AMVPS: Redefining borders; opening opportunities
Not all dreams are made in Uncle Sam’s backyard; some are made in rich and promising soil just eight hours away from Metro Manila.
In fact, thousands of Filipino migrants and opportunity-seekers have already gone to Australia to fulfill their dreams of a better life.
One of them is Edmund Cyril S. Galvez, a 30-year-old lawyer who once worked as legal consultant to then-Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte and now lives in Australia. Just this year, he entered the visa processing business in order to serve his fellow Filipinos.
“I specifically want to help the youth in securing either student visas, if they want to pursue their studies here, or general skilled migration and employment visas for young professionals with a minimum of three-year work experience related to their degree,” he said.
Galvez said his company, Aussie Migration and Visa Professional Solutions (AMVPS), can provide its clients with “direct, fast, and affordable (DFA)” assistance. Australian VISA Solutions is currently partnered with RAMS Travel Agency to bring services to branches all over the country. These areas include Metro Manila, Bohol, Bacolod, Bohol, Digos City, General Santos City, and the municipalities of Malita and Sta. Maria in Davao Occidental.
Managed by Ms. Mercidita D Lim, RAMS Travel Agency is a sister company of RDL Pharmaceutical Laboratory Inc. and LDL Realty Estates Corporation — both homegrown firms based in Davao City.
AMVPS provides assessment of eligible applicants who want to obtain visas, namely Visitor and Temporary Activity Visa, Partner/Spouse Visa, Family Visa, General Skilled Migration Visa, Employment Visa, and Student Visa.
Married to an Australian citizen and currently raising their firstborn, Galvez said he saw for himself that Australia is a good country to live in not only because of better job opportunities but also because of the scholarships available for career development.
Galvez, who used to work with Alliance International Migration Services (AIMS) in Melbourne, is currently finishing a bridging program for his law degree in Australia.
He said by pursuing studies in Australian migration law, he can further establish his legal profession and help more Filipinos migrate and eventually live a happy life in Australia.
While the country re- laxed its migration policies decades ago to encourage more foreigners to come in, the process can still take a long time as authorities thoroughly check the validity of each application. Many Filipinos have earned their entry tickets to Australia, but many are still denied by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIPB).
Galvez said the lack of requirements or qualifications prescribed by the DIBP is just one of the reasons many Filipinos are not given their visas. To help Filipinos through their visa applications, the young lawyer wrote and launched the guide book “A Companion to Australian Migration Law: Pathways toward permanent residency and remedies to visa cancellation and refusal.”