Migration Agent Business Plan - Diploma in Migration Law, Australia

This project presents a detailed business plan for a migration agent, addressing various key aspects of establishing and managing such a business in Australia. The plan begins by outlining the business objectives, which include providing comprehensive migration services such as visa procurement, citizenship assistance, and support for businesses navigating global migration issues. The plan then delves into the structure of ownership and management, emphasizing the need for qualified and customer-centric employees, including a CEO, attorneys, consultants, and various management roles. Marketing and customer acquisition strategies are also explored, covering advertising, direct marketing, and networking. Financial requirements, including start-up and operating costs, along with potential funding sources, are clearly defined. Furthermore, the plan identifies potential business risks and mitigation strategies, such as understanding sponsorship obligations and ensuring compliance with migration regulations. The project concludes with a focus on skill development, administrative efficiency, and a comprehensive checklist for business setup, along with a bibliography of relevant legislation and resources. This business plan is designed for a Diploma in Migration Law course and provides a solid foundation for understanding the complexities of the migration agent business.

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 1
A MIGRATION AGENT BUSINESS PLAN
1. Business Objectives:
 Handling all the aspects in relation to migration services. These will include visa
obtainment and gaining of Australian citizenship, safeguarding and defending the
rights of migrants, looking into illegal immigration issues as well as offering
assistance to businesses for them to understand issues of migration in a worldwide
marketplace. These will be the priority services at the beginning of the migration
consulting business.
 Offering a professional and standard migration consulting services to all individual
and corporate clients both at the national and international levels. We will ensure the
highest standard of service delivery so as to meet the expectations of the clients who
hire our services.
 Ensuring that the clients’ best interest comes first, and relying on our professional
ethics and values in our service delivery. We will ensure the hiring of experienced
professionals in the business of migration agency and consultancy.
 Demonstrating commitment to sustainability. This will be both at the individual level
and as a firm through active participation in the community and integration of
business practices which are sustainable wherever possible.
 Ensuring highest standards of accountability by meeting the precise and complete
needs of our clients. This will include creating a working environment where there is
a sustainable human approach to enable the earning of a living and a conducive
environment for the employees, the partners and the clients.

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 2
 Working to enable the business to be positioned as the leading brand of the migration
agency business in Queensland and among the top 10 migration consulting firms in
Australia within the first 5 years in business.
2. Structure of Ownership and Management:
Having planned to establish a standard migration agent business in Australia, we will go the
extra mile in order to have honest, hardworking and competent employees in the positions
offered by our firm. The goals that we have set to achieve gave us the drive to employ the
best within and without Queensland. We will employees who are customer centric,
hardworking, qualified, honest and willing to work for the prosperity of all the stakeholders,
that is, the workforce, the owners and customers.
The arrangement of profit-sharing will be availed to all members of staff in senior
management sector where it will be pegged on individual performance within five or so years
depending on the success of our targets. It is with this regard that we will require the
competent and qualified services of the positions that follow;
 Chief Executive Officer whose roles and responsibilities would include increasing
the effectiveness of management, price fixing and signing the deals of the business,
signing the company’s checks and other important documents and evaluating the
organization’s success.
 Attorneys and Consultants with the expertise in migration laws and regulations for
the fulfilment of the firm’s mandate such as representing migration clients in courts
and defending them to prevent their deportation.
 Administration and Human Resource Manager, who oversees administrative tasks
and smooth operation of the business, maintains the steady supply of office materials,

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 3
trains, evaluates and assesses employees and arranges meetings, travels and
appointments.
 Marketing and Sales Executive whose role is to reach out, prioritize and identify
new partners as well as business and development opportunities, handle business
research, feasibility studies and surveys for clients, is in charge of the documentation
of customers’ contacts and information, among others.
 Accountant whose roles include preparing the firm’s financial statements, budgets
and reports
 Front Desk Officer/Customer Care Executive who welcomes clients and guests.
3. Source (s) of marketing and customers:
The offerings of the business would include;
a) Providing legal advice on the possibility of residing in Australia and any other
country of the clients’ choice
b) Collection and submission of appropriate documentation for the proof of a
case
c) Assisting in the obtaining of the necessary documentation needed to reside in a
country legally
d) Client representation in court
e) Offering assistance for tests of citizenship
f) Defending a client having a case of deportation
g) Handling diversity programs, family-sponsored migrants, refugees and
Asylums, employment-based migrant visas and other related cases1.
1 Migration Act 1958 Section 45

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 4
The clients specifically designed for our services would include individual clients,
sports clubs, international students, construction companies, undocumented migrants,
households, corporate organizations, real estate firms, restaurants and hotels, religious
organizations and the government2.
The offerings mentioned above will be achieved through the following strategies of
sales and marketing;
 Advertising the business in the relevant newspapers, television stations,
magazines, and radio stations.
 Introducing the migration business to the aforementioned clients by the use of
introductory letters and the business brochure.
 Attending local and international seminars, business fairs and expos on issues
migration.
 Using the internet in promoting the migration consulting firm.
 Engaging in the approach of direct marketing.
 Joining the commerce and industries local chambers aimed at marketing and
networking of services.
 Encouraging marketing by satisfied and loyal clients by the use of word of
mouth.
4. Financial requirements:
Set up costs:
 The total fee to incorporate the migration agent business in Australia
2 Migration Regulations 1994

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 5
 Cost of providing for office equipment (computers, printers, furniture, software
machines and applications, telephones, fax machines, electronics, safety gadgets,
filing cabins, among others)
 Expenses for marketing promotion and flyer printer for the opening of the
migration consultancy firm
 The cost required to launch the official website of the business
 Budget to pay at least a few employees for a few starting months as well as utility
bills
Operating costs:
 The total cost of paying the insurance policy covers, that is, property casualty,
workers’ compensation and general liability.
 Total cost required to hire a business consultant
 Additional expenditure and miscellaneous such as business cards and
advertisements.
Funding:
For the business to become a reality, we will need finances to establish and run the
business. The business will need start-up capital whose generation will be restricted to the
following sources due to precautionary measures;
 Contributing personal savings by the partners to raise part of the capital
 Intervention by friends and family members for soft loans
 Application for loan from the bank where there will be documents and papers to
be signed and submitted for the approval of the loan and the crediting of the

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 6
account. These documents will include the comprehensive business plan, income
statement, a balance sheet, income tax returns, cash flow statement which states
the period the firm expects to acquire the amount owed by clients, the sales
forecast (future sales estimate), operating budget (projection of income and
expenses) and a credit report which may only be required for a business which
has commenced.
N.B: It is with great pleasure and gratefulness that we wish to state that we have been able to
raise a figure close to $ 65,000 ($ 20,000 raised from soft loans from our friends and family
members and $ 45,000 generated from the personal savings of the partners). Our bank has
also intensely scrutinized our business plan to ascertain its viability and after satisfaction, to
ensure that all documents have been prepared accordingly as required by the standard
practice and procedure. We are currently working on the final mandatory stages after which
we will be able to obtain our loan facility worth $ 130,000.
Our financial analysis is as follows:
ASSETS
Cash $65,000
LIABILITIES
Loan from family and friends $ 20,000
Bank Loan $ 130, 000
Total Liabilities $ 150,000
EQUITY

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 7
Share Capital $ 45,000
Total liabilities and Equity $ 195, 000
5. Risks of Business and Mitigation Strategies:
 Understanding all the obligations of sponsorship3. There should be someone who is
responsible for notification of board appointments in the company and also a
reporting line with the firm’s secretariat. This is because the Department of Migration
and Citizenship may request for some documentation to that effect.
 Managing the wider population of the employees. All the employees of the firm must
have valid work rights. There should be a process for regularly checking the workers’
rights and having records for the same. The management and recruitment teams need
to understand that there are work conditions with limitations4.
 Awareness by the company’s general attorney of the potential liabilities of the
business. Lack of this awareness and non-compliance may expose the business to
significant consequences. The board of directors also need to be informed of the
firm’s potential liabilities.
 Whether the contracts of employment are up to date and whether they have been
recently reviewed. The contracts must have a clause which requires any foreign
employees to make it clear if there is any change regarding the status of their visas.
 The business venture must have practical and sound policies which include regular
training and education for migration compliance. All the employees ought to be
reminded of the potential business exposures.
3 Five key migration risks every business needs to know, (2013) Human Resources Director
4 Migration Agents Regulations 1998, Section 3 B

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 8
6. Development and Improvement of Skills and Knowledge:
 Improving administrative efficiency and effectiveness in planning, controlling,
staffing, budgeting and information management.
 Improving productivity. This may be achieved through the evaluation of the
firm’s production processes to enable the streamlining of the firm’s operations
and elimination of redundancies. This may result to improved facilities,
implementation of technologies, automated processes and proper training of
employees.
 Training members of staff in the business to curtail the language barriers
between the stakeholders and the migrant clients from different parts of the
world as well as providing guidance and advice5.
 Emphasising the interests of the clients and encouraging all the employees to
ensure maximum service delivery and priority to the clients as the clients are
the ultimate employers providing the income for the business.
 Setting aside funds and resources for the training of the company’s employees
and for their welfare in order to improve on employee motivation and
competence.
7. Check List:
 Availability of the business name
 Incorporation of the business
 Opening platforms for online payment
 Opening various corporate bank accounts in Australia
 Making applications for and obtaining identification of a tax payer
 Application for the business permit and license
5 Ling Deng, The aspirations of Chinese business migrants in Australia

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 9
 Carrying out feasibility studies
 Purchasing all insurance forms for the business
 Securing a facility for a standard office, including space for its renovation
 Raising part of the capital for start-up
 Loan application from the bankers
 Writing the business plan
 Drafting documents of contract
 Drafting the employees’ handbook and their recruitment
 Graphic designs, promotional and printing materials
 Creation of business awareness
 Creating the company’s official website
 Creating business relationship with the relevant stakeholders in the industry.

Running head: NAME
STUDENT NUMBER 10
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Legislation
Migration Act 1958
Migration Regulations 1994
Migration Agents Regulations 1998
B. Other
Five key migration risks every business needs to know, (2013) Human Resources Director
https:www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/immigration/138546
Ling Deng, The aspirations of Chinese business migrants in Australia (Migration Institute of
Australia, 2014)