‘Agent' is the word that evokes feeling on both ends i.e. confidence and concern. When on one hand a professional agent keeps you confident of an expected outcome, a not so professional agent evokes concern. How you differentiate on the two is also critically associated with your prospects on immigration.

Times of India has recently published a survey on the ‘methodologies' being adopted by the immigration agents and a majority of the respondents were of the view that the services were mostly of a generic kind. The agents would do little to ‘customize' services and mostly the services are confined to filling up the application form and submitting the same. Unfortunately, the immigration authorities at most countries have now taken route to selective immigration. Immigration is ‘not' about moving to a new country, but it is also about economy, employment and eligibility.

The 3 ‘E' i.e. Economy, Employment and Eligibility govern the immigration scene and only an Australian registeredimmigration agent produces a service on all three.

1. Economy:         The scene on immigration is mostly defined by the economic conditions at any country and Australia is no exception. Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) keeps a constant watch on the economic needs of the country and accordingly manage the immigration. The last decade has seen an upsurge of the Engineering and Medical services in the country. Also, the service sector in the country is taking a more prominent role on the economy. Banking, Finance and Insurance services have raised demand on manpower. DIAC has therefore induced its network of registered immigration agents to fulfil the demand.  

1. Employment:    During the past few years the regional provinces in Australia have showed a greater demand on manpower. Skilled Occupation List (SOL) and the Federal list (CSOL) mentions a good number of occupations at the regional side. Mostly the jobs on regional side are listed as per ANZSCO ‘Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations' and demand a certain specification on education and experience. It is very important that the immigrants are well aware of such intricacies while selecting an occupation. A registered agent has a good ‘knowledge' on where and when these jobs are being showcased. An advice from a registered agent should produce a good outcome on securing one.

1. Eligibility:          Skillselect has been identified as the watchdog on immigration. A selective filtration of the skilled immigrants is being done to make sure that only the most ‘eligible' gets to live and work in Australia. A point's based assessment is done for each application. Points are given to different scales on education, skills, professional experience and language skills. A minimum of 60 points must be score so as to become eligible on immigration. An Australian registered immigration agent always has a better idea on how to score most points on Skillselect.

Immigrating to Australia goes beyond filling up an application form and requires the agent to ‘utilize' the most current information and customize this to the client's satisfaction.