Migration agent raided over visa documents
Sydney Morning Herald
May 8, 2009
A RAID on a city office has uncovered a visa racket that had ensnared at least 30 people, the Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said.
A Sydney migration agent was yesterday accused of falsifying documents to support applications for skilled-migrant visas.
Officers from the Immigration Department and the Australian Federal Police staged the raid after learning of doubtful documents attached to applications for skills tests required for visas.
The applicants had wanted work as cooks, mechanics and hairdressers.
The agent allegedly supplied fake documents to at least 30 people, mostly from China. Investigations into possible forgery and fraud are also under way.
“Illegal activity by migration agents attacks the heart of Australia's visa programs and will not be tolerated,” Senator Evans said.
People who gain permanent visas based on false documents can have their visas cancelled.
The body representing migration agents, the Migration Institute of Australia, commended the raid. “The MIA does not tolerate this kind of behaviour,” the chief executive, Maurene Horder, said.