How to check a migration agent is registered

You can check whether someone is a registered migration agent by searching the public Register run by the OMARA. Lawyers are checked in a different place.

Search the Register of Migration Agents, which is run by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). The Register can be searched by name, by migration agent registration number (MARN) or by location. If a correct search finds nobody, the OMARA's own guide says the person is not registered with the OMARA.

Registration matters because of what the law says about who may help. Under the Migration Act, a person who is not a registered migration agent must not give immigration assistance, unless an exception applies. Lawyers are one exception, and they are checked differently (see below). For the wider picture, read migration agent vs migration lawyer.

Searching the Register

The OMARA search form takes an agent's given name, family name, MARN, business name, or business location (country, state, suburb or postcode). There is also a tick-box for agents who work for non-commercial organisations.

Home Affairs says the Register includes agents working outside Australia, so a search by location is not limited to local agents.

Ask the person for their full name and MARN before you search.
Search by MARN first, then by name, and compare the two results.
Check that the business name and location match the people you are dealing with.
Keep a note or screenshot of what you found and the date.

Source: OMARA, Search the Register of Migration Agents (checked 16 October 2026)

Check even if someone recommends the agent

The OMARA tells consumers: "Even if someone recommends a migration agent to you, always check the Register of migration agents to make sure the person is a registered migration agent." It warns that people pretend to be registered agents, both in Australia and overseas.

Registered agents have a duty to make their number easy to find. The Code of Conduct requires an agent's MARN to appear on their correspondence and business cards. A business's website, social media and advertising must show the MARN of at least one registered agent in the business. At a first consultation held without a service agreement, the agent must tell you their MARN. A missing number is a reason to ask questions, and the questions to ask before hiring a migration agent page lists them.

Source: Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021, ss 25 and 43 (checked 16 October 2026)

What a disciplinary note means

The OMARA can caution an agent, suspend or cancel their registration, or bar them from being registered for up to 5 years. Agents who have been cautioned or suspended stay on the Register with a note of the decision. Agents who have been cancelled or barred are removed.

So an agent who appears on the Register may still carry a note, and an agent who has been removed will not appear at all. The OMARA also publishes disciplinary decisions on its portal. We could not confirm which fields an individual Register record shows, so go by the live record itself.

Source: OMARA, Complaint outcomes (checked 16 October 2026)

Checking a lawyer instead

A lawyer may give immigration assistance without being a registered migration agent. The OMARA's guide says that, as a result, lawyers do not appear on the Register, and the Act requires the OMARA to cancel the registration of an agent who is an unrestricted legal practitioner. Home Affairs says a legal practitioner is a lawyer who holds an Australian legal practising certificate granted under a state or territory law. To check a lawyer, use the legal professional body or regulator in the state or territory where they practise.

Home Affairs points people to the Law Council of Australia's immigration lawyers directory and to state and territory professional bodies. This site does not recommend any individual or firm, and neither does the ART.

Source: Home Affairs, Using a legal practitioner (checked 16 October 2026)

If someone charges without being registered

Home Affairs says it is illegal for a third party to provide paid immigration assistance unless they are a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner. Suspected unregistered operators can be reported to Border Watch, and suspected scams to Scamwatch, which is run by the ACCC.

If you are dealing with a refusal or cancellation, keep in mind that the review time limit does not pause while you check someone out. Your decision letter states your own time limit and review rights; the 28-day deadline explains the general rule. Nothing here is legal advice or immigration assistance.

Source: Home Affairs, Visa scams and Reporting visa scams (checked 16 October 2026)