Dealing with third parties

Dealing with third parties

As Licensed Immigration Advisers, we need to know all relevant information and facts about our clients to apply for the appropriate visas. For example, we need to know the clients’ financial information, sources of income, work histories, relationship histories, medical histories and even criminal histories. Since the information we gather is personal and sensitive, we need to pay even greater attention to confidentiality. In our written agreement with clients, there are the following terms related to confidentiality: 

  Confidentiality

    1.  Except as provided in this Agreement, all information and documents received by the Provider pertaining to the Client shall remain confidential to the parties and only be made available to other parties where necessary as part of providing the Services.

    2.  The Client authorises the Provider to disclose to the IAA any information given by the Client to the Provider in the course of providing the Services:

        1.  as part of an application by the Provider to obtain or renew a licence to be an Immigration Adviser; or

        2.  when required, by law or pursuant to the IAA Code of Conduct to make such disclosure, by the IAA or other agency with lawful authority to demand disclosure.

    3.  No information provided by the Provider to the Client may be passed to any third party without the express permission of the Provider.

    4.  The Provider may disclose the Client’s name and address to third parties such as credit agencies to perform a credit reference or to undertake credit management or collection processes if it is reasonable to do so.

    5.  The Provider will treat any personal information the Client gives as confidential, and keep and maintain such information in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1993. The Client’s personal information will be retained for a period of seven years. The Client has the right to have access to, and have corrected, any of the Client’s personal information held by the Provider.

However, when applying for visas, we also often need to contact third parties. In this article, I will reflect on confidentiality when dealing with third parties.

I. Be considerate and sensitive

I recently applied for a resident visa under the family category. The applicant’s, Ms X's, sponsor, Mr Y, was a New Zealand Permanent Resident Visa holder, and Ms X held a work visa. During the interview, I asked relevant questions about their relationship, such as when they became partners and whether they had a joint account. When I asked if Mr Y had previously supported or sponsored a successful principal applicant under Residence — Partnership instructions, he hesitated for a moment and then answered, ‘No’.

After I gathered the relevant information, I added their WeChat information and saved their phone numbers. Later, without Ms X present, I called Mr Y and asked if he was available. After receiving a positive reply, I told him that I was sorry because my notes were not clear enough, and I needed to confirm if he had previously supported or sponsored a successful principal applicant under Residence — Partnership instructions. Mr Y told me that he did support his ex-girlfriend in applying for a resident visa as his partner seven years ago, but he was afraid that this information would make his current partner unhappy. Therefore, he did not admit this in the interview.

During the visa application process, I left a message for Mr Y privately to gather relevant information, such as when he supported his previous partner to finish the INZ 1178 (Partnership Support Form for Residence). Until the application was submitted, Ms X did not know that Mr Y had previously supported a partner to obtain a resident visa.

My reflection is that, as an LIA, we should not only be honest, professional, diligent and respectful but should also be considerate and sensitive. Although Ms X and Mr Y were a couple, they did not share all their past with each other. We should pay attention to whether the answer to some questions may generate a negative impact on their relationship, such as whether you have a criminal record or whether you have supported any other person to obtain a visa. It is a good idea to have the contact information from both partners and contact them separately to gather sensitive or personal information.

II. Do not contact the employer directly

When dealing with skilled migrant resident and work visas, we usually need to check the applicant’s employment agreement and job description. Sometimes, the job description does not substantially match the core tasks in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). Therefore, it cannot meet the requirements to apply for a resident visa under the skilled migrant category. In this case, some applicants may ask us, as professionals, to contact their employers and convince them. I did this once, and I found many disadvantages to contacting the employer directly.

The employer asked me to analyse in detail why the job description cannot be used and argued that he had been using that job description for a long time. The employer also said that he knew much more than I did about the skills the job required. I sent several emails discussing possible job titles and job descriptions which fit the applicant’s previous work experience, educational background and the company. I also attached a reference from the operational manual and ANZSCO to explain the reason why this was necessary. Meanwhile, I needed to obtain authorisation from the client to release his personal information. However, the result was disappointing, as the employer refused to make any adjustment, and I wasted a significant amount of time communicating with the employer and obtaining the agreement to release the client’s information.

After this experience, I stopped advising employers directly unless we had a signed agreement. Now, if the employers have any questions, they need to tell the client first, and the client can leave a message or send me an email. Clients can choose whether to let their employers read our email communications. In this way, I save time by getting the client’s permission to release his or her personal information and avoid possible disputes with employers.