Every Country has in place a licensing system, to protect immigration clients (that is you). If you are dealing with a non-registered agent, chances are that they will lie to you or run away with your money.

A few companies claim to have tie-up with registered agents overseas. These tie up should be visible on the government websites. (for example www.mara.gov.au in Australia and www.iccrc-crcic.ca for Canada.)

You can also call the local embassy to check if your migration agent is registered with them or not.

You should know the license or registration number of your agent or your representative. If your agent doesn't have this number, they will not represent your case, but rather file your case directly under your name. Which means you are filling your case yourself.

If you are paying someone to represent your case, it is your right to communicate directly with that agent, to avoid any communication gaps, if your agent is making excuses in providing you the agent's details, you are better off not hiring an agent.

A large number of refusals are because the agent could not understand the trans country documentations and cultural differences. So you need to hire someone locally present in your city where you can sit and explain your situation.

This is a common practice, with unregistered agents to operate for a short duration and then run away with client's money. The best way to check the agent's genuineness is to ask them the success stories they have. When did they get the first visa and check if they represented the same visa or client to department of immigration. (Their name should be on grant letter)

It's a usual trend in the market that every company is claiming to get clients a job in Canada or Australia. You have the right to ask for what jobs they have available and can you cross verify them?

In order to get you a job in these countries, these unregistered agents need to be physical present or have associates in the destination country. Cross verify the job claims and the associates overseas (if they fake or for real). Ask for phone numbers where you can contact them

Post landing services are facilities, offered to you once you land in your destination country. Ask for references of people who availed the post landing services and check the quality of the services.

A few companies will claim to be working in the Industry from last decade or so. Ask them for company registration or the first visa grant under their representation. This will clarify if they are experienced enough to handle your case.

See what strengths this agent or company has as compared to other competitors in the market. This will help you decide which agent or company you need to hire.

Generally you will hear a common answer in the market- "we will refund your money". Offering refunds is not what will solve your rejection. Does your agent have the knowledge or registration to file a review for your file? Can they offer you alternates? Usually the unregistered agents will just leave you after the rejection as on first stage. They anyways are not representing you and second they do not have the access to case officers for negotiations.

A registered agent can attest your documents, If your agent is registered, he or she should be able to attest your documents. If they can not !They do not deserve your money.

You, want to know the professional level of your agent, the turnaround time for document preparation and the service level they can offer.

Talk to the client and ask questions like total processing time it took, who represented the case, did you get to talk to the agent or did he/she (the agent) call you for document preparation?

These questions were prepared to protect the consumers in the immigration Industry, as we see several cases being misguided and rejected because of unregistered agent's fault.

These fly by night agents cheat clients by making tall promises like faster processing and job offers and then run away with client's monies.

Make sure you do proper check on licenses. A registered agent will not lie or make tall promises to clients as their contracts and work is constantly monitored by immigration department.

A registered agent cannot run away with your money. One can complain to the concerned embassy and get you the refund or justice.