As he proudly celebrates 25 years in business, owner of Australian Visa & Migration Consultancy Services, Sanjay Deshwal, is also reflecting on the challenging road ahead for his industry.
Mr Deshwal came to Sydney as a student in 1994 as a 29-year-old.
He held two degrees from his home country of India, but came to study a Masters in Business from the International Business School at Western Sydney University.
“I loved the country, so I tried to enquire to different people as to how to apply for migration and it was very difficult back then,” he explained.
“Eventually, I finally found a migration company and they agreed to help me but, interestingly, that office dealt with people from the Philippines, Middle East, England and South Africa but no Indians; it was quite a white-Australia back then.
“They ended up offering me a job as I already had the credentials and asked me to do marketing for them, and that is what started my career in migration.”
From there, Mr Deshwal became a migration agent in 1996, however it still wasn’t a huge industry in Australia, so it acted more as a side business to his career as a train driver and then airport quarantine officer.
But, eventually, migration in Australia boomed and so he opened his own business in 2007 in the Sydney CBD.
In 2010, Mr Deshwal moved his services to the heart of Sydney’s migration hub, western Sydney.
Now, celebrating 25 years at his Harris Park office, Mr Deshwal has helped over 10,000 skilled people migrate to Australia from countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
“People come to Australia with a lot of hopes and aspirations, they come for a better life and when these people finally get that visa after so much struggle, I feel a real sense of accomplishment,” Mr Deshwal said.
Mr Deshwal has been an integral figure in establishing Harris Park as ‘Little India’, forming the local Business Association and was the first to bring the popular and vibrant Diwali Festival of Lights to its streets.
It’s been a difficult year after the COVID-19 pandemic turned the migration industry on its head when international borders closed.
But, despite this, and a let-down Federal Budget for the sector, Mr Deshwal said, as an Australian citizen, he respects the Government’s need to protect the country.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.