Applications were left unresolved and payments have not been returned to clients
Melbourne-based migration boutique Gold Migration Lawyers has gone into liquidation as of yesterday 1 June, leaving clients with pending visa matters hanging and unable to recover payments they made to the firm.
The ABC reported that the firm emailed clients late Friday to inform them that it would no longer be representing them. The firm advised clients to engage another legal representative or registered migration agent.
Gold Migration said it would inform the Department of Home Affairs of the withdrawal.
“Once the department processes this withdrawal, correspondence on your matter should go directly to you at the address held on the department's file”, it wrote in an email seen by the ABC. “If your matter is before the Administrative Review Tribunal, a notice of withdrawal is also being lodged with the tribunal”.
The firm told clients it “may not be in a position to forward any correspondence we receive”.
“Any deadlines on your matter remain your responsibility”, it wrote in the email. “We recommend you contact the department and the tribunal directly to confirm they have your correct contact details and to ask about the status of your matter and any upcoming deadlines”.
Client Larrae Sullivan claimed that she could not access a trust account containing the $7,700 she paid the firm to help process her partner Atunaisa Koroikata’s partner visa. The firm reportedly used money from the account to fund services.
Sullivan said in a statement published the ABC that she had no money left to engage another lawyer. Moreover, she had not been instructed on how to access her partner’s application or upload documents.
Client David Sánchez claimed that over roughly 18 months, his parents had paid Gold Migration approximately $20,000 to progress their protection visa applications. He expressed concern that the firm had not submitted all the documents provided; moreover, the firm told his parents that a court would rule on the application but did not disclose details.
“I have no idea what they have submitted before, so I'm just wondering what's in the system in [the Department of] Home Affairs. Honestly, we have no idea which court we have to go [to]”, he said in a statement published by the ABC.
As in Sullivan’s case, Sánchez said there were no funds left to pay for a new legal representative.
Gold Migration’s website has since been deactivated and its phone line disconnected. The ABC said it had reached out to Gold Migration’s director and to the Department of Home Affairs for comment.
Liquidator LangdonGrant was appointed to wind up Gold Migration. The ABC also contacted LangdonGrant for comment.
A helpline named Gold Migration Lawyers Closure has been launched in the wake of the firm’s liquidation. A number of migration firms also opened themselves up to receive former Gold Migration clients.
