Simone Kearney: registration cancelled by OMARA on 29 Jun 2023

What the Authority decided

On 29 June 2023, the OMARA decided to cancel the registration of registered migration agent Simone Kearney (MARN 1173899). As result of an investigation into two complaints, OMARA was satisfied that the Agent breached clauses 2.1, 2.8, 2.9, 5.2, 6.1 and 6.1A of the former Code of Conduct for registered migration agents (the Code).

The OMARA found that:

• The Agent submitted applications to the Department containing false and misleading information and documents for nomination applications under the Permanent Employer Sponsored Entry program for nine businesses which had no knowledge of the applications and for which they did not provide any instructions or documentation.
• The Agent had relied on the instructions of intermediaries to lodge the applications without seeking any confirmation of their authority to instruct her.
• The Agent created many documents which were submitted to the Department in support of the applications as she believed she was providing an expedient service to her clients
• ਏਜੰਟ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਲਾਇੰਟਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਕੋਈ ਵੀ Service Agreements ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰ ਸਕੀ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਉਹ immigration assistance ਦੇ ਰਹੀ ਸੀ।
• The Agent failed to seek instructions from the clients to whom she was providing immigration assistance.
• The Agent failed to act in the legitimate interests of clients
• The Agent has not maintained the reputation for the integrity of the migration advice profession.

The OMARA was satisfied that the Agent is not a person of integrity and not a fit and proper person to give immigration assistance.

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

The Agent lodged an application for review of the decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. On 21 June 2024 the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the Agent's registration as a migration agent.

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 cancellation means if this was your agent

The registration is removed. The agent's name comes off the Register of Migration Agents and they may not give immigration assistance. A cancellation is usually accompanied by a period during which the person may not be registered again.

ਇਸ ਵੇਲੇ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਮਾਮਲੇ 'ਤੇ ਕੋਈ ਵੀ ਕੰਮ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ। Treat this as urgent, and start with who the Department is writing to.

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.