Harpreet Singh has been waiting for a fee refund that he paid to the now liquidated Global Skills and Business Services for finding him an employer for a visa sponsorship.
He says when he met GSBS director Jack Raskovic in 2015 in Brisbane, he had a hearing in the Migration Review Tribunal coming up over his student visa extension.
He paid GSBS $30,000 in two instalment, one of $10,000 and another of $20,000 for “recruitment services” which included "gathering CVs and requesting references", "facilitating interviews and placement opportunities" and "supporting the offer and acceptance process” and “offering assistance with respect to any relevant immigration requirements”.
“Global did find me an employer and I went with a friend to meet the employer in regional Queensland to check if it was a real job,” Mr Singh told SBS Punjabi.
He said everything seemed “on track” until he was asked to leave Australia after his appeal for an extension of student visa was turned down by the Migration Review Tribunal in May this year.
Before leaving Australia, Mr Singh applied for a visa through a lawyer under the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme based on the job offer secured through Jack Raskovic’s Global Skills and Business Services.
“My application was accepted based on the job offer I secured through Global. But the employer failed to supply the paperwork that the Immigration Department subsequently asked for in support of my application,” Mr Singh said.
He said the department gave him three opportunities to submit the documents before eventually declining his application.
“They first emailed my lawyer asking for the documents in December last year and gave 28 days. I asked Global to get the employer to supply the documents but nothing happened. The Immigration [Department] then gave an extension of another 28 days. They again sent a reminder in April and asked for the documents in 28 days, but the documents weren’t sent,” he said.
The contract between Mr Singh and Global Skills & Business Services specified that he would be entitled to a refund “minus any reasonable fees” if his employment does not proceed.
Mr Singh says he emailed GSBS asking for a refund after his application was refused. GSBS replied to him to say that his request had been forwarded to the company’s accounts department.
But he says despite numerous reminders, the refund wasn’t processed.
SBS TV’s The Feed contacted Jack Raskovic who was the sole director of Global Skills & Business Services but he did not comment.
GSBS went into liquidation in October this year, leaving Mr Singh with little hope of getting his hard-earned money back.
With- Preetinder Grewal
