Practitioners may no longer be required to be registered as migration agents from 1 July 2018 under proposed changes.
According to Dr. Lydia Wells from Murdoch University, these ‘…upcoming changes to the registration regime will bring opportunities for lawyers to enter this practice area…’.
In her article No longer a ‘migration agent,’ in the October 2017 issue of Brief, the journal for The Law Society of Western Australia, Dr. Wells also mentioned the potential risks of entering this dynamic and interesting area of law.
Given that immigration law is constantly changing and the Migration Act 1958 (Cwlth) is extremely complex with over 500 sections, practitioners would be advised not to enter immigration practice lightly Dr. Wells said.
If you are contemplating providing immigration assistance to clients, there are a number of risk management issues to consider. The level of risk will depend on your familiarity with this area of law. Generally, practitioners should exercise extra caution when a matter moves into unfamiliar territory beyond their expertise. For more information about this issue see the LPLC blog Know the boundary between expertise and dabbling.
One risk management tip to think about is additional training and Dr. Wells refers to the Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law and Practice at Murdoch University in her article. Another is to make use of the materials on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website.
You might also be interested in the LPLC blog Migration lawyers and risk management.
