Immigration Lawyers Australia

Immigration Lawyers Australia are lawyers who take responsibility for a visa matter under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994 from the first assessment to the final decision. My Migration Lawyers acts as Immigration Lawyers Australia in four types of matter: partner visas, onshore protection visas, visa refusals and visa cancellations, for clients in every Australian state and territory and for clients overseas.

Those four types of matter share a single method. The applicant's position is assessed against the exact criterion that will decide it, the correct application or response is chosen, the client's own evidence and statements are put into the form the law requires, the submissions are drafted, the matter is lodged or the response is filed, and every letter from the Department of Home Affairs is answered until the decision issues. If the decision is adverse, the same lawyers advise on review at the Administrative Review Tribunal and act at the hearing.

This article describes what Immigration Lawyers Australia do at each of those stages, matter type by matter type. It is written for a person deciding whether to engage Immigration Lawyers Australia and wanting to know what the work consists of. It is not a summary of the law. The law is set out in the firm's guide to what an immigration lawyer does and on the service pages for partner visas, protection visas, visa refusals and visa cancellations.

What do Immigration Lawyers Australia do across the four types of matter?

Immigration Lawyers Australia identify the criterion that will decide the matter, gather and test the evidence that criterion requires, present the client's own account in the form the law requires, and answer the Department of Home Affairs until the matter is decided. The subject changes from a partner visa to a protection visa to a cancellation notice. The method does not.

On a partner visa matter, the criterion is whether the applicant is a spouse within section 5F of the Migration Act 1958 or a de facto partner within section 5CB, and whether the relationship is genuine and continuing across the four aspects in regulation 1.15A or regulation 1.09A of the Migration Regulations 1994. Immigration Lawyers Australia plan the relationship evidence against those aspects, review the couple's statements and the Form 888 statements, and draft the submissions that any Schedule 3, condition 8503 or regulation 1.20J issue demands.

On an onshore protection visa matter, the criterion is whether the applicant is a refugee under section 36(2)(a) and section 5H, or is owed complementary protection under section 36(2)(aa) because of a real risk of significant harm as defined in section 36(2A). Immigration Lawyers Australia take the applicant's account in detail, help the applicant put it into a statement of claims that is the applicant's own evidence, gather the country and personal evidence, lodge the Form 866 and prepare the applicant for the Department interview.

On a visa refusal, the criterion is whichever one the delegate found was not met, and the task is to read the section 65 refusal notice and the decision record, decide whether the Administrative Review Tribunal has jurisdiction, lodge the review application within the short and strictly applied deadline, and present the matter afresh to the Tribunal. On a visa cancellation, the task is to respond to a notice of intention to consider cancellation under section 109, section 116 or section 501 before the response deadline and, if the visa is cancelled, to pursue revocation or review.

In every one of those matters, the Department writes to the applicant. A request for further information under section 56 and a natural justice letter under section 57 arrive on partner, protection and cancellation matters alike, and Immigration Lawyers Australia treat each one as a discrete piece of legal work with its own deadline. The sections below describe each stage in turn.

How do Immigration Lawyers Australia assess a matter at the first consultation?

Immigration Lawyers Australia assess a matter by establishing the client's exact visa position, obtaining the full immigration history, and testing the facts against the criterion that will decide the application or the notice, before any application or response is drafted. At My Migration Lawyers this assessment is conducted at a Zoom consultation and delivered afterwards as a written letter of advice with a document checklist.

The visa position comes first. Immigration Lawyers Australia run the Visa Entitlement Verification Online check themselves rather than relying on what the client remembers, confirm the visa subclass, the expiry date and every condition attached to it, and identify whether the client currently holds a substantive visa, a bridging visa or no visa at all. That single fact decides whether Schedule 3 applies to a partner visa application, whether a protection visa applicant will hold a Bridging Visa A or a Bridging Visa E, and how much time exists to prepare. The firm's guide to bridging visas in Australia explains why the distinction matters.

The immigration history comes second. Immigration Lawyers Australia ask for every visa application ever made, in Australia or elsewhere, every refusal, every cancellation and every earlier statement made to the Department, and obtain the decision records where they exist. Public interest criterion 4020 allows a visa to be refused for a bogus document or for false or misleading information given in the current application or in a previous one, and a matter cannot be run safely if the lawyer learns of an earlier inconsistency from a section 57 letter rather than from the client.

The facts come third. On a partner matter the lawyer takes the history of the relationship and tests it against section 5F or section 5CB and the twelve month requirement in regulation 2.03A. On a protection matter the lawyer takes the applicant's account of what happened and what is feared, and tests it against section 5J and section 36(2A). On a refusal or cancellation the lawyer reads the notice and the decision record line by line and identifies each finding that must be answered. What comes out of the consultation is a written plan that states the application or response to be made, the criteria in issue, the evidence required and the risks that remain. The firm's article on the immigration lawyer consultation describes what a client should bring to that first meeting.

The assessment ends with a costs agreement. My Migration Lawyers charges a fixed fee per matter, sets out the scope in writing, and does not begin application work until the client has the letter of advice and the checklist in hand. A client who wants a second opinion on advice already received goes through the same assessment, and Immigration Lawyers Australia give that opinion in writing so that it can be compared with the first.

How do Immigration Lawyers Australia run a partner visa matter?

Immigration Lawyers Australia run a partner visa matter by choosing the correct subclass, planning the relationship evidence against the four aspects in the Regulations, reviewing and correcting the couple's own statements, drafting any waiver submissions, lodging the application and managing it through to the permanent stage. My Migration Lawyers acts on Subclass 820 and 801 applications made in Australia, Subclass 309 and 100 applications made overseas, and Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa applications.

Subclass selection depends on where the applicant is and what the applicant holds. An applicant in Australia applies for the Subclass 820 temporary partner visa and the Subclass 801 permanent partner visa in a single combined application, and the Subclass 801 stage is assessed two years from the date of the Subclass 820 application. An applicant overseas applies for the Subclass 309 and Subclass 100. A couple who intend to marry apply for the Subclass 300. Immigration Lawyers Australia also check the applicant's visa conditions before choosing, because condition 8503 prevents a further application in Australia unless it is waived under section 41(2A), and an applicant without a substantive visa must satisfy Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004 or persuade the Department that there are compelling reasons not to apply them.

The evidence is planned against the four aspects: the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social aspects and the nature of the commitment. Immigration Lawyers Australia place every document the couple can produce against one of those aspects and identify where the file is thin. A couple with separate finances or a couple who have lived with parents are not refused for that reason. They are refused when the gap is left unexplained. The firm's partner visa document checklist shows how the evidence is organised.

The statements are the couple's own evidence. The applicant and the sponsor each write their account of the relationship, and Immigration Lawyers Australia review those accounts against the forms, the documents and each other, correct errors in dates and places, and identify any claim the evidence does not support. The same review is applied to each Form 888 statement from friends and family. The lawyer does not write the couple's story. The lawyer makes sure the story the couple tell is complete, consistent and evidenced.

Sponsorship is assessed with the same care. Regulation 1.20J limits a sponsor to two partner visa sponsorships in a lifetime, at least five years apart, unless there are compelling circumstances, and Division 1.4B allows the Department to refuse a sponsor with a conviction for a registrable offence. Immigration Lawyers Australia check the sponsor's history before lodgement and draft the sponsorship limitation waiver submission where one is required. Where the relationship later ends because of family violence, Division 1.5 of the Regulations allows the permanent visa to be granted on judicial or non-judicial evidence, and the firm advises on that pathway as part of the same matter.

After lodgement, Immigration Lawyers Australia confirm the grant of the Bridging Visa A, advise on the Bridging Visa B that is needed to travel, arrange health and character checks before the case officer asks for them, notify changes in circumstances on Form 1022, and calendar the Subclass 801 second stage. The couple should not have to think about the matter between lodgement and decision. That is what the lawyers are engaged to do.

How do Immigration Lawyers Australia run an onshore protection visa matter?

Immigration Lawyers Australia run an onshore protection visa matter by taking the applicant's account in full, identifying which of the protection criteria in section 36(2) that account engages, helping the applicant record the account in a statement of claims that is the applicant's own evidence, gathering the supporting and country evidence, lodging the Form 866, and preparing the applicant for the Department interview. My Migration Lawyers acts for applicants who are already in Australia on visitor, student or other visas, and for applicants whose visa has expired.

The first task is to identify the claim. Section 36(2)(a) is satisfied where the applicant is a refugee as defined in section 5H, which requires a well-founded fear of persecution under section 5J for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Section 36(2)(aa) is satisfied where there is a real risk that the applicant will suffer significant harm as defined in section 36(2A): arbitrary deprivation of life, the death penalty, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment, or degrading treatment or punishment. Immigration Lawyers Australia work out with the applicant which criterion, or which combination, the facts support, and the applicant decides which claims are advanced.

The second task is the statement of claims. Section 5AAA of the Migration Act places the responsibility on the applicant to specify the particulars of the claim and to provide evidence of it, and a claim first raised at the Tribunal can be disregarded under section 423A if there is no reasonable explanation for the delay. For that reason Immigration Lawyers Australia work through the applicant's account chronologically, in the applicant's own words, until every event, every person and every fear is recorded, and then test the statement against the identity documents and the country information. The protection visa statement of claims is the single most important document in the application, and the firm treats its preparation as legal work rather than typing.

The third task is evidence and identity. Section 91W allows the Department to request identity documents and to refuse the visa if the applicant does not comply without a reasonable explanation, and section 91WA deals with bogus identity documents. Immigration Lawyers Australia settle the applicant's identity evidence at the outset, gather the personal evidence that supports the account, such as medical records, correspondence, photographs and statements from witnesses, and select country information that speaks to the relocation and effective protection questions under section 5J and to the third country protection question under section 36(3). The firm's guide to protection visa evidence sets out what is useful and what is not.

The fourth task is lodgement and status. An applicant who holds a valid visa at lodgement is granted a Bridging Visa A. An applicant who is unlawful at lodgement applies for a Bridging Visa E, and Immigration Lawyers Australia manage that application at the same time. The lawyer also checks section 48A, which bars a second protection visa application by a person whose earlier protection visa application was refused, before any application is lodged. Character is assessed against public interest criterion 4001 and section 501, and the firm takes full instructions on any conviction before the Department asks.

The fifth task is the interview. Not every applicant is interviewed, but where a delegate schedules one, Immigration Lawyers Australia prepare the applicant by walking through the statement of claims, the likely questions and the way to deal with a question that is not understood. The lawyer attends the interview, takes a full note, and files any post-interview submission that the delegate's questions call for. The firm's article on protection visa interview preparation describes the process from the applicant's side.

How do Immigration Lawyers Australia respond to Department correspondence under sections 56 and 57?

Immigration Lawyers Australia respond to Department correspondence by reading the letter on the day it arrives, identifying the power under which it was sent, diarising the deadline, and preparing a response that answers the specific matter raised with evidence and, where necessary, legal submissions. On every matter My Migration Lawyers is the authorised recipient, so the letter comes to the firm and the deadline is not missed because a client did not check an email account.

A request under section 56 of the Migration Act is an invitation to provide further information. It may ask for a document that was omitted, updated evidence of the relationship, a police certificate, an explanation of a gap in the applicant's history or clarification of an inconsistency between two documents. Immigration Lawyers Australia treat a section 56 request as a signal of what the delegate is concerned about and respond to the concern rather than only to the literal request. The firm's guide to the section 56 request for more information explains how to read one.

A letter under section 57 is different in kind. It means the Department holds information that is adverse to the applicant, that was not provided by the applicant, and that the delegate intends to rely on in refusing the visa. The letter must set out the particulars of that information and give the applicant an opportunity to comment. The adverse information may be a statement by a former partner, a discrepancy in a previous application that engages public interest criterion 4020, a report from a third party or country information that contradicts a protection claim. Immigration Lawyers Australia examine the information for accuracy, test its source, take detailed instructions from the client, and draft a response that addresses each particular directly. The firm's article on the section 57 natural justice letter is written for partner applicants, but the approach is the same on a protection matter.

Correspondence also flows the other way. Immigration Lawyers Australia notify the Department of changes in circumstances on Form 1022, including a new address, a new passport, a child, a change in the relationship or a change in the applicant's contact details, because a failure to notify can itself become adverse information. Where the client changes representative, the firm lodges the Form 956 appointment so that every future letter is directed correctly.

The deadline on a section 56 request or a section 57 letter is short and strictly applied. The Department is not required to consider a response that arrives late, and a delegate may decide the matter on the material already held. For that reason Immigration Lawyers Australia begin the response on the day the letter is received and do not wait for the client to gather documents before the drafting starts.

What do Immigration Lawyers Australia do when a visa is refused?

Immigration Lawyers Australia read the section 65 refusal notice and the decision record on the day they arrive, confirm whether the decision is reviewable and by whom, calculate the deadline, and lodge the application for review at the Administrative Review Tribunal before that deadline expires. Everything else on a refused matter follows from those first steps, and none of it is possible if the deadline is missed.

The decision record is read for its findings, not its conclusion. A partner visa refusal may rest on a finding that the relationship was not genuine and continuing at the time of application, on a finding that Schedule 3 was not satisfied and the compelling reasons were insufficient, or on a finding under public interest criterion 4020. A protection visa refusal may rest on a finding that the applicant was not credible, that the harm feared did not amount to persecution or significant harm, that the applicant could reasonably relocate within the country, or that effective protection was available. Immigration Lawyers Australia isolate each finding and plan the evidence and submissions that will answer it at the Tribunal. The firm's articles on Subclass 820 visa refusals and on protection visa refusals and Tribunal review show how each type of finding is approached.

Review at the Administrative Review Tribunal is a fresh hearing on the merits. The Tribunal is not confined to the delegate's reasons and may consider new evidence: updated relationship evidence, further Form 888 statements, a fuller statement of claims or current country information. Immigration Lawyers Australia prepare the written submissions, file the new evidence, prepare the applicant and any witnesses for the hearing, and appear at the hearing. On a protection matter the lawyer is alert to section 423A and ensures that any claim not raised before the delegate is explained. The firm's guide to the Tribunal review process after a refusal describes what the applicant will experience.

Where review is not available or is not the right course, Immigration Lawyers Australia advise on alternatives. A refusal in Australia has consequences for what can be applied for next and from where, and the advice sets those consequences out plainly. A couple whose partner visa was refused because of a Schedule 3 problem may have a different path from a couple refused on genuineness, and the firm's article on options after a partner visa refusal explains how those paths differ.

A refusal also affects the applicant's status. The bridging visa held during processing continues only for the period its conditions allow, and a review application must be lodged for the bridging visa to continue through the Tribunal process. Immigration Lawyers Australia check the bridging visa on the day the refusal arrives and advise the client on work and travel during the review.

How do Immigration Lawyers Australia respond to a visa cancellation?

Immigration Lawyers Australia respond to a visa cancellation by identifying the section under which the Department is acting, reading the notice of intention to consider cancellation for the exact ground and the exact information relied on, and filing a response within the response deadline that addresses the ground and the discretionary considerations. My Migration Lawyers treats every cancellation notice as urgent, because the response deadline is short and strictly applied, and because a cancelled visa is far harder to recover than a cancellation is to prevent.

The three powers operate differently. Section 109 permits cancellation where the visa holder gave incorrect information or a bogus document in the application or on a passenger card, and the response must address whether the information was incorrect and, if it was, the prescribed circumstances the Minister must consider before cancelling. Section 116 contains the general grounds, including that the circumstances that permitted the grant no longer exist, that a condition has been breached, or that the holder's presence is or may be a risk, and some section 116 grounds are mandatory while others are discretionary. Section 501 is the character power, engaged by a substantial criminal record or by other conduct, and a cancellation under section 501 carries the most serious consequences. Immigration Lawyers Australia identify which power is engaged before a word of the response is drafted, because the response to each is different.

The response is the client's own account, put in order. The client explains what happened, produces the documents that show it, and Immigration Lawyers Australia present that account against the considerations the delegate must weigh: the reason for the incorrect information or the breach, the length of residence, family in Australia, hardship to Australian citizen children or a partner, and the consequences of cancellation for the client. On a section 116 matter involving a student or visitor visa, the response often turns on whether the breach occurred at all and whether cancellation is a proportionate response. On a section 501 matter, the response engages the ministerial direction made under section 499 and its primary and other considerations.

If the visa is cancelled, Immigration Lawyers Australia advise immediately on revocation and review. A cancellation under section 109 or section 116 made while the holder is in Australia is generally reviewable at the Administrative Review Tribunal within a short and strictly applied deadline. A cancellation under section 501 may be the subject of a request for revocation or of review, depending on who made the decision and on what basis. The client's status also changes on cancellation, and a Bridging Visa E application may be required so that the client remains lawful while the matter is contested. The firm's article on urgent immigration lawyer advice explains why a client who has received a cancellation notice should not wait until the last day.

Do Immigration Lawyers Australia need to be in the same city as the client?

No. Immigration Lawyers Australia do not need to be in the same city as the client, and a client gains nothing by choosing a lawyer who happens to be nearby. Migration law is federal. The Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994 apply identically in Sydney, Perth, Darwin and Hobart. Applications are lodged online through ImmiAccount, Tribunal applications are lodged online, and the Department of Home Affairs processes applications through national processing arrangements rather than through a local office.

My Migration Lawyers conducts every consultation by Zoom and exchanges every document through a secure client portal. The firm's office is at Level 1, 60 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000, by appointment, and the firm acts as Immigration Lawyers Australia for clients in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, in regional and remote areas, and overseas. A sponsor in Adelaide, an applicant in Jakarta and the lawyer in Sydney can attend one consultation together. A protection visa applicant in regional Queensland is prepared for the Department interview in the same way as an applicant in the Sydney suburbs.

The question that matters is not where Immigration Lawyers Australia sit. It is whether the lawyer who conducts the consultation is the lawyer who will draft the submissions, whether that lawyer acts regularly on matters of the type the client has, and whether the firm's process gives the client a written letter of advice before any fee for application work is charged. A client who is already represented and is uncertain about the advice can read the firm's guide to changing immigration lawyer in Australia before deciding.

How My Migration Lawyers acts as Immigration Lawyers Australia

My Migration Lawyers acts as Immigration Lawyers Australia for clients in every state and territory and overseas, on the four types of matter described in this article. The firm is led by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer, who is responsible for the assessment, the letter of advice and the submissions on each matter the firm accepts.

The firm acts in many matters of exactly this type: Subclass 820 and 801, Subclass 309 and 100 and Subclass 300 partner visa applications; Subclass 866 protection visa applications by applicants already in Australia; responses to section 56 requests and section 57 natural justice letters; review at the Administrative Review Tribunal after a section 65 refusal; and responses to notices of intention to consider cancellation under section 109, section 116 and section 501. Matters complicated by Schedule 3, condition 8503, regulation 1.20J, public interest criterion 4020, a late-raised protection claim or a previous refusal are the firm's ordinary work, and the firm is equipped to run them.

On every matter My Migration Lawyers provides a written letter of advice and a document checklist after the Zoom consultation, runs the Visa Entitlement Verification Online check and obtains the immigration history itself, charges a fixed fee set out in a costs agreement, receives every Department letter as authorised recipient, and treats every deadline as the first priority. The client's account remains the client's own evidence at every stage. The firm reviews it, corrects it and presents it in the form the law requires.

A person who wants Immigration Lawyers Australia to assess a partner visa, a protection visa, a refusal or a cancellation can request a consultation with My Migration Lawyers through the firm's online form. The costs agreement sets out the fixed fee and the scope before any application work begins.