1. When must you commence your migration proceedings?

    1. Migration matters will go to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in the event of the applicant wishing to appeal their outcome of their visa application. The applicant must lodge the application within the timeframe specified in the letter received from the Department of Home Affairs.

    What stages are involved when applying for a Visa?

    1. The stages vary depending on the type of the visa that the applicant is seeking to apply for.

    What are the fees and charges of applying for a Visa?

    1. The fees and charges vary depending on the type of the visa. Some have no fee whereas some may be over a few thousand dollars. The applicable fee payable will be as at the date of the visa application.

    Where and when do Visa payments need to occur?

    1. Visa payments must be paid at the time of submitting their visa application. Without the full payment, the visa application will not be processed. Most of the visa applications can now be done online, ImmiAccount. For online applications, payments can be made by card, PayPal or BPAY. For paper applications submitted in Australia, visa payments can be pre-paid in the Manage Payments section in the ImmiAccount.

    Why should I use a migration agent?

    1. When seeking assistance for a visa application or any other migration matters, advice should be sought from a registered migration agent (RMA). RMAs are able to provide an up to date advice to their clients as they are required to fulfil their CPD requirements in order to renew their licence.
    2. RMAs who are also lawyers are also subject to fulfilling CPD requirements.
    3. However, there are added benefits in using RMAs who are also lawyers –
      1. Lawyers are trained to provide advice on other associated legal issues, e.g. criminal law, family law, property law and employment law, that may have an implication on the visa application. Non-lawyer migration agents are prohibited from providing these additional advice. Migration agents who are not lawyers have no responsibility to advise on legal issues that often arise from your migration matter or even be aware of these issues.
      2. Whilst both lawyers and RMAs are professionally required to maintain confidentiality, RMAs are unable to claim legal professional privilege. Legal professional privilege is a common law principle protecting communications between legal practitioners and their clients from compulsory production in the context of court and similar proceedings.

    What are the character requirements within ML?

    1. Everyone who enters Australia must be of good character and the requirements are set out under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958. Some of the reasons for the applicant for a visa application not passing the character test will include:
      1. The applicant has a substantial criminal record;
      2. The applicant has been convicted of, or found guilty or had a charge proven for one or more sexually based offences involving a child; or
      3. the applicant’s past and present criminal or general conduct shows that the applicant is not of good character.
    2. Police certificates may be required to be provided in support of the visa application.

    How and where do you apply for police clearances?

    1. For an Australian police clearance certificate, an application form can be submitted on the AFP website.
    2. For overseas police clearance certificates, the process varies. Therefore, you will need to ensure that you follow the correct process to avoid any delays.