Can a Migration Agent Lodge a Partner Visa? Registration Explained

Can a migration agent lodge a partner visa?

Yes. A registered migration agent can prepare and lodge a partner visa application, and so can an Australian legal practitioner. The real migration agent partner visa question is not whether an agent may lodge. It is who the law allows to give immigration assistance, how registration works, and how a couple can check the person they are about to trust with their future together.

This article explains migration agent partner visa registration in plain English. It covers what registration with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) means, what counts as immigration assistance, why Australian lawyers stopped being registered migration agents in March 2021, how to check a migration agent or a lawyer before you pay anything, and how Form 956 appoints the person who acts for you. It is written for the Australian partner and for the applicant, whether the applicant is in Australia or outside it.

Couples often search for a migration agent partner visa service because a friend used one, or because the word "agent" is the word they know. That is a sensible starting point. Registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners are both lawfully allowed to help with a partner visa. The differences between them are differences of regulation, training and scope, and they are explained factually below. For the full picture of the visa itself, read the complete guide to partner visas in Australia. If you already know you want a law firm to act, our partner visa lawyers page explains how My Migration Lawyers works.

The short answer for couples in a hurry

A registered migration agent may lawfully prepare, lodge and manage a partner visa application. An Australian legal practitioner with a current practising certificate may lawfully do the same work without OMARA registration. A sponsoring partner, or a close family member, may help without being registered, but only if they do not charge a fee. Anyone else who gives immigration assistance in Australia is breaking the law.

That rule protects couples. It means that every migration agent partner visa engagement is backed by a regulator, a code of conduct and a complaints process. It also means that a person who is not registered, not a lawyer and not exempt should not be preparing your application, however helpful they seem.

What does registration with OMARA mean?

Registration with OMARA means the person is entered on the Register of Migration Agents and is authorised to give immigration assistance in Australia, subject to the Code of Conduct and the other rules that govern registered migration agents. Each registered migration agent has a unique Migration Agents Registration Number, known as a MARN.

The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority sits within the Department of Home Affairs. It registers migration agents, keeps the public register, monitors conduct and deals with complaints. OMARA's own guidance states that migration agents must be registered with OMARA in order to provide immigration assistance in Australia. A person who wants to work as a registered migration agent must apply to OMARA and meet the registration requirements before they can lawfully act. The detailed requirements are published on OMARA's website.

For a couple weighing a migration agent partner visa engagement, registration matters in three practical ways. First, it tells you the person is lawfully allowed to give the advice. Second, it means the person is bound by the Code of Conduct, which sets standards for honesty, competence, fees and record keeping. Third, it gives you somewhere to go if something goes wrong, because OMARA can receive complaints about registered migration agents. OMARA's consumer guide states that making a complaint will not affect your current visa application.

The Migration Agents Registration Number

The MARN is the simplest check in any migration agent partner visa engagement. A registered migration agent should give you their MARN in their correspondence and service documents. You can search the OMARA register by name or by MARN. If the person cannot give you a MARN and is not an Australian legal practitioner, ask why before going further.

The register shows whether the agent is currently registered. Registration is not permanent. An agent must keep their registration current, and a person who was once registered may no longer be. That is why the check should be done at the start of the engagement, not years later when a problem appears.

The Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct for registered migration agents is made under the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021, and the current Code took effect on 1 March 2022. OMARA's consumer guide summarises some of its core consumer protections. A registered migration agent must be honest about your chances of getting a visa, must provide correct advice, must keep you informed of the progress of your application, and must tell you if they have an interest that conflicts with yours.

The Code also deals with fees. A registered migration agent must give you a written statement before starting work, setting out the services to be provided, the estimated fees and other costs, and must later give you an invoice listing the actual services completed and the amount payable. The Code requires the agent to give you a copy of the OMARA consumer guide before giving immigration assistance, and it requires a service agreement for assistance beyond an initial consultation. It also governs client money, client files and how the agent deals with complaints.

For a couple choosing help with a partner visa, the Code is a useful checklist. A migration agent partner visa service that is run properly will give you a consumer guide, a written service agreement and a clear statement of fees before the work starts. If those documents are missing, ask for them.

What is immigration assistance?

Immigration assistance is help given by a person who uses, or claims to use, their knowledge or experience of migration procedure to assist someone with a visa application, a sponsorship or nomination, or proceedings about a visa decision. It includes preparing an application, advising about an application and representing a person in review proceedings. The definition is in section 276 of the Migration Act 1958.

That definition is broad. A person who fills in the partner visa forms for a couple, decides which evidence to upload, drafts answers to the Department's requests or advises on whether to apply onshore or offshore is giving immigration assistance. Calling the work "document help", "form filling" or "visa consulting" does not change its legal character. If it is immigration assistance, the person giving it must be lawfully allowed to give it.

OMARA's consumer guide puts the rule plainly: it is unlawful for anyone to give immigration assistance in Australia if they are not a registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner or an exempt person. So every migration agent partner visa search should start with one question: which of those three categories does this person fall into?

Who is an exempt person?

An exempt person is a person who may give immigration assistance without being registered, provided they do not charge a fee. OMARA's consumer guide identifies close family members and sponsors as examples. In a partner visa, that means the Australian partner can help the applicant prepare their own application, and a parent or sibling can help, but none of them may charge for it.

For many couples, the sponsor's unpaid help is the main alternative to a paid migration agent partner visa service. Exempt persons can also be appointed on Form 956 to act for the applicant. Tribunal decisions sometimes record that the sponsor acted as the applicant's representative, which is lawful. The limit is the fee. Once a person charges for immigration assistance, they must be a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner.

What immigration assistance does not include

Immigration assistance does not include every kind of help with a partner visa. A translator who translates a marriage certificate, a doctor who performs the health examination and a police service that issues a certificate are providing services, but they are not advising on the visa. Equally, a friend who tells a couple about their own experience is not giving immigration assistance in the legal sense. The line is crossed when someone uses knowledge of migration procedure to prepare the application, advise on it or represent the couple.

Do lawyers need to be registered migration agents?

No. An Australian legal practitioner can give immigration assistance without being a registered migration agent. On 22 March 2021, OMARA removed 1,706 unrestricted legal practising certificate holders from the Register of Migration Agents, because the law no longer required or allowed unrestricted lawyers to be registered. Since then, lawyers who do migration work are regulated through their practising certificate and the legal profession regulator in their state or territory.

The change came from the Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Act 2020. Before it, many lawyers who practised migration law held two registrations: a practising certificate and OMARA registration. The Government described the change as removing unnecessary dual regulation for a large section of legal practitioners. The result is that a migration lawyer today does not hold a MARN, and that is not a warning sign.

This point causes confusion in many migration agent partner visa searches. A couple looks up a lawyer on the OMARA register, cannot find them, and worries that the lawyer is not authorised. The correct check for a lawyer is the practising certificate, not the OMARA register. The Australian migration lawyers guide explains how to find and check a lawyer.

Restricted and unrestricted practising certificates

Practising certificates can be restricted or unrestricted. A lawyer with a restricted practising certificate must practise under supervision. Transitional arrangements allowed some restricted practitioners to keep a dual registration as a migration agent for a limited period after the change. Those arrangements have now ended. The practical point for a couple is that a lawyer who does migration work must hold a current practising certificate and appropriate professional indemnity insurance, and must comply with the conditions on their certificate.

What changes for the client when the adviser is a lawyer

When a lawyer gives immigration assistance, the rules that govern the engagement are the legal profession rules of the relevant state or territory. That includes costs disclosure, costs agreements, trust money rules where they apply, professional conduct rules and a complaints process through the legal profession regulator. The Department's consumer guide for legal practitioners states that a legal practitioner is a lawyer who holds an Australian legal practising certificate, whether restricted or unrestricted.

The work itself is similar to a migration agent partner visa engagement. A lawyer and a registered migration agent can both assess eligibility, review evidence, prepare forms, lodge the application in ImmiAccount, respond to Department requests and represent the applicant or sponsor at the Administrative Review Tribunal. A lawyer can also act in courts and advise on related areas of law, such as family law or criminal law consequences, within their practice. The migration agent vs immigration lawyer comparison sets out those differences in more detail, and the partner visa migration agent or lawyer guide applies them to partner visas.

What a migration agent partner visa engagement covers

A migration agent partner visa engagement usually covers eligibility advice, a review of the couple's evidence, preparation of the application forms, lodgement in ImmiAccount, responses to Department requests and, if needed, advice on review. A legal engagement with a lawyer covers the same stages. What matters is that the scope is written down before the work begins.

Partner visas are lodged online. For the onshore combined Subclass 820 onshore partner visa and Subclass 801 application, the applicant is usually in Australia. For the offshore Subclass 309 partner visa and Subclass 100 application, the applicant is outside Australia, but the person who engages the adviser is very often the Australian partner. The same is true for the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa. A registered migration agent or a lawyer can act on all of these subclasses.

The stages of a partner visa file

A well run migration agent partner visa file follows recognisable stages, and so does a well run law firm file. Each stage is work that a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner may lawfully do.

• Eligibility and pathway. The adviser confirms which subclass fits, whether the applicant can apply in Australia, and whether any barrier applies, such as a visa condition or a prior refusal.
• Evidence review. The adviser reviews the couple's relationship evidence across the four assessed aspects of the relationship: financial aspects, the nature of the household, social aspects and the nature of the commitment. The guide to proving a genuine relationship explains what decision makers look for.
• Relationship statement and Form 888 statements. The couple write their own relationship statement and their supporters complete Form 888 statements. The adviser reviews them for gaps and inconsistencies, and the authors correct and confirm their own words.
• Forms and lodgement. The adviser prepares the application in ImmiAccount, uploads the evidence and lodges the application with the application charge.
• Processing. The adviser responds to requests for further information, health and police requirements, and any natural justice letter.
• Second stage. For combined applications, the adviser prepares the second stage assessment for the permanent visa.

The partner visa document checklist and the 820 partner visa evidence checklist show the documents involved at stage 2 and stage 4. The partner visa relationship statement guide and the guide to who can make a Form 888 and what it should say cover stage 3.

Government charges are separate from professional fees

The partner visa application charge is paid to the Department of Home Affairs, not to the adviser, in every migration agent partner visa matter and every law firm matter. As at October 2026, the charge for the combined Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 application starts from AUD 11,710 for most applicants, and from AUD 1,955 for Subclass 300 holders applying in Australia. One charge covers both stages of the combined application, for both the onshore and offshore pathways. The Department also states that a lower charge applies from 1 July 2026 for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens, and the current figure should be checked on the Department's page. Charges are reviewed each 1 July.

Police certificates, health examinations, translations and biometrics are extra costs. They are not professional fees either. A clear migration agent partner visa quote, or a clear legal costs agreement, should separate the government charges and third party costs from the adviser's own fees. The article on every Subclass 820 fee explained sets out the government side, and the guide to what a fixed-fee quote should include covers the professional side.

Service agreements and costs agreements

A registered migration agent works under a service agreement and gives the client the OMARA consumer guide. A lawyer works under the costs disclosure and costs agreement rules of the legal profession law in their state or territory. Both documents do the same practical job: they tell the client what work is included, what is excluded, how fees are charged and what happens if the matter changes.

My Migration Lawyers charges fixed fees under a written costs agreement. The costs agreement sets out the stages of the work and what each stage covers. For couples comparing a migration agent partner visa quote with a lawyer's costs agreement, the useful comparison is scope against scope. Does the quote include the second stage? Does it include responses to a natural justice letter? Does it include Tribunal review? The guide to partner visa lawyers' fees and how to choose and the immigration lawyer fees guide explain how to compare engagements fairly.

Can a migration agent outside Australia lodge a partner visa?

Yes, a person outside Australia can lodge a partner visa application online, but the Australian registration requirement does not reach immigration assistance given outside Australia. Part 3 of the Migration Act 1958, which contains the registration rules, does not have extraterritorial effect. That means an unregistered person giving advice overseas is outside OMARA's jurisdiction, and the consumer protections that come with registration may not apply.

The Department of Home Affairs has acknowledged this gap. Its review of the migration agents instruments stated that there are limited consumer protections in place for visa applicants who seek help from unregistered providers offshore, and that the Government's response is to raise awareness and promote use of the Register of Migration Agents. For a couple, the safest approach is simple. Whoever helps with the application, wherever they are located, check whether they are a registered migration agent on the OMARA register or an Australian legal practitioner with a current practising certificate.

This matters most for offshore applications. A Subclass 309 applicant may be approached by local document services or consultants in their home country. Some offer useful services, such as translations or arranging police certificates. But a migration agent partner visa service that advises on the application itself should be registered, or the adviser should be an Australian lawyer, so that the couple has the protection of Australian regulation. In most offshore matters, the Australian partner is the person who engages the adviser and deals with them day to day.

Translations and documents from overseas

Documents that are not in English need English translations. Translations made in Australia should be done by a translator certified by NAATI. A translator is not giving immigration assistance by translating, and does not need to be registered. The adviser's role is to check that the translations match the originals and are consistent with the rest of the application.

Registered migration agents and lawyers: the factual differences

Registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners are both lawfully allowed to give immigration assistance on a partner visa, and both can represent a client at the Administrative Review Tribunal. The main differences are the regulator, the professional rules that apply, the training pathway and the range of other legal work each can do.

These differences do not make one group good and the other bad, and a migration agent partner visa service is a lawful and common choice. Many registered migration agents are highly experienced in partner visas. Many lawyers are too. The right choice depends on the file. The comparison below is factual, so that a couple can ask the right questions.

Regulator and conduct rules

A registered migration agent is regulated by OMARA and must comply with the Code of Conduct for registered migration agents. A lawyer is regulated by the legal profession regulator in their state or territory and must comply with the professional conduct rules for solicitors and the conditions of their practising certificate. Complaints about an agent go to OMARA. Complaints about a lawyer go to the relevant legal services regulator.

Training and qualifications

In every migration agent partner visa engagement, the agent has met OMARA's entry standards. A registered migration agent must meet OMARA's registration requirements, which include prescribed qualifications in Australian migration law and practice, before they can be registered. A lawyer must complete a law degree and practical legal training, be admitted to the legal profession and hold a practising certificate. Neither pathway alone guarantees experience with a particular kind of partner visa problem. Experience comes from the files the adviser has actually handled.

Scope of work beyond the visa

A registered migration agent's role is immigration assistance. A lawyer can also give legal advice in other areas and appear in courts. On a partner visa file, that wider scope is sometimes relevant, for example where a sponsor has a criminal charge, where the relationship has ended and family law issues arise, or where a decision raises a question of law. For most straightforward applications, the core visa work is the same whoever does it.

Client money and fees

Both registered migration agents and lawyers have rules about money received from clients. Registered migration agents must comply with the Code's requirements for client money and client accounts. Lawyers must comply with the trust money rules of their jurisdiction when they hold money on trust. Some law firms, including My Migration Lawyers, do not hold client money on trust at all and charge fixed fees invoiced for work completed.

How to check a migration agent partner visa provider before you engage them

Check a migration agent by searching the OMARA Register of Migration Agents by name or MARN, and check a lawyer by searching the register of practising certificate holders kept by the legal profession regulator or law society in the lawyer's state or territory. Do the check before you sign anything or pay anything.

Most problems in a migration agent partner visa engagement are avoidable with ten minutes of checking at the start. The steps below apply to any adviser, whether you are checking a registered migration agent, a lawyer or a family member who has offered to help.

Step 1: identify the category

Ask the person directly: are you a registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner or an exempt person? A registered migration agent will give you their MARN. A lawyer will tell you which state or territory issued their practising certificate. An exempt person, such as your own partner, will not charge you.

Step 2: search the right register

For a registered migration agent, use OMARA's online register. OMARA publishes a user guide on how to find a registered migration agent. Confirm that the name, MARN and business name match the person you are dealing with, and that the registration is current.

For a lawyer, use the register kept by the regulator or law society in the lawyer's state or territory. The Department's consumer guide for legal practitioners states that you can find a legal practitioner by contacting your local law society or bar association. Confirm the lawyer holds a current practising certificate. Our guide to finding, checking and choosing an Australian migration lawyer explains where to look.

Step 3: match the name on Form 956

The person who acts on your application should be named on Form 956. The name on that form should be the person you checked. If the form names someone else, ask why. The guide to Form 956 and Form 956A explains how appointment works.

Step 4: read the engagement documents

In a migration agent partner visa engagement, the registered migration agent should give you the OMARA consumer guide and a written service agreement. A lawyer should give you costs disclosure and a costs agreement. Read the scope. Check what is included and what is not. The immigration lawyer consultation guide explains what a first meeting should cover.

Step 5: watch for warning signs

Some warning signs apply to any adviser. Be careful of anyone who promises a visa grant, who tells you to leave things out of the application, who offers to write your relationship statement for you so that it "sounds better", who will not put fees in writing, or who wants to lodge without letting you see the application first. The relationship statement and Form 888 statements must be the couple's own evidence. An adviser can review them and point out gaps, but the words and the facts must belong to the people who sign them.

Step 6: understand who will do the work

Ask who will prepare the application and who will review it. In a migration agent partner visa engagement, the agent named on Form 956 is the person accountable to OMARA. In a law firm, work is often done by a team under the supervision of a principal. Either way, you are entitled to know who is accountable for your file.

Form 956 and Form 956A: how an adviser is appointed

Form 956 is the form used to appoint a registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner or an exempt person to act for a visa applicant or sponsor, and to end that appointment. Form 956A is used to appoint, or withdraw, an authorised recipient who receives written communications without giving immigration assistance.

In practice, Form 956 is what tells the Department who is acting. Once a registered migration agent or lawyer is appointed on Form 956, the Department will usually send correspondence about the application to that person. That makes Form 956 one of the most important documents in any migration agent partner visa file.

Who signs Form 956 in a migration agent partner visa file

In a partner visa, the applicant and the sponsor may each appoint a representative. Often one adviser acts for both. The applicant signs to appoint the adviser for the visa application. The sponsor signs to appoint the adviser for the sponsorship. Where the applicant is outside Australia, the Australian partner is usually the person in day to day contact with the adviser, but the applicant still signs their own appointment.

Ending an appointment

The Department's consumer guide for legal practitioners states that if you do not want your legal practitioner to continue to represent you, you complete Form 956 to end the appointment and provide it to the Department. The same form is used to end the appointment of a registered migration agent. Changing advisers during processing is common and lawful. The guide to changing your immigration lawyer and the article on hiring a lawyer after you have already lodged explain the steps.

Authorised recipients

An authorised recipient is different from a representative. An authorised recipient receives letters from the Department but does not give immigration assistance. A family member can be an authorised recipient. Appointing an authorised recipient does not appoint that person to advise on the visa.

When a partner visa file needs more than lodgement

A partner visa file needs more than lodgement when the applicant has a visa history problem, a character issue, a past refusal, a sponsorship limitation or a relationship that has changed. In those files, the adviser's experience with that exact issue matters more than the adviser's title.

Most migration agent partner visa searches come from couples whose case looks simple. Many are. But some files contain issues that change the strategy before anything is lodged. Whoever acts should identify them at the first consultation.

Applicants without a substantive visa

These issues arise whether the file is a migration agent partner visa file or a law firm file. An applicant in Australia who does not hold a substantive visa at lodgement faces the Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004. Those criteria can be waived for compelling reasons. The Schedule 3 waiver page and the guide to Schedule 3 criteria for applicants who are unlawful explain the test. The article on the Schedule 3 partner visa waiver covers how the evidence is presented.

Section 48 and the two statutory declarations

Section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 limits onshore applications by a person who does not hold a substantive visa and has had a visa refused or cancelled since last entering Australia. The partner visa is one of the visas such a person can still apply for in Australia, but extra validity rules apply. Two statutory declarations from Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens must be lodged with the application, each made no more than 6 weeks before lodgement, under subparagraph 1124B(3)(e)(iii) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Form 888 statements do not satisfy that rule. The guide to applying for a partner visa after a visa refusal explains the pathway.

No Further Stay condition 8503

Condition 8503 is one of the first things to check in any migration agent partner visa consultation. Many visitor visas carry condition 8503, which prevents the holder from making a further substantive visa application in Australia unless the condition is waived. The article on applying for a Subclass 820 visa with condition 8503 and the guide to moving from a tourist visa to a partner visa cover the options.

Sponsorship limitations

Regulation 1.20J limits a sponsor to two partners in a lifetime, with five years between sponsorships, subject to compelling circumstances. Some sponsors with certain offences also face limits. The sponsorship limitations page and the article on when a sponsor cannot sponsor a partner visa explain these rules.

Family violence and relationship breakdown

If the relationship ends during processing, the applicant may still have a pathway in some circumstances, including where family violence has occurred. The family violence partner visa lawyers page and the article on what happens if a Subclass 820 relationship breaks down explain the position. These are files where an adviser should act quickly and carefully.

Integrity and identity issues

Public interest criterion 4020 deals with false or misleading information and bogus documents, and with identity. A PIC 4020 problem in one application can affect later applications. Any adviser preparing a partner visa must check what the applicant has told the Department in the past, because inconsistencies with earlier applications are a common source of refusal. The Form 80 guide shows how personal particulars should be completed so that they match the record.

What happens if a partner visa is refused?

If a partner visa is refused, the applicant or sponsor can usually apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for merits review, but the application must be made within 28 days after the day the applicant is notified of the decision, or 7 days if the applicant is in immigration detention. The timeframe cannot be extended.

That deadline is set by subsection 347(3) of the Migration Act 1958. A late application is not properly made, and the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear it. For an onshore Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 refusal, the applicant applies for review and must be in Australia. For a Subclass 309 refusal where the applicant is outside Australia, the Australian sponsor applies for review under subsection 338(5).

As at October 2026, the Tribunal fee for review of a partner visa refusal is AUD 3,727 for fees paid on or after 1 July 2026. The fee must be paid before the deadline for applying for review. A 50% fee reduction may be granted for financial hardship. If the decision is set aside or varied, or the matter is remitted to the Department, the Tribunal refunds 50% of the fee paid.

A registered migration agent or a lawyer can act at the Tribunal, so a migration agent partner visa refusal can be taken to review by the same agent, by another agent or by a lawyer. If your first application was handled by a migration agent partner visa service and has been refused, you may keep the same adviser or change. What matters is that someone acts before the deadline. The Partner Visa Refusals page, the visa refusals page, the article on partner visa appeal options and the guide to what to expect at ART review explain the process. The guide on when you need a visa appeal lawyer explains how review work differs from lodgement work.

Second opinions before the deadline

A couple who has received a refusal, or a natural justice letter, often wants a second view before deciding what to do. That is sensible. A second opinion on a migration agent partner visa file is common, and it does not mean the first adviser did anything wrong. The guide to getting a second opinion from an immigration lawyer and the article on responding to a section 57 natural justice letter explain what can be done. A request for more information under section 56 is different and is covered in the guide to responding to a section 56 request.

Changing advisers during a migration agent partner visa application

A couple can change advisers at any stage of a partner visa application by completing Form 956 to end the existing appointment and appoint the new adviser. The application itself continues. Nothing is lost by changing, but the new adviser needs the full file to act properly.

People change advisers for many ordinary reasons. The adviser may have retired, moved or changed practice areas. The couple may have moved cities. A new issue may have arisen that needs different experience. Or the couple may simply want a different working style. Changing from a migration agent partner visa engagement to a law firm, or from a law firm to a registered migration agent, is lawful and common.

What the new adviser needs

The new adviser needs copies of what was lodged, the correspondence with the Department and the evidence provided. A registered migration agent has Code of Conduct obligations about client files, and a lawyer has professional obligations about client documents. The couple should ask the outgoing adviser for the file. Where gaps remain, an adviser can obtain information about the client's visa history directly, including through the Department's records, rather than asking the client for old documents they do not keep.

Timing a change

Change advisers well before any deadline. If a natural justice letter or a request has arrived, or a refusal has been notified, the new adviser needs time to read the file. Waiting until the last days of a response period, or the last days of the 28-day review period, makes the change much harder. The guide to urgent immigration lawyer advice explains what to prepare.

Lodging yourself, then getting help

Some couples lodge a partner visa themselves and then want help. That is also common. The article on doing a partner visa yourself compared with using a lawyer explains the trade off. Help can be engaged at any time during processing by Form 956.

What Tribunal decisions show about representatives and the information given

Tribunal decisions show that the advice a couple receives, the representative they appoint and the accuracy of the information given to the Department can all become issues in a partner visa refusal. In each decision listed below, the Tribunal remitted the matter, which means it sent the matter back to the Department to reconsider. The descriptions below record only the issues reported in each decision's headnote, and the headnotes do not state the nationality of the parties.

• Adu (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2913, Subclass 309: the reported issues were a genuine and continuing relationship, the parties being validly married while the applicant was an unlawful non-citizen, the applicant having been advised by a former representative that an onshore application was not possible, and the nature of commitment.
• Phuong (Migration) [2019] AATA 4637, Subclass 820: the reported issues were the sponsor acting as the applicant's representative, a genuine spousal relationship, financial aspects and minimal financial integration.
• Pham (Migration) [2026] ARTA 1917, Subclass 820: the reported issues were a Federal Circuit and Family Court remittal, false or misleading information, and a previous application as a secondary applicant with a first husband that was not declared.
• PALASIT (MIGRATION) [2026] ARTA 1914, Subclass 820: the reported issues were false or misleading information, a previous relationship not declared, an element of fraud or deception, and the discretion to waive the criterion.
• TRUONG (Migration) [2024] AATA 680, Subclass 820: the reported issues were false or misleading information in a material particular, a previous visitor visa application, marital status, and parties who were separated but still living together.
• Vung (Migration) [2021] AATA 3556, Subclass 309: the reported issues were false or misleading information in relation to the visa application, a genuine relationship, and conflicting and changing information about how the parties met and how the relationship developed.
• Xiao (Migration) [2024] AATA 575, Subclass 820: the reported issues were false or misleading information, a false claim of a genuine spousal relationship in an earlier partner application, waiver of the requirement, and Australian citizen children.
• Udeh (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2009, Subclass 309: the reported issues were false or misleading information and bogus documents, date of birth, passport and a statutory affidavit, non-compliance conceded, and the discretion to waive the criterion.

These decisions do not decide that any type of adviser is better than another. They show three practical points. First, advice about whether an onshore application is possible can shape the whole case. Second, a sponsor can lawfully act as the applicant's representative, as an exempt person. Third, information given in earlier applications, including undeclared previous relationships and marital status, is checked against the current application. Whoever prepares a partner visa, in a migration agent partner visa file or a law firm file, must look at the applicant's whole history, not only the current relationship. The article on why Subclass 820 visas are refused and the guide to why partner visas get refused explain the common refusal grounds.

How to choose between a migration agent and a lawyer for a partner visa

Choose the adviser whose registration or practising certificate you have checked, whose experience matches the issues in your file, whose engagement documents set out a clear scope and fee, and who will tell you honestly what the law does and does not allow. The title on the business card matters less than those four points.

Every migration agent partner visa decision is personal. Some couples prefer a small agency. Some prefer a law firm. Both are lawful choices. The questions below help a couple compare any two advisers on equal terms.

• How many partner visa matters with my exact issue have you handled?
• Who will prepare my application, and who will review it before lodgement?
• What exactly is included in the fee, and what is excluded?
• How will you review our relationship statement and Form 888 statements?
• What do you see as the main risk in our file, and how will you deal with it?
• If the application is refused, what happens next, and is review included?

The guide to choosing the best partner visa lawyer in Australia, the guide to choosing Australian migration lawyers and the article on when you need an immigration lawyer for a partner visa give more detail. The immigration lawyer guide explains what a migration lawyer does day to day.

How My Migration Lawyers acts on partner visa matters, including migration agent partner visa files

My Migration Lawyers is an Australian law firm that acts on partner visa matters across Australia, including complex files and files that began with another adviser. The firm deals with complex cases as a regular part of its work, acts in many partner visa matters where a couple first used a migration agent partner visa service or lodged themselves, and is capable of taking over a file at any stage, from first advice to Tribunal review.

When a couple comes to My Migration Lawyers with a migration agent partner visa question, or with a file another adviser has started, the work follows a set sequence.

• Video consultation. The firm holds the consultation by video. The lawyer identifies the subclass, the applicant's location and visa status, and any issue that changes the strategy, such as section 48, Schedule 3, condition 8503, a sponsorship limitation or a past refusal.
• Visa history. The firm obtains the applicant's visa history itself, through VEVO and the Department's records, rather than asking the couple for old grant notices or application forms they do not keep.
• Costs agreement. The firm sets out a fixed fee for each stage in a written costs agreement before work starts, and separates the government charge of AUD 11,710 or more from its own professional fees.
• Appointment. The firm is appointed on Form 956 for the applicant and the sponsor. Where another adviser was acting, the existing appointment is ended on the same form and the firm requests the file.
• Evidence review. The relationship statement and Form 888 statements are the couple's and their supporters' own evidence. The firm reviews them against the four assessed aspects of the relationship and the couple's past applications, identifies gaps and inconsistencies, and the authors correct and confirm their own words.
• Lodgement and processing. The firm lodges the application in ImmiAccount and responds to every request, including section 56 requests and section 57 natural justice letters.
• Refusal and review. If a decision goes against the couple, the firm checks the 28-day deadline, confirms who must apply, lodges the Tribunal application, makes sure the AUD 3,727 fee is paid before the deadline, and advises on fee reduction where hardship applies.

Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer, leads the firm's partner visa practice. You can read more about My Migration Lawyers and about Weiwei Zhang, and see how the firm approaches matters as partner visa lawyers in Australia. The firm also explains its work for couples on the partner visa lawyers page, for same-sex and LGBTI couples, and on Immigration Lawyers Australia.

Consultations are held by video, and My Migration Lawyers acts for couples across Australia, including clients of our partner visa lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Parramatta. The firm's immigration lawyers also act for clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Parramatta.

The firm cannot promise any outcome. What it can do is give a couple a clear answer on their migration agent partner visa question, check the file for the issues that matter, and act on it properly from the first consultation.

Book a Consultation with My Migration Lawyers to have your partner visa reviewed by a lawyer. You can also call 1300 040 300.