Someone advertising Australian visa services may display a migration agent registration number, often called a MARN. Do not stop at seeing the number. Check that the person receiving your documents and money is connected to the registered professional named in the official record.
Australia's Department of Home Affairs warns that scam operators may pretend to be registered migration agents, collect money without lodging applications, or provide false information. The useful response is to verify both the professional's status and the relationship behind the approach.
Search the official register
Start with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority, or OMARA. Its register allows searches using an agent's name, MARN and business details. Search for the person, not simply a trading name printed on an advert.
Compare the result with the proposed engagement. If the details do not match, ask for an explanation before sending identity documents. Treat screenshots as information to check against the current register, not substitutes for searching it yourself.
Verify the contact independently
Use independently located contact details to ask the registered agent whether the salesperson, email address and proposed invoice belong to their practice. Do not make that check solely through the same chat account that supplied the number.
For a team or referral arrangement, ask who will advise you, who will submit documents and which business will take payment. A clear written explanation makes it easier to detect a stranger borrowing a professional's identity or an intermediary implying a relationship that does not exist.
Know what the registration check covers
Home Affairs explains that paid immigration assistance provided in Australia must come from a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner. Lawyers are a separate professional category, so absence from the migration-agent register alone does not prove that someone claiming to be a lawyer is fraudulent; verify that claim through the relevant legal regulator.
Registration is also not a promise that a visa will be granted. Ask for the proposed service, fees and responsibilities in writing before engaging anyone.
Keep evidence of the actual application
Agree how you will receive copies of submitted material, official correspondence and application references. A reassuring progress message is difficult to evaluate without a record of what was lodged.
If the genuine professional denies knowing the seller, stop further transfers and preserve the correspondence. Contact Home Affairs through its official help channels about concerns affecting an application, and ask your payment provider promptly about available fraud procedures. Avoid sending more passport copies to the disputed contact while trying to resolve the issue.
Official sources
- Department of Home Affairs: Visa scams
- OMARA: Search registered migration agents
- Department of Home Affairs: Using a migration agent
Sources reviewed on 23 Oct 2026. Requirements can change and depend on your nationality and circumstances. This article is general information, not a personal eligibility assessment.
