In all forms of advocacy one has to put oneself in the shoes of the other side so as to properly understand their position. Let’s look at the situation with China. The issue with China generally is authenticity of documents and genuineness of applications. It is a statistical fact that there are huge numbers of false documents and bogus applications made from China.
Therefore one has to be absolutely meticulous with all documents – everything must be 100% accurate and be capable of verification. One visa applicant recently had a business card with an incorrect area code for his business telephone number – this was supplied to Immigration in support of the authenticity of the application. When Immigration tried to call the applicant on that number Immigration was unsuccessful and immediately therefore Immigration suspected the business card was bogus. The client should have ensured that his business card was accurate and that every document submitted to Immigration is accurate.
Clients need to be briefed that they will be subject to random verification via unannounced site visits and phone calls without notice.
Clients need to treat such verification procedures seriously and with deference given that much bogus information and documents make into visa applications in China. What your client has to do is to convince the decision maker that your client is not in the bogus category.
(Details of the special evidentiary requirements for various visas will be found at the website for each Australian embassy. Â Overseas posts are moving away from the requirement to comply with country specific checklists however it is recommended that you check the Australian embassy website for any special evidentiary requirements.)
Obviously with difficult countries like China, the client should not make arrangements for travel to Australia until the visa is granted.
Continuing on with China, all business visa applications for China applicants are handled in Hong Kong. The Consulate has a special set of policies on these business visas.
Again these guidelines have to be followed to the letter.
Finally if you have set up links with say the head of the post at a particular embassy, if that person changes, often the history of that relationship also dissolves. It probably means you have to start again. It means you would have to set up another meeting with that person and provide a dossier on your past dealings so that the new person knows you are genuine. The same will apply if you have set up links with a particular officer.