Amit Chandwani: registration barred by OMARA on 1 Mar 2019

What the Authority decided

On 01 March 2019, the Authority decided to bar the former migration agent Mr Amit Ashok Chandwani (MARN: 1001305) from being registered for a period of five (5) years. This follows the Authority’s investigation into four (4) complaints in relation to the former agent’s conduct while he was registered.

The Authority was satisfied that the former agent:

• Submitted false, misleading and inaccurate information to the Department of Home Affairs in support of various applications;
• Submitted, or was complicit in the submission of, a fraudulent form to a skills assessment body;
• Lodged visa and skills assessment applications without the consent or knowledge of his clients;
• Failed to lodge a complete application, on behalf of a client, which lead to the application being deemed invalid;
• Provided incorrect advice in regards to a client’s eligibility to seek review;
• Failed to respond to communications from clients;
• Failed to properly address conflict of interest resulting in a failure to remain impartial;
• Failed to maintain accurate records as per his obligations under the Code of Conduct;
• Lodged multiple applications for financial gain rather than in the legitimate and best interests of his client/s.

The Authority was also satisfied that the former agent, while registered, breached clauses 2.1, 2.1A, 2.1B(d), 2.3, 2.4, 2.8, 2.9, 2.23, 3.4, 3.5 and 5.2 of the Code of Conduct for Registered Migration Agents.

An abridged version of the Authority’s decision can be accessed below. Personal details have been removed in the interests of protecting the privacy of the persons involved.

On 26 March 2019, an appeal of the decision was lodged with the AAT by Mr Chandwani. On 23 May 2019 Mr Chandwani withdrew his application to the AAT. On 10 December 2020 the AAT allowed Mr Chandwani to reinstate the appeal against the barring decision. On 20 September 2021 the AAT set aside the Authority' decision of 1 March 2019 in substitution barred the former agent for a period of 4 years from 1 March 2019.

The decision summary above is reproduced from the Authority's published record of this decision, which also carries the decision document itself. Nothing has been added to it.

What a bar means if this was your agent

A bar is made under section 311A of the Migration Act and applies to a former registered agent — someone whose registration had already ceased, so there was nothing left to cancel. The Authority may bar them from being registered again for up to five years.

If this person was acting for you, they were not a registered migration agent at the time of the decision. Check what has actually been lodged in your name.

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. How to get your file back.
4. Work out what was paid and what was done. Ask for the itemised invoices and receipts the Code requires. 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 is where the current position lives.

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.