You Think It Only Happens In The Philippines?........well Think Again!

[Bundy]

Some time ago in one of my posts i mentioned that we have Filipinos working with us at the farm.

Among them are 3 members of the one family, a woman, her daughter and her son. The woman's husband is a boilermaker and came to Australia on a working visa a few years ago and is working at a factory in North Bundaberg.

He hired a local lawyer to apply to bring the family out and they have now been here 1 year and are all working and paying taxes, there is also another brother who is working at Red Rooster in town. The lawyer told them they should apply for permanent residence as they may well qualify. So far they have paid this lawyer $5,000 in fees, and that is for her services only, immigration fees are on top of that.

They went to Brisbane recently to do their "English" tests as part of their application and paid the associated fees for this and were then told to wait for 2 weeks for the results. The lawyer contacted them a few days ago to tell them that they have all been accepted by immigration and she would send their passports to Brisbane for the visas to be inserted.The lawyer then went on to say that as now they would be becomming permanent residents of Australia that they need to pay her a "bonus". She is asking them for $10,000!!!! Can you believe this??

Oh yes i forgot to mention that this lawyer is a Filipina! (living in Australia)

To my amazement, they are actually going to take out a loan and pay up.

If they had asked me i would of just said "wait until you get your passports back with the correct visas attached and then just say NO!"" If this lawyer wants to take it any further, then just tell her that you are going to bring the whole episode down to the local police station and go from there!"

Incredible that this kind of extortion can happen here!

[Mike S]

Oh yes i forgot to mention that this lawyer is a Filipina! (living in Australia)

......

It is so good to see that they bring their culture and all the wonderful things they learned while growing up in the Philippines with them when they migrate ..... hey nothing wrong with breaking it off once you stick it in ..... especially to your own countrymen ...... kinda reminds me of some Americans I know living here ..... Oooooops ... did I just say that ..... shame on me ..... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

[Ashanti]

it could also be the fil lawyers revenge as it had also been done to her before ............ and the cycle goes on .........

(yap ......... im just grasping at straws ....... i got to write something now that i logon :hystery: )

[Garpo]

I don't know about your county but most countries do have organizations that oversee lawyers as they are servants of the courts. In the United States it is called the Bar which oversee lawyers. Anybody can file a complaint with the Bar if they do not feel that a lawyer has performed their duty to the client and the courts. One of the most common complaints is excess fees charged by lawyers. It is not uncommon for The Bar to force a lawyers to return monies to clients for this over charging. A lawyer that does not comply with a ruling or order from the Bar is subject to losing their license to practice law.

You might want to check and see if there is such an organization available to assist the family. But I would wait until the right time if you know what I mean? I would also ask around with a few other lawyers and find out what their fees are for the same type of service just to make sure.

[Jollygoodfellow]

There are laws and organisations to protect people from these sort of rorts in Australia. Honestly I'm cheesed off that such a thing is going on and would like to take it further if Bundy or the Filipinos wish to contact me. Its not a laughing matter and it should be stopped. :angry:

[sonjack2847]

Yes that lawyer should be reported. She has been allowed to live in Australia and is now acting in a way which could be classed as extortion. Those people are trying to make a better life and she is abusing her power as a lawyer. It would serve her right if she was deported and it would send a message to other would be blackmailers not to try or face serious consequences. This kind of crap makes my blood boil so I will stop now.

[Bundy]

There are laws and organisations to protect people from these sort of rorts in Australia. Honestly I'm cheesed off that such a thing is going on and would like to take it further if Bundy or the Filipinos wish to contact me. Its not a laughing matter and it should be stopped. :angry:

Tom, i have now met the husband of the woman working with us. He seems like a real nice guy. I have already offered to take this rediculous situation further on their behalf but they are adamant they will resolve it amongst themselves. He has already bargained with the lawyer and got the figure reduced to $3,000 but they won't get their passports until all monies are paid.

I told him this is just downright stupid you are not in the Philippines now and we don't allow this rubbish to happen here.They are just so scared they will lose their residence status if they "rock the boat" I said but this lawyer does NOT work for the immigration dept, she is not the one who has issued your visas and she cannot have it revoked.

What gets me is that they are all just so at ease with the situation, i guess for them it's just "business as usual" but if it was me and someone tried something like this, there is no way in hell they'd get away with it.

Nothing more i can do, i can't very well report this bitch without their consent, but like everyone else here, it just makes me so angry that lowlifes like this exist amongst us.

[Steve & Myrlita]

There are laws and organisations to protect people from these sort of rorts in Australia. Honestly I'm cheesed off that such a thing is going on and would like to take it further if Bundy or the Filipinos wish to contact me. Its not a laughing matter and it should be stopped. :angry:

Tom, i have now met the husband of the woman working with us. He seems like a real nice guy. I have already offered to take this rediculous situation further on their behalf but they are adamant they will resolve it amongst themselves. He has already bargained with the lawyer and got the figure reduced to $3,000 but they won't get their passports until all monies are paid.

I told him this is just downright stupid you are not in the Philippines now and we don't allow this rubbish to happen here.They are just so scared they will lose their residence status if they "rock the boat" I said but this lawyer does NOT work for the immigration dept, she is not the one who has issued your visas and she cannot have it revoked.

What gets me is that they are all just so at ease with the situation, i guess for them it's just "business as usual" but if it was me and someone tried something like this, there is no way in hell they'd get away with it.

Nothing more i can do, i can't very well report this bitch without their consent, but like everyone else here, it just makes me so angry that lowlifes like this exist amongst us.

Yes you can. For their protection as well as others. This also shows us that Filipinos are so used to corruption that it is considered normal and accepted behavior even in different countries. Their minds can't fatham that it's not acceptable outside the RP thus are not inclined to fight against it. It would be the same as telling them thay can't eat rice. Food for thought and just my humble 2 centavos.

[Mike S]

What gets me is that they are all just so at ease with the situation, i guess for them it's just "business as usual"

Unfortunately this person will keep on scamming her countrymen as she knows they are either used to it or scared of her ..... kinda like us here we don't rock the boat because we can be deported for any reason or for no reason at all ..... as they are so fond of telling us "IF YOU DON'T LIKE ..... LEAVE" ..... something their fellow OFW's don't have to do in the countries they migrate to and aren't even told that ...... hell ... in the US they can even protest openly .... try doing that here .... can you say deported immediately ..... but that goes along with the rich and powerful controlling the country ..... IMHO

[Jake]

There are laws and organisations to protect people from these sort of rorts in Australia. Honestly I'm cheesed off that such a thing is going on and would like to take it further if Bundy or the Filipinos wish to contact me. Its not a laughing matter and it should be stopped. :angry:

Tom, i have now met the husband of the woman working with us. He seems like a real nice guy. I have already offered to take this rediculous situation further on their behalf but they are adamant they will resolve it amongst themselves. He has already bargained with the lawyer and got the figure reduced to $3,000 but they won't get their passports until all monies are paid.

I told him this is just downright stupid you are not in the Philippines now and we don't allow this rubbish to happen here.They are just so scared they will lose their residence status if they "rock the boat" I said but this lawyer does NOT work for the immigration dept, she is not the one who has issued your visas and she cannot have it revoked.

What gets me is that they are all just so at ease with the situation, i guess for them it's just "business as usual" but if it was me and someone tried something like this, there is no way in hell they'd get away with it.

Nothing more i can do, i can't very well report this bitch without their consent, but like everyone else here, it just makes me so angry that lowlifes like this exist amongst us.

Yes you can. For their protection as well as others. This also shows us that Filipinos are so used to corruption that it is considered normal and accepted behavior even in different countries. Their minds can't fatham that it's not acceptable outside the RP thus are not inclined to fight against it. It would be the same as telling them thay can't eat rice. Food for thought and just my humble 2 centavos.

Lawyers in general are just a bunch of liars. Hell, look at our typical politicians -- most of them are lawyers!

I would love to see this person feel the heat from the Australian better business bureau. Report her as soon

as possible, please!

Respectfully -- Jake