Immigration lawyers in Sydney, Australia

Our firm’s principal is an accredited specialist in immigration law. Practitioners with this designation are considered experts in their field.
Our team of Sydney immigration lawyers have over 30 years experience helping people and businesses successfully achieve their visa and migration goals. Our dedicated immigration law team in Sydney will work hard for you and will give your matter the attention it deserves.

Our experienced immigration lawyers and migration agents can help you in all areas, including:
● Family migration including partners, parents and carer visas● Employer sponsored migration/457 work visas● Student visas● Complex tourist visas● Refugee visas● Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews● Ministerial intervention requests● Transition to permanent residency● Applying for Australian citizenship● Sports visas● Religious visas● Character issues● Unlawful issues● Breach of visa conditions
We are a leading Sydney immigration law firm and have helped hundreds of people obtain visas to work, live and study in Australia.
Our experienced team of Sydney immigration lawyers and migration agents can assist you with your application process, advise you on your visa options, and review your visa application to the Department of Immigration.
If your visa application has been refused or cancelled our experienced team of Sydney immigration lawyers can advise on whether to have it reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and prepare supporting submissions and representation.

Immigration lawyer Parramatta – support for businesses and individuals

Situated in Parramatta in Western Sydney’s growth corridor, we provide support for local businesses and CBD headquartered organisations expanding into Western Sydney that need additional on-the-ground assistance with immigration services and visa advice.

Why work with a Sydney immigration lawyer?

Foreigners seeking employment in Australia face a much tougher visa regime following the government’s decision to replace the 457 temporary work visa program with two new visa classes which include more rigorous requirements around work experience, English language proficiency and labour market testing.
It is more important than ever to seek advice from an experienced business visa and corporate immigration lawyer with the government constantly changing the rules in this area. Our team of immigration lawyers in Parramatta are on top of all the latest changes and how they affect your application.
Our hard working immigration law team in Sydney will always be transparent about your chances of success.

Immigration lawyer Parramatta – helping businesses get on the front foot

Our Sydney immigration lawyers have confirmed that those hardest hit by the recent work visa changes are people with applications currently in for 457 visas whose occupation has been removed completely from the occupation list, in effect denying them the opportunity to be granted a 457 visa and transition to permanent residency.If you find yourself in this position our immigration lawyers in Parramatta can advise you of your options and help you get back on track.
The changes also affect employers who were banking on securing employees for a period of four years which would allow them to then focus on developing their business.Contact our team of immigration lawyers in Sydney if you need advice on how these changes may impact your operations and plans.

More Australian visa changes to come

A lot of the detail is still missing with regards to new visa classes and more changes are expected so it is worthwhile consulting our experienced immigration lawyers in Sydney before embarking on the expensive undertaking of migrating to Australia or sponsoring an overseas worker.

Partnering with Sydney criminal lawyers – s501 visa cancellation

Our team of Sydney immigration lawyers have developed a partnership with criminal lawyers whose clients have had their visa cancelled due to a criminal conviction (Section 501). This area of immigration law is highly specialised and can be fraught with danger for practitioners that don’t deal with it day-in and day-out. We have successfully had a number of these mandatory cancellations revoked. Our team of immigration lawyers and migration agents in Parramatta work hand-in-hand with criminal lawyers to assist their client’s in this technical area of migration law.

Student visa lawyers and migration agents Sydney

Our immigration lawyers in Sydney have witnessed an increase in student visa applicants from countries previously thought of as “low risk” being refused.This includes European passport holders.
We have handled a number of recent cases where the Australian government has used its Genuine Temporary Entrant policy to refuse student visa extensions on the basis that applicants were assessed as not being genuine students.
Our team of skilled Sydney immigration lawyers have had several of these refusals overturned on review at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
If you have been refused or think the Genuine Temporary Entrant criteria could result in your next visa applications refusal get in touch with us today.

What does an immigration Lawyer do? / Why do I need an Immigration Lawyer?

An immigration lawyer is a qualified solicitor that holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and is admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of NSW. A migration lawyer has legal education in all areas of law and holds a Legal Practitioners Number from the Department of Home Affairs.
An immigration lawyer is able to provide a range of services such as processing your visa application and facilitating any requests made by the Department of Home Affairs in regard to your application(s), similar to a migration agent.
In addition to these services an immigration lawyer can assist you with court appeals and more complex migration issues that a migration agent would not be experienced or qualified enough to handle.
This includes dealing with visa cancellations/refusals and character issues. A migration agent is able to assist you should you need to seek appeal from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) but cannot go beyond this point for an appeal. If you wish to appeal your matter before a court, you will need a migration solicitor to do so. A migration agent will be trained in all areas of law including migration and will therefore be better equipped to serve your interests and needs before the AAT and a court if needed.

How much does an immigration lawyer cost in Sydney?

The cost of an immigration lawyer will differ greatly depending on a number of factors including:
● The number of applications you wish to process● The type of application and its complexity ● The experience and individual rates of the immigration lawyer● The additional cost of any AAT or court appeals
The cost of your immigration lawyer would be in addition to the base fee you would usually pay for you visa application to the Department of Home Affairs. Government processing fees can be as little as $315 for a Training visa (subclass 407) or as high as $7,850 for Partner visa (subclass 309/100).

Can an Immigration Lawyer speed up the process in Sydney?

An immigration lawyer will not be able to speed up the process of applying for a visa as this is subject to processing times laid out by the Department of Home Affairs.
An Immigration Lawyer can however greatly reduce any delays brought about by some of the following circumstances:
● You have not answered all application prompts correctly or at all● You have not provided the Department all necessary documents● You have not responded the Department’s request for further information or more documents

Is a migration agent necessary in Sydney

Whilst visa applications can be completed and submitted on your own, it is highly recommended that you seek professional help when completing these applications as completing them incorrectly can lead to lengthy delays.

Our Migration Team at Alan Rigas Solicitors hold specialist accreditation in Migration Law from the Law Society of NSW and are ready to help you with all your migration needs.