If you have ever Googled "Australian visa help" you will know the search results are crowded. Anyone with a webpage can call themselves an "immigration consultant." Only some of them are actually allowed to give you advice. Australia is one of the few countries in the world that licenses migration assistance, and understanding that licence is the single most useful piece of consumer protection you have when choosing who to work with.
What MARN actually is
MARN stands for Migration Agents Registration Number. It is issued by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA), a Commonwealth body that sits inside the Department of Home Affairs. To get a MARN, a person has to hold a Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law and Practice, pass a Capstone assessment, hold professional indemnity insurance, complete annual continuing professional development, and be subject to a binding Code of Conduct that the OMARA can enforce with sanctions up to and including cancellation.
If you are paying someone for migration advice in Australia and they cannot give you a MARN, walk away. It is a criminal offence under section 280 of the Migration Act 1958 for an unregistered person to give immigration assistance for a fee.
What a registered agent is allowed to do
Under the Code, a registered agent can: assess your eligibility for any visa subclass; prepare and lodge applications on your behalf; communicate with the Department on your behalf (so you are not personally arguing with caseworkers); represent you at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in a merits review; and prepare submissions for ministerial intervention.
What they are not allowed to do is just as important. An agent cannot guarantee an outcome. Cannot pressure you into signing an engagement on the spot. Cannot withhold your documents if you decide to leave. Cannot ask you to sign blank forms. Cannot let unqualified staff prepare your application without supervision. Every one of those is a Code breach that the OMARA will act on.
Three questions worth asking before you engage anyone
1. What is your MARN, and may I see your Code of Conduct? Both are public information. The full agent register is searchable at mara.gov.au. If they hesitate, that is your answer.
2. Who, specifically, will be working on my file? Migration is detailed work. You want to know whether the named agent prepares the application themselves or hands it to junior staff. There is nothing wrong with the latter provided the agent reviews everything and signs off.
3. What happens if my application is refused? A good agent will give you a candid view of the risks before you lodge, and will tell you whether appeal rights would be available if things go sideways. Vague reassurance is a warning sign.
How we work
At Connect Australia your matter is handled by the same registered migration agent from the initial consultation through to the decision and, if required, any appeal. Not a sales team. Not a junior. The conversation about whether we are the right fit happens in the first fifteen minutes, free of charge — and if we are not the right fit, we will tell you so.