Immigration lawyers serve their clients as well as the public good in helping families reconnect as well as delivering economic benefits via skilled and business-related migration, and securing the vulnerable by implementing humanitarian programs.

As an industry Immigration law is moving towards more stringent professional standards as well as greater specialisation and greater oversight. The evolution of the profession has led an 移民 律师 group such as Glenn Ferguson, Vice president of the Queensland Law Society and Immigration Solutions Principal Solicitor Anne O’Donoghue create the Immigration Lawyers Association of Australasia The Immigration Lawyers Association of Australasia ILAA The ILAA

The final result of the adjustments within the field, and the formation of a professional body, will be improved delivery of services to customers.

Professionalism

As with all lawyers attorneys, immigration lawyers must adhere to the minimum standards of professionalism and they must also attend continuing educational (CLE) courses. Specialist immigration lawyers may also undertake specialist accreditation,through specialist accreditation programmes, which have been established by the Law Society of NSW and the Law Institute of Victoria. These programmes have been in existence for a few years and have been extremely successful in raising the standards of professionalism.

It is also in conjunction with the standards set out by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) for continuing professional development (CPD) however there has been recent moves to allow immigration lawyers to cross credit CPD as well as CLE courses.

Legal professionals who represent immigrants must adhere to professional and ethical standards as stipulated by the State legal profession laws, which regulate the legal profession in Australia and in addition to the rules that are contained in MARA’s Code of Conduct

The dual regulatory structure, while sometimes difficult, is able to ensure that the professionalism for immigration lawyers is high, which allows them to provide top quality services to their clients in a confusing area of our legal system.

It is anticipated that the creation by the ILAA will increase the opportunities immigration lawyers can take advantage of for professional growth within their field, as well as creating a new field of practice for lawyers in their early years.

Growing specialisation

Laws governing immigration are a huge and complicated part within the law system. As of now, there are more than 500 legal articles within the Australian Migration Act, as well as an enormous number of cases each year.

With this in mind it has become more difficult for a single lawyer to cover all areas of law relating to migration.

This is why legal firms dealing with immigration are becoming more specialized, and hiring legal professionals to handle various aspects in immigration law including skilled migration, business migration as well as family migration and refugee law, to name a few.

In addition the trend is that it’s becoming more normal for lawyers practicing in general practice to refer immigration matters to an immigration lawyer who is specialized when, for instance the existing clients of the practice is facing an issue with immigration. The practice may not be able to take on the case, but wants to meet the needs of the client. Employing a specialist as a consultant resolves the issue and helps create an environment that is conducive to networking.

Together, this preferential method of working is helping to ensure that those who are undergoing migration get the care they require to navigate Australia’s immigration system.

Superb supervision

In contrast to migration agents, which are solely regulated by the MARA Legal professionals must be registered with the appropriate state authorities for legal matters and also carry professional insurance for indemnity.

This stringent oversight process ensures that lawyers follow the highest standards of service and there is a robust mechanism in place to resolve complaints in the event that they occur.

The outcome of this vigilance and supervision, paired with high professional standards, and an increasing specialisation in immigration law, is that lawyers provide the top-quality services that their clients want.