mean I'll have to wait another fortnight for the amendment to be made regarding the agent name"..she said "normally it would..but you know what..I've got access to that database and I'm going to change it right now"....she then proceeded to tell me everthing I needed to know including the fact that I was a form short and she sent me the pdf there and then. They were unbelievably helpful. Anytime I phone the aspc they are so nice.

 

I'm not sure of the ACS number your quoting. I actually don't know what ACS means..I have a TRN number I use which is a mixture of letters and numbers and is 10 digits / numbers long.

 

I hope maybe this has set your mind at rest a little. I would continue to talk to VC though...but my guess is that Clare is in Oz right now and if you get up early enough and batter some emails over ..you'll get the answers you're looking for.

 

TTFN... Carol Ann

 

Hi Carol Ann

 

It is illegal - not unlawful but illegal - for anybody who is physically in Australia to offer "immigration advice or assistance" (or very similar wording) unless he or she is a Registered Migration Agent. Potentially the penalty is prison. I am not kidding.

 

Anyway if Clare is competent to handle your visa application from outside Australia (which she technically is because there is no system of regulation of migration agents who are not physically in Australia themselves) why did she need a MARA-registered Agent to act as her "front man" with DIAC? She was entitled to lodge and run your visa application without involving Ashley as far as the Law is concerned, so why didn't she choose to do just that instead?

 

http://www.themara.com.au/Online/ARSearch.asp?DeptID=140

 

If I were you, I would ask Clare rather more searching questions than you seem to have asked hitherto, lassie. Where are the Australian Lawyers who are about to take over the business? Why have you not heard from them yet? Which firm might this be and who should you contact within it, perhaps?

 

http://www.visa-connection.co.uk/webfiles/news.asp

 

Yours is one of the visa applications that has been "ring-fenced" by DIAC in order to protect all the clients involved because ultimately you are all DIAC's clients and they DO take that responsibility seriously. That is why they are accepting the Forms 956 immediately, so that they can let their clients know what is needed without any further delays, and so that they can protect any clients who need it.

 

If you would care to re-read my posts on this thread, it might help you to gain a better understanding of the situation?

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest rockpool crab]

Hi Carol Ann

 

Yours is one of the visa applications that has been "ring-fenced" by DIAC in order to protect all the clients involved

Gill

 

Hi Gill,

 

Can I ask how you know this? My application has been "ring-fenced" by DIAC? If I phone up aspc and ask this, they will now tell me this I assume?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Carol Ann

[Guest rockpool crab]

Hi Trisha,

 

Best of luck with your new life. Happy Days now it's all over, we'll all laugh about it one day... the VC nonsence.

 

Kind regards

 

Carol Ann

[Guest rockpool crab]

Hi Carol Ann

 

 

If I were you, I would ask Clare rather more searching questions than you seem to have asked hitherto, lassie.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

 

LOL..wow..long time since I've been called "lassie"...my dad sometimes called me that.

 

Carol Ann

[Guest andrew_obrien]

Hi ..did you try 314688 . The reason I say this, I had to input a password into the goverment website to ascertain what was happening with the visa but I wasn't privvy to the password as this was set up by VC. Clare replied to my email immediately and did say that she didn't have access to my file at the time and it might be "blah" and "blah". None of which were right and I had to try combinations..which did finally work. But I'm thinking, by the sounds of things here, she may well be in Australia and therefore not have access to your file therefore gave you the wrong number. I'm just surmising..but it might be the case.

 

I had an email Tuesday morning, from aspc, about handing over from Clare to myself and it basically said that I hadn't given the correct agent information i.e. the visa agent wasn't actually clare. I emailed her at 5.30 am our time and I got the quickest response and she told me who the name of the agent was. It was a name I'd never once heard before which makes me think this was indeed the MARA agent you're talking of. Clare was extremely helpful with any emails I batted over all morning. I then phoned the aspc and they too were extremely helpful. I spoke to a woman there and said "does this set back on the "956" form mean I'll have to wait another fortnight for the amendment to be made regarding the agent name"..she said "normally it would..but you know what..I've got access to that database and I'm going to change it right now"....she then proceeded to tell me everthing I needed to know including the fact that I was a form short and she sent me the pdf there and then. They were unbelievably helpful. Anytime I phone the aspc they are so nice.

 

I'm not sure of the ACS number your quoting. I actually don't know what ACS means..I have a TRN number I use which is a mixture of letters and numbers and is 10 digits / numbers long.

 

I hope maybe this has set your mind at rest a little. I would continue to talk to VC though...but my guess is that Clare is in Oz right now and if you get up early enough and batter some emails over ..you'll get the answers you're looking for.

 

TTFN... Carol Ann

 

Hi thanks for the advice but no number or combination works on the ACS website tried to contact them last night but guess there not open while monday morning so will have to call then.

I also emailed clare last night but have got no reply but dont expect to either at the minute.

 

I will kepp you all informed about what is happening and thanks for the advice

[Guest rockpool crab]

Hi thanks for the advice but no number or combination works on the ACS website tried to contact them last night but guess there not open while monday morning so will have to call then.

I also emailed clare last night but have got no reply but dont expect to either at the minute.

 

I will kepp you all informed about what is happening and thanks for the advice

 

Hiya, like you say they probably won't answer till Monday now. I can't believe I didn't remember what ACS meant..I guess it was so long ago. It's the Australian Computer Society who need to assess your degree and previous skills. I just dug out my letter which was dated 20th June 2007..aaargh..and says on it it's only valid for a year. Looks like I'll have to shell out again for all of that...although I'll try calling aspc first..considering my job hasn't changed then hopefully that'll be ok. mmm..gosh I'm so forgetful I'm sure someone on here has alerted me to this before. I think I'll have to pay the extra :-(

 

Anyways though..if you want to PM me and give me your email I'll happily send you a PDF of my ACS letter to let you see how the numbering should go :-)

 

Catch you later

 

Carol Ann

[Guest andrew_obrien]

Hiya, like you say they probably won't answer till Monday now. I can't believe I didn't remember what ACS meant..I guess it was so long ago. It's the Australian Computer Society who need to assess your degree and previous skills. I just dug out my letter which was dated 20th June 2007..aaargh..and says on it it's only valid for a year. Looks like I'll have to shell out again for all of that...although I'll try calling aspc first..considering my job hasn't changed then hopefully that'll be ok. mmm..gosh I'm so forgetful I'm sure someone on here has alerted me to this before. I think I'll have to pay the extra :-(

 

Anyways though..if you want to PM me and give me your email I'll happily send you a PDF of my ACS letter to let you see how the numbering should go :-)

 

Catch you later

 

Carol Ann

 

Thanks for the advice ill pm you now cheers

[Gollywobbler 20]

Hi Gill,

 

Can I ask how you know this? My application has been "ring-fenced" by DIAC? If I phone up aspc and ask this, they will now tell me this I assume?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Carol Ann

 

Hi Carol Ann

 

I know this because the problem has been rumbling for at least a couple of months now. George Lombard and Alan Collett have both been in touch with the ASPC - at no cost to any of the visa applicants - to explain that the advice they have both given via the forums is that affected applicants should send Form 956 to the ASPC. The relevant ASPC Managers are very sympathetic to the applicants caught up in this debacle - which has happened through no fault of their own - and have promised Alan & George that they will offer the affected applicants every assistance.

 

"Ring-fenced" is my term, not theirs, but this is what it amounts to. That is why they were not stuffy with you when you submitted Form 956 but instead processed it into the system immediately. It is also why they have been willing to do their best to help whenever you have phoned them. They do not normally provide this level of "red carpet" treatment to visa applicants where there is no problem.

 

Various e-mails have also flown around behind the scenes. From those, I gather that the ASPC have been able to identify and "mark" all the recent applications that have been submitted with the name of Ashley McEwen as the submitting Agent. (Some sort of search tool on their computer has enabled this, I would guess.) So instead of refusing visas because documents are outstanding, some of which were requested by COs months ago etc - as happened with the deanrm case - I think the ASPC are now sitting tight for the minute, realising that it will probably be some time before the current problems work their way through the system completely. Some people have only just realised that they might have a problem etc.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Gollywobbler 20]

Hiya, like you say they probably won't answer till Monday now. I can't believe I didn't remember what ACS meant..I guess it was so long ago. It's the Australian Computer Society who need to assess your degree and previous skills. I just dug out my letter which was dated 20th June 2007..aaargh..and says on it it's only valid for a year. Looks like I'll have to shell out again for all of that...although I'll try calling aspc first..considering my job hasn't changed then hopefully that'll be ok. mmm..gosh I'm so forgetful I'm sure someone on here has alerted me to this before. I think I'll have to pay the extra :-(

 

Anyways though..if you want to PM me and give me your email I'll happily send you a PDF of my ACS letter to let you see how the numbering should go :-)

 

Catch you later

 

Carol Ann

 

Hi again, Carol Ann

 

I am guessing - completely guessing - but if the ASPC have not alerted you to any problem with your ACS assessment, I would be surprised if there is one. As far as I know, the visa application has to be submitted within a year of the ACS approval but that happened, didn't it? If so, there should not be a problem about that.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest rockpool crab]

Hi Carol Ann

 

 

"Ring-fenced" is my term, not theirs, but this is what it amounts to. That is why they were not stuffy with you when you submitted Form 956 but instead processed it into the system immediately. It is also why they have been willing to do their best to help whenever you have phoned them. They do not normally provide this level of "red carpet" treatment to visa applicants where there is no problem.

 

 

Gill

 

Hi there,

 

Just off the phone to aspc and as usual they were as helpful as they could be. I asked if my visa had been "ring-fenced" as I lodged through Visa Connection. The guy said it had not, there was nothing on my file to say anything like this. He also continued to say that this can be done if an agent has done anything "dodgy" but my file most definitely didn't show anything on it. But it is strange that they advised me to fill up the 956, I wouldn't have thought they would get involved in such a way.

 

Same old same old though... "we're processing as of 25th November and it'll be 2 - 3 weeks till you have a CO. It moves really really quickly when you receive a CO" he says..mmm...Martin and Val jumped into my mind when he said this..but what can you say.

 

Think I'm going to start phoning twice a week..just for the sake of my sanity.

 

He told me though that at least it's only roughly a year for visa's and that it's 4 years wait for Canada..omg..can you imagine waiting four years.

 

Cheers for now... Carol Ann

 

PS...the ACS letter is fine even though it's over a year old now as it was indeed lodged with my visa app. before it had expired...happy days!