Migration Law and the Role of Migration Agents in Australia

Running head: MIGRATION LAW
Migration Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MIGRATION LAW
Introduction
The factual scenario pertains to subclass 600 visa and deals with the rights and
obligations of a migration agent under the Australian Migration Law. The legislature in Australia
deals with the rights and duties that are needed to be abided by the migration agents. These laws
and regulations govern the roles played by the agents. The Code of Conduct are the guiding
principles for the functions that an agent has to follow1. The Code of Conduct lays down various
rules that mandate the actions of the agent under the migration law. In cases where it is found
that the agent has not performed keeping in mind the interests of the client, the immigration
authority will take all the necessary steps to ensure that the rights of the client are not hampered.
If the client does not perform as per the best interests of the client, it will be heard that the agent
has infringed the act and therefore necessary punitive steps shall be taken against him2. The
provisions of the code of conduct are at par with the requirements of the Migration Regulations
Act 1994 and the line of thinking of the Regulation as well as the Code are similar3. The agent
should not looking for unfair gains and it is his duty to make sure that the requirements and the
needs of the client are met and that the agent has acted as per the requirements of the Code. The
agent is not permitted by law to only look at his profit and unjust enrichment but also has to keep
in mind the client’s requirements.
Discussion
The primary requirement of the Migration Agents Regulations Act 1998 is to ensure that
the agents are functioning fairly and that the agents are equipped enough to act in accordance
1 Ralston, Helen. "Citizenship, identity, agency and resistance among Canadian and Australian women of South
Asian origin." Women, Migration and Citizenship. Routledge, 2016. 197-214.
2 Provenzano, Davide, and Rodolfo Baggio. "The contribution of human migration to tourism: The VFR travel
between the EU 28 member states." International Journal of Tourism Research19.4 (2017): 412-420.
3 Migration Regulations Act, 1994

2MIGRATION LAW
with the Regulation and treat the clients with fairness. The Migration Agents Regulations Act
1998, with the provisions of schedule 2 of the Act has tried to systematize the Code of Conduct.
The issues related to migration are very complex and it is always important to keep in mind that
the person is coming from a different country and is seeking advice regarding migration and they
should be treated with primary importance. The agents have to deal with the problems of the
clients and they should not be deprived and they should be given all the necessary information
that is required to resolve their conflict. The migrating agent has to maintain all the requirements
under section 314 of the Migration Act 1958 which are read together with schedule 2 Regulation
8 of the Act4. The migrating agent has to follow a few specific requirements:
 The migration agent has to act in a very liberal fashion and has to uphold the basic
requirements of the client. The agent has to keep the requirements of the client in mind
while giving them any advice. All the problems of the client need to be resolved by the
agent.
 All the requirements of the fees and all other monetary requirements shall be keep with
the agent and he needs to communicate the same to the client. The information with
relation to the finances have to be kept as an official document with the agent. These
documents are of essential financial nature and they have to be kept intact with the
management. In cases of such documents getting misplaced, the agent shall be held
liable.
 The agent has to act very fairly with the client and they cannot make nay false claims
regarding the fees and other required information.
4 Australian Migrations Act, S. 314