In this article, we are going to explain the process on how to become a licensed and reputedmigration lawyer Perth. As required by the Migration Act 1958, any aspiring candidate who wants to use the experience and knowledge in migration process to provide suggestion and assistance to anyone who is seeking Australian visa should get registered as a migration lawyer. Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) is a regulatory body which is responsible to assess the application process to become migration agent.
In this step, there are different individual tasks you need to consider before applying for registration and get familiar to the concerned laws. These are offered for download from the official website of MARA and cover part 3 of Migration Act 1958, Migration Regulations 1998, Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997, and Agents Registration Application Charge Regulations 1998.
Another important document you should consider is occupational standards for immigration agents to explain how registered agent needs to perform the specific duties to the standard recommended by the current agents. According to the needs to become a registered migration agent, you may either want to become a legal practitioner or earn a Graduate Certificate of Australian Migration Law.
Second step is the application for registration. In the initial package of registration application, it includes the application form which you can download from the official website of MARA. It is important to fill out the form completely to avoid the chances of delay in application approval. Application should be submitted with some supporting documents like –
- Evidence of competency
- Proof of indemnity insurance
- Australia Federal Police check paperwork
- Certificates showing your knowledge in English language
Once you complete all the 11 pages of the form and submit the required documents, you have to pay the application fee and file it. Keep in mind that application fee is $160 or $1760 for non-commercial and commercial purposes and is non-refundable.
In this step, you need a very little input when your application is being processed by the Migration Agent Registration Authority. You may want to send all the required documents with application and it usually takes up to 8 weeks or so for processing the application. Once your application is processed before approval, you will see your name listed on the website of MARA in applicants section.
Once MARA finally approves your application, the MARA office will send you an email with news and your registration details will be published on their official site. It means, you have officially become a registered migration agent. Then you will get a certificate of registration within 2 weeks along with a copy of code of conduct.
Even in case your application is rejected, you will still get notified by MARA office in written. You can appeal to the AAT (Administrative Appeals Tribunal) within 28 days. To make the process smoother, you can get the forms from the website. If this appeal is refused, you may want to wait for around 1 year.