Migration agent fees in Australia: what the rules say

The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) does not set fixed fees for registered migration agents. Instead, the rules require that a registered migration agent’s fees be fair and reasonable, and the factors that can affect the fee are set out in the official guidance. The fee you are quoted will depend on the type of visa, the time needed to prepare the application, the services you require, whether you need extra help, whether your case is complex, and the agent’s experience. Before you pay anything, you should confirm the fee in writing and check that the person you are dealing with is registered.

Where the fee rules come from

The authority that regulates migration agents in Australia is the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority, usually referred to as OMARA. Its published guidance states that a registered migration agent’s fees must be fair and reasonable, and that the rules for fees are contained in the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is the document that sets out the professional standards a registered migration agent must follow, and it is the source of the requirement that fees be fair and reasonable.

OMARA does not publish a schedule of maximum or minimum fees. It does not state what an agent may charge for a particular visa category, and it does not publish average fees. If you are comparing quotes, you are comparing the individual agent’s own pricing, not a regulated tariff.

What determines the fee you are quoted

The official guidance lists the factors that a registered migration agent’s fees depend on. These are the factors you can expect an agent to take into account when quoting a fee:

Factor	What it means in practice
The type of visa you are applying for	Different visa categories involve different amounts of work and different requirements
The amount of time it will take to prepare your visa application	The more preparation work, the higher the fee is likely to be
The services you need	Whether you need help with the application only, or with other matters
Whether you need extra help	Additional assistance beyond the standard service
Whether you have a complex case	For example, if you have other people listed on your application
The registered migration agent’s experience	More experienced agents may charge more

This list is not exhaustive in the sense that it describes the factors an agent may consider, but it is the list published by OMARA. The guidance does not say how much weight each factor carries, and it does not state what a reasonable fee is for any specific scenario.

Initial consultations and fees

A registered migration agent may ask to meet with you in person, by telephone, or by video call before they give you a contract. This meeting is called an initial consultation. In the initial consultation, the agent will give you general information and answer your questions.

Some registered migration agents do this for free, and others charge a fee. If an agent charges a fee for an initial consultation, the official guidance says you should ask them to give you information about the fee in writing. This is a practical step: it gives you a record of what you have been quoted before you commit to anything.

The guidance does not state a maximum or minimum fee for an initial consultation, and it does not say how often agents charge for one. It simply sets out that the practice varies and that you should ask for the fee in writing if one is charged.

How to check an agent is registered before you pay

Before you engage an agent, you can verify their registration through the OMARA website. The official guidance describes a search function that you can use from the home page, following the link labelled “Search for a registered agent”.

The search screen allows you to enter information about the agent you are looking for. You do not need to complete every field; you only need to complete the fields relevant to your search. The search fields are:

• Agent’s given name
• Agent’s family name
• Migration Agent Registration Number (MARN)
• Business name
• Business location (country, state, suburb, or postcode)
• A filter for voluntary organisations only

Each registered migration agent is issued a unique Migration Agent Registration Number, known as a MARN. If you know the agent’s MARN, you can enter it in the search field, and the guidance notes that there is no need to complete any other search fields in that case.

The search results will show whether the agent appears in the register. If your preferred agent does not appear in the search results, the official guidance states that this means the agent is not registered and is not able to provide immigration assistance in Australia. This is a significant point: an unregistered person cannot lawfully provide immigration assistance, and you should not rely on them for advice or assistance with a visa application.

Voluntary organisations and the limits of free help

The search function includes an option to show only agents who work for a voluntary organisation. The official guidance is clear that help from voluntary organisations is not available to everyone; you are required to meet certain criteria to enable engaging the services of an agent working for a voluntary organisation. The guidance does not set out those criteria in the pages quoted here, and it directs you to the OMARA website for further information on the types of registered agents.

If you are considering help from a voluntary organisation, you should check the criteria before assuming you are eligible. The official guidance does not state what the criteria are, so you will need to read the relevant page on the OMARA website before you rely on this option.

What OMARA does not tell you

It is worth being clear about the limits of the official guidance. OMARA does not publish:

• A schedule of fees for different visa types
• Average fees charged by registered migration agents
• A maximum fee for an initial consultation
• A formula for calculating a fair and reasonable fee
• The criteria for eligibility for voluntary organisation assistance

Where the guidance does not give you a number, you should not assume one. If you are comparing quotes, you will need to ask each agent for a written quote and compare them yourself. The official guidance does not state what a reasonable fee is for any particular case, and no one can tell you that from the published rules alone.

What to do next

If you are choosing a registered migration agent, the practical steps are straightforward:

1. Use the OMARA search function to confirm the agent is registered and note their MARN.
2. Ask for information about fees in writing, including any fee for an initial consultation.
3. Ask the agent to explain what services the fee covers and what it does not cover.
4. If you are considering a voluntary organisation, check the eligibility criteria on the OMARA website before relying on that option.

Before you pay any fee, verify that the person you are dealing with appears in the register. The official guidance is clear that an agent who does not appear in the search results is not registered and cannot provide immigration assistance in Australia. If you have any doubt about the fee you have been quoted, ask for it in writing and compare it with the factors listed in the guidance. The official guidance does not set a price, but it does require that the fee be fair and reasonable, and it gives you the tools to check the agent’s registration before you commit.