How to use immigration professionals

Undoubtedly using a LIA or immigration lawyer for any visa application, appeal or PPI response adds value and may make the difference between success and failure. While it is posisble to do an application without professional assistance, unless you know what you are doing success may be a matter of luck rather than good management.

The service of professionals can vary widely, but in general you should expect:

• complete management of your case. LIA's will represent you and deal with INZ or other authorities for you. Using and LIA means communication is more controlled so you don't say the wrong thing or provide damaging information.
• Confidentiality. LIAs are on your side, we will not provide information to INZ unless it is benefical to you and your application
• Reasonable fees and honesty. LIAs and lawyers are regulated so both professional fees and disbursements should be reasonable and accurate with no extra fees that are not part of the application process.

Get the best from your LIA

The most important thing to do first is to understand what your LIA will do for you and how they will proceed with the application process. This way your expectations of what will happen will match the reality of the situation. 

When we do an application we follow the following process:

1. Sign up and complete engagement process including paying the invoice or deposit
2. You complete the application data form so we can find out about your situation and what docuemnts we need for your specific case
3. Send in documents as you get them so we can check that they are what we need and give you advice for changes or improvements
4. As we put the aplication together, we check everything carefully and including how docuements and information are working together. This is a fluid process which means that it is best to get steps 1 and 2 done early rather that taking a long time to gather things together and send everything all together once you think you have collected everything. 
5. Once we are satisfied that everything is as complete and strong as possible, we will submit the application and manage anything that comes up. In this stage clients do not need to do anything unless there are some information requests, etc.
6. Once a decision is receved, we convey this to the client with any explanation required.

By following the process of the LIA as much as posisble it is stable and predictable so it is less likely that mistakes will be made or important things missed. Most LIAs will have their system for a reason, and that reason will be to ensure successful outcomes as much as possible. If clients insist on deviating from the process it creates uncertainties and opportunities for mistakes so as much as possible it is best to follow what your LIA sets out for you.

Asking questions

There is a right balance for suggestions and questions. We encourage clients to ask questions and understand the process. The best reason for this is that clients know more about themselves than we do, so if you find something that seems to apply to you, it may be very useful for us. For example if based on the information we know about a client we recommend a certain pathway, but the client finds a better alternate pathway because they think they meet the requirements, we will always listen to this and investigate the alternate pathway if it looks viable.

On the other hand, continually questioning why certain documents are necessary or not providing what is asked for is frustrating and slows the process down. In hourly rate work it also makes it much more expensive for the client than it needs to be. professionals in any field generally will not take the time to teach clients how to do their job, even if that were possible, so while curiosity is understandable, be aware that it can also get in the way.

Go with the flow

Everyone is different and in the end  it is always best to choose the professional that you feel most comfortable with. We have said before that good LIAs and good immigration lawyers should all be competent, (perhaps some more than others) so if you have a choice just go with the one you feel most comfortable with.