The Migration Bureau Immigration Consultants specialise in emigration and visa requirements to assist with your re-settlement in Australia, New Zealand and Canada
Service Agreement
Complete this form to commence your residency visa application through the Migration Bureau. Once we have received the form and payment has been cleared you will be contacted directly by a Migration Bureau consultant within 5 working days. For our reference you will receive a copy of this form via email.
Section A
Please read through the following terms and conditions carefully and complete the required information at the end of the form before submitting.
Section B
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This agreement is between the client and Oceania Development Group Limited("OCEANIA")trading as "THE MIGRATION BUREAU" (MB) and "ODG RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL"(ODGRI) and "ODG ASSOCIATES"(ODGC). The registered office of OCEANIA is at the offices of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Level 4, 32 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, New Zealand. Oceania Development Group (EMEAR)Pty limited (ODGEPL) is registered as an Australian Proprietary Company (PTY 102 745 371) at Suite 1707, Level 17, Australia Square Tower, 264-278 George Street Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. The Company has physical representation in Canada. OCEANIA is registered as a branch office with Kamer van Koophandel en Fabrieken voor Amsterdam at Rustenburgerstraat 39, 1074 ER, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ODG ltd is registered as a Limited Liability company in England and Wales Company no. 5388484 whose registered office is at the offices of Johal Stott and Co, Accountants, 10 Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5 1HL, and whose address for service is at London House, 100 New Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW6 4LX, England.
DEFINITIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION
"THE MIGRATION BUREAU" (MB) is a trading name of OCEANIA. MIGRATION BUREAU services are charged to the Client.
"NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA MIGRATION BUREAU" (NZAMB) is a trading name of OCEANIA.
"CANADA MIGRATION BUREAU"(CMB) is a trading name of OCEANIA.
"ODG RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL"(ODGRI) is a trading name of OCEANIA. ODGRI services are charged to the Employer and not the Client except when specific project work is requested.
"ODG ASSOCIATES" is a trading name of OCEANIA. Consulting services are charged to the client.
ODG ltd is a limited liability company in the United Kingdom which operates as a clients service call centre. No chargeable Visa consulting advice is offered by ODG ltd. Only the visa department operated by Oceania may offer visa advice.
"SETTLEMENT SERVICES" is a trading name of OCEANIA. Settlement Services are offered free to the client
"Recruitment Agent" refers to an ODGRI Agent of OCEANIA, operating outside of Company offices, independently of MB.
"Migration Agent" refers to an MB Agent of OCEANIA operating inside the Client Services team and who is not part of the visa department and is not permitted to give immigration advice and/or subject to an Agency agreement with OCEANIA.
"Estimation of Fees" refers to an OCEANIA document which describes the services and corresponding professional fees, financial plans and disbursement costs of the Company Divisions.
"Services" refers to the Services described in the MB document titled "Estimation of Fees"
"Recruitment Assistance Service" refers to the service offered exclusively by ODGRI, namely information and assistance on the employment market of the Destination Country and the research for the Client of employment possibilities and the referral of clients to independent specialised recruitment companies.
"Consultancy Services" refers to the services of "ODG ASSOCIATES". This service provides a wide range of commercial consultancy advice. "ODG ASSOCIATES" is not permitted to offer or dispense any migration advice as it is a separate division from "THE MIGRATION BUREAU",
"Client" refers to the principal applicant in a family unit in whose name the application is to be lodged. "The client" is the person who signs as client at the foot of this agreement.
"Time Deadline" means a date in time, the occurrence of which triggers an effect in terms of eligibility of the client for residence. The "Destination Country" means the country in which the client intends or considers or later decides to take up residence or conduct business.
By this Agreement, the Client retains OCEANIA to provide information on his or her or its behalf. The Terms and Conditions of this Agreement are as follows:
TERMS AND CONDITIONS AGREEMENT
OCEANIA DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS
OCEANIA informs the Client that there are a number of divisions inside OCEANIA that the client may instruct. The MIGRATION BUREAU, ODG ASSOCIATES, Settlement Services and ODG RECRUITMENT. Each division is completely separate in its activities and the Client may instruct one two, three or four of the divisions to work for it at any time.
OCEANIA shall provide services however it reserves the right to make any changes or alterations to the services which may be necessary for whatever reason if those alterations do not materially alter the quality or performance of those services.
OCEANIA shall not delay unreasonably in the service that it provides to clients.
OCEANIA shall advise the client on his or her or its eligibility to obtain a visa.
At the Clients' request OCEANIA will assist the client with general advice for setting up residence in the Destination Country.
The Client is aware of the Compliance service of OCEANIA which will, at the client's request, objectively review problems that arise and will apply company policy to ensure that the client receives fair and objective consideration with a view to ensuring that the client receives a strong service.
Oceania duly informs the Client of the existence of the Migration Agents Registration Authority ( Australia) code of conduct whose purpose it is to regulate the conduct of migration agents. Clients requesting a copy of the same will be supplied with the same.
The Client is entitled to receive a copy of their migration application and any related document. All documents on the file of the Client will be retained by the Company for a minimum of 7 years after closure of the file.
CLIENT DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS
The Client shall inform OCEANIA of any matter that he or she or it considers to be an error or omission within 7 days of becoming aware of it.
The Client accepts that all such arrangements in respect of taking up residence are in the final instance a matter for the Client to decide and take responsibility for.
The Client understands that it is his, her or its responsibility to inform OCEANIA as to the existence of time deadlines which may have a detrimental effect on the application if they are not met. The Client will stay in direct verbal and written contact with the Company at all times leading up to the occurrence of said time deadlines and will not rely solely on the Company to remember the same.
The Client is obliged to pay for all services rendered by OCEANIA from the date of initial instruction.
The Client is aware that in choosing to instruct one two three, or four divisions of OCEANIA. The Client is obliged to pay for all chargeable services received from OCEANIA.
Australian bound Clients are aware that by signing this agreement they acknowledge that they have received a copy of the Information on the Regulation of the Migration Advice Profession (IRMAP), provided with their full check evaluation assessment letter.
CHARGES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT
The Client retains the full services of OCEANIA by submitting clear instructions, by making an initial payment according to the Estimation of Fees and by signing and submitting this agreement.
The Client will retain the information services of OCEANIA MIGRATION BUREAU under the Budget service by submitting clear Instructions and making full payment. Client Budget File retainer: The Company has, on Budget plan files, the discretion to charge a small monthly retainer fee, invoiced at up to six monthly intervals, in order to maintain client records, physical file storage, and document retrieval. The level of said retainer shall be indicated in the schedule of fees given to the client. The fee is subject to inflation, cost and price adjustment. The limitations of the Budget Services are defined in the published material describing those services.
The Business advisors fees insofar as they relate to the business plan component of the visa application are included inside our estimated fee and terms of Business (plan E and F) and by the ODG ASSOCIATES fee range. If you accept additional advice from the business advisors in matters relating to settlement or additional business services then you accept additional and separate fees based on our time rate which are payable in addition to our quoted fee ranges. These services may be provided by ODG ASSOCIATES when the service relates to business consultancy and is not related to the migration application and does not contain migration advice .
OCEANIA reserves the right to alter fees and hourly rates periodically as a result of cost alteration or as a result of currency exchange rate fluctuation. Any change in professional fees shall be notified to the Client, in writing, as soon as practicable. Professional fees and all other costs and disbursements shall be incurred by OCEANIA on the client's behalf, only with the Client's express consent or authority. The Client is aware that OCEANIA charges by the method of time recording and an increase in complexity or difficulty in a file, or additional questions or substantive assistance will result in additional costs. Clients can keep costs within quote or costs down by responding promptly and efficiently to OCEANIA requests. OCEANIA will gladly help with any additional or extra long inquiries but this will cost the Client money which can exceed the original quote, subject to the client being informed. When a matter of urgency, complexity or high importance is undertaken by OCEANIA at the request of the Client OCEANIA reserves the right to charge a premium on its time to accurately reflect the importance of the service to the Client and the function undertaken by OCEANIA. In all cases this will be disclosed to the Client by accompanying correspondence.
Any alteration announced of hourly rates and time charges as contained in the company fee schedules shall alter the basic quotation fee range amounts of the MIGRATION BUREAU in Plan A, B, C, D, E, and F by the approximate percentage of the hourly rate alteration. The hourly rates of ODG ASSOCIATES may be altered in the same way
The Client shall duly pay a deposit if so requested by OCEANIA. Thereafter, OCEANIA shall invoice the client on a monthly basis. Invoices may be sent in the name of the MIGRATION BUREAU if the matter relates to migration issue and by ODG ASSOCIATES if it is not migration advice. Due to the nature of Migration the first invoice raised by the Company may reflect a good deal of time being undertaken to commence work on the file and commence the process. The Company reserves the right to allocate part of the first invoice to the following month to ensure more consistent billing levels for the Client. The terms of payment of all invoices shall be 14 days. Failure to raise a question about an invoice within 14 days will result in the invoice being deemed to be accepted. If the Client fails to make payment within 14 days, OCEANIA shall be entitled to suspend all services and charge the Client interest on any overdue moneys owed, at standard bank rates calculated on an incremental monthly basis and to make a credit control administration charge once an invoice is 30 days overdue. The Client is aware that disbursements (eg photocopying, communications, couriers, postage, VAT, BTW, GST or any tax applicable are not included in the quote given to clients by the company). The Company policy is to charge disbursement fees by way of a flat 6% charge levied on all invoices. This charge covers photocopying, fascimile, postage, email, telephone, internal Company international communications (facsimile, email, telephone,). Couriers, translations or extraordinary disbursements will be invoiced separately. The tax status of the client may alter with a change of country of residence and the company reserves the right to add or remove goods and services tax in accordance with the laws of the country of residence. The Client is obliged to inform the company of any alteration of residence and failure to inform the Company shall mean that the Client will be themselves liable for outstanding tax obligations if applicable. The Client should inform the Company of any material change in their circumstances e.g. Employment, marital status, custodial arrangements, Health etc as this may affect their ability to migrate.
In some countries specific set payment terms may apply and the terms of said payments will be set out in the quotation or estimation of fees. Additional or extraordinary disbursements may be invoiced separately from time to time.
The Client is not entitled to withhold payment conditional on the success or otherwise of their visa/permit application as OCEANIA is bound to undertake a comprehensive effort on the Client's behalf in any event.
The Client will pay the fees and costs in the method described in the Estimation of fees, quotation and any other agreement between the parties. The Client is aware that the Company has a number of offices, and therefore administration staff consultants, specialists and directors in different offices in different countries may work on and incur cost on the clients file. A chargeable Directors review of the file may take place periodically which will give the Client the opportunity to contact Management directly about your files advancement.
The Client should raise questions as to the composition of an Invoice within 14 days of receipt in response to which OCEANIA will give clear answer, failure to raise a question within said 14 days will be deemed to constitute acceptance of said invoice by the Client.
Should the Client wish to place the file on hold, substantive work will cease on the file and substantive fees will cease, although the Company will charge for general maintenance and updating work to ensure that the Clients interests are not prejudiced whilst the file is on hold. Should the Client wish to terminate OCEANIA'S work and retainer the Client should write to OCEANIA immediately and upon receipt of written instructions OCEANIA will stop work on the file, thereafter no further fees will be incurred although OCEANIA will charge for the time and the costs incurred in returning documents by registered post and closing and archiving the file which said costs will be invoiced to the Client. Archiving involves a thorough final perusal of the total file to ensure consistency of service and resolution of outstanding issues for the Clients protection.
OCEANIA reserves the right (within the grounds of reasonability) to terminate the supply of services should the Client not adhere to, or comply, with these terms and conditions. Failure to pay (with funds cleared into company account) a full deposit or deposit instalment on the date agreed shall result in automatic suspension of work or incurrence of cost by the Company until the said funds are received and cleared.
VARIATION TO THE TERMS OF PAYMENT
OCEANIA may, in agreement with the Client, vary the terms of payment and service, and if the Client fails to make payment in accordance with the variation, OCEANIA shall be entitled to suspend all services and charge the Client interest on any overdue moneys owed, at standard bank rates calculated on an incremental monthly basis or with a credit control administration charge once an invoice is 30 days overdue. Agreement with the Client is obtained by sending notice of the varied terms.
WAIVERS AND EXCLUSIONS
OCEANIAS liability for any error or omission, in any circumstance, will be limited to the amount of funds paid by the Client to OCEANIA for its service.
OCEANIA is under no liability in respect of any inaccuracy arising as a result of incomplete or inaccurate information supplied by the Client.
OCEANIA will voluntarily reimburse the Client for the reasonable cost of documents lost, in avoidable manner, by OCEANIA, but any liability is limited to the reasonable cost of replacement of the documentation and will not include any incidental costs that might result from the loss thereof.
OCEANIA is not liable for any loss resulting from actions on the part of the Client, particularly those actions that were not specifically advised by OCEANIA and including damage sustained by the Client, if the Client takes any step or acts, in any way whatsoever, to his, her or its detriment prior to the actual residence visa/permit being endorsed in their passport. In any event OCEANIA advises the Client never to act in any way in reliance of the right of residence before the actual permit is endorsed in the passport.
The Client is aware that his, her or its immigration eligibility may be altered by amendments to the Immigration laws of the Destination Country and that OCEANIA is unable to offer any indemnification in this respect.
OCEANIA accepts no responsibility in respect of the timing of offers of employment and the granting of any visa or permit in respect of the Destination country
OCEANIA is not liable for loss resulting from failure to take action by deadline such as birthdays, expiry dates for medical examinations, expiry dates for criminal certificates, etc as set by the Immigration Regulations of the Destination country. OCEANIA cannot agree to act on the clients' behalf unless this point is specifically acknowledged by the Client.
Upon obtaining residence in the destination Country OCEANIA will do all that it can to make the actual process of moving and taking up of residence as smooth as possible for the client. The Client accepts however that variables exist in all parts of the world as they do in any other part of the world and The Client makes the decision to apply for work or residence in these countries aware that they are the party ultimately responsible for the smooth transition of their residence.
The Client agrees to supply only true and verifiable documentation to OCEANIA. In the event of the Company being supplied with fraudulent documents by the Client, the Client indemnifies OCEANIA completely for any loss suffering as a result.
ODG RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL
If the Client wishes specific information on employment and recruitment, the client, upon request, may be referred onto ODGRI.
The recruitment agents or referred recruitment companies in the Destination Country shall provide a limited service to clients on employment possibilities. Oceania whilst it takes reasonable steps to ensure that recruitment companies onto whom clients are referred are of good repute, Oceania cannot take responsibility for independent companies' actions. Clients should make independent enquiries and be satisfied with the service about all companies with whom they discuss their employment prospects.
The Client will specifically advise the Agent if he, she or it wishes non confidential information not to be divulged. The parties consider a CV to be non confidential information.
ODGRI and Recruitment agents are not responsible for securing a position of employment for the client and offers no such facility as part of its service.
ODG RECRUITMENT is normally a complimentary service to clients and fees are not generally to be charged by ODG RECRUITMENT to clients. The Client may request an active consultancy or practical assistance service that does result in cost. In this case the amount charged by ODG RECRUITMENT International for fees and costs will be determined according to a quote provided to the client.
ODG RECRUITMENT International incurs the work and costs to provide information and assistance about finding employment, but not to find employment. If fees are charged as a result of the client requesting a specific quantifiable service the Client cannot withhold payment conditional on securing employment and the Client will pay the fees and costs of ODGRI even in the instance of employment not being found.
If any disagreement or dispute arises between the client and the recruitment agent working for Oceania, the client shall immediately, and in any event prior to commencing any legal proceedings against the Recruitment Agent or OCEANIA, inform the Head Office in Christchurch. If the client fails to inform the Head Office as previously mentioned, insofar as Statute Law or other laws allow, the client shall, in respect of that disagreement or dispute, relinquish any right or cause of action against OCEANIA.
OCEANIA AGENTS AND OFFICES
OCEANIA is not responsible for advice provided by non authorized persons in the firm (i.e a person not a member of the company visa department) without OCEANIAS' knowledge or authorisation. OCEANIA advises clients that the only advice offered by the company is that which is provided in writing by a duly authorised visa operative working under supervision from the head office structure or for Australia under the direct supervision of a registered migration agent or for Canada by an authorised person. Members of the marketing and administration departments and client service agents are not members of the visa department and are not authorized to give migration advice.
The Client is aware that as an international organisation files may be transferred from one office of the Company to another in another country. The consultants of the company work as a team world wide and a change of consultants is an accepted part of company practice.
DISCLOSURES
The Client will not knowingly provide false information. The client will disclose to OCEANIA any information related to criminal activity, criminal convictions or criminal investigations, either by the Client or anyone in the clients family. OCEANIA will keep this information confidential.
The Client will disclose to OCEANIA any information relating to previous infringements of any immigration system, including deportations, removal orders, etc. OCEANIA will keep this information confidential.
SETTLEMENT SERVICES PROGRAMME
As a MIGRATION BUREAU client, you will be enrolled onto the SETTLEMENT SERVICE PROGRAMME entitling you to a range of specially negotiated discounts, privileges and offers on services that you may need as you emigrate. This referral service is provided FREE OF CHARGE and you are under no obligation to purchase any service that may be offered to you.
TERMS OF REFERRAL: In signing this form, you agree to release your name and contact details, visa status and where applicable, net worth to the relevant service-provider offering the service listed. An information pack will be sent to you and, in some cases, a follow-up telephone call(s) may be made. Your name can be withdrawn from any service-provider by advising this office. Although all service-providers are vetted by the company, no responsibility can be taken for the quality of any service offered or any resulting loss or damage. All clients are recommended to seek independent professional or legal advice prior to entering any financial or contractual obligations with any service-provider. All clients are advised not to purchase or commit to any service until such time as residence visas have been approved. In most cases, as a programme participant, you will receive discounts, privileges, free introductory consultations, or other special offers. The company reserves the right to receive a referral commission from any service-provider participating on the programme, should this be offered.
OCEANIA is not in the business of offering financial advice of any kind however may be able to refer the client onto specialist companies who can provide taxation, general and specialist financial advice and other services. In addition OCEANIA may refer the Client on other preferred operators eg, professional companies etc. In doing so OCEANIA offers the Client the advantage of specially negotiated relationships which will offer the client a range of benefits. In some instances OCEANIA may be paid a financial commission from the said referral. By the Client indicating that they wish to receive the settlement service of Oceania by not marking the box indicated in point 50 below you are requesting receipt of this information and thus it follows, authorising potential financial commission to be paid to Oceania. You will receive your information pack within 4 to 6 weeks of signing this agreement.
LANGUAGE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All correspondence between OCEANIA and the Client shall be in the English language. OCEANIA regrets that it cannot accept correspondence addressed to it in other languages and both parties understand and accept the reasons for this.
The Intellectual Property of OCEANIA is protected and the client will not reproduce photocopy, sell, distribute to others (apart from general brochures to individuals legitimately considering immigration) any of the materials received from OCEANIA.
SEVERANCE AND JURISDICTION
Should any terms in this agreement be set aside for whatever reason this will not invalidate the remainder of these terms and conditions will be interpreted as if that term was not contained in this document.
This agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the New Zealand.