PA/39/14 20 November 2014
Work visa scams, Don’t pay the price
The Australian High Commission is urging Indian nationals to be cautious of scams while applying for Australian visas, and report any frauds to the authorities.
Last month, the Australian Government launched a national campaign ‘Work visa scams. Don’t pay the price’ to investigate allegations of unauthorized payments to visa sponsors in return for visas.
Visa fraud is a serious issue and any attempts to defraud Australia’s migrations programmes by a visa holder and/or sponsor will be dealt with by appropriate action from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
The campaign involved an initial assessment of up to 100 visa sponsors who are subject to allegations of receiving payment for arranging sponsorship for individuals under the 457 visa programme.
‘Work visa scams. Don’t pay the price’ also has a public education component to further educate visa sponsors about their obligations and make visa holders more aware of their rights and responsibilities.