Barbara Maher: registration barred by OMARA on 27 Jun 2024

What the Authority decided

On 27 June 2024, the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the Authority) decided to bar the Former Agent, Ms Barbara Maher (MARN 9358090) from being registered as a migration agent.

The Authority found that the Former Agent breached her obligations under clauses 2.1, 2.1A, 2.23, 5.2, 5.5, 7.2 and 7.4 of the former Code for registered migration agents.

The Authority found that the Former Agent:

• Expected the visa applicant to pay the nomination costs associated with the preparation of a nomination application for her nominated employer. Furthermore, the Former Agent encouraged the nominated employer to deduct these costs from the visa applicant’s pay.
• Displayed a significant conflict of interest by advising the nominated employer to recover the costs relating to the preparation of the nomination application from the visa applicant.
• Encouraged the nominated employer to act in contravention of the law, specifically Regulation 2.87, contrary to the Migration Regulations.
• Did not deal fairly with her client by making disrespectful comments about the visa applicant.
• Failed to provide a written Services Agreement, a Statement of Services and invoices to her client.

The Former Agent’s barring will be in effect for a period of two (2) years from the date of the Authority’s decision.

ਫੈਸਲੇ ਦੀ ਇੱਕ ਕਾਪੀ, ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਨਿੱਜੀ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਕਾਰੋਬਾਰੀ ਨਾਮ ਹਟਾਏ ਗਏ ਹਨ, ਹੇਠਾਂ ਉਪਲਬਧ ਹੈ।

ਉੱਪਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਫੈਸਲੇ ਦਾ ਸਾਰ ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਸਤੁਤ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ Authority's published record of this decision, which also carries the decision document itself. Nothing has been added to it.

What a bar means if this was your agent

A bar is made under section 311A of the Migration Act and applies to a former registered agent — someone whose registration had already ceased, so there was nothing left to cancel. The Authority may bar them from being registered again for up to five years.

If this person was acting for you, they were not a registered migration agent at the time of the decision. Check what has actually been lodged in your name.

If this was your agent: the first week

1. Find out where your application actually is. If you have an ImmiAccount, log in. The clock does not stop because your representation did.
2. Check who the Department is writing to. A Form 956 makes an agent the authorised recipient, and correspondence sent to them is taken to have been given to you. A deadline sent to an inbox nobody reads is still a deadline.
3. Get your file. Your documents are yours and the Code requires them back — originals first. ਆਪਣੀ file ਵਾਪਸ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਲੈਣੀ ਹੈ.
4. Work out what was paid and what was done. ਵਿਸਥਾਰਵਾਰ ਇਨਵੌਇਸ ਅਤੇ ਰਸੀਦਾਂ ਮੰਗੋ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ Code ਮੰਗ ਕਰਦੀ ਹੈ। Routes to recover money work better started early.
5. Complain, if there is something to complain about. A published decision does not close your own file. Where to complain, and what OMARA can and cannot do.
6. Only then, find someone else. A new agent needs the file and the dates. The first five steps are what make that first conversation useful instead of exploratory.

What this decision does not mean

It is a decision about one individual on one date. Only a person can be a registered migration agent — a company cannot — so it says nothing about anyone else at the same practice. Decisions of this kind are reviewable, and bars and suspensions expire. The register ਉਹ ਥਾਂ ਹੈ ਜਿੱਥੇ ਮੌਜੂਦਾ ਸਥਿਤੀ ਦਰਜ ਹੈ।

Decision information sourced from the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. VisaBid is not affiliated with OMARA or the Department of Home Affairs.