Australia's Scam Migration Agents: The Protection Visa Trade

Migration agent fraud in Australia mostly looks like this: someone who is not allowed to give visa advice, or a registered agent who breaks the rules, charges you to lodge an application they know is false, often a protection visa claim that buys a few years on a bridging visa with work rights. In September 2025 the Australian Border Force said it had removed or detained seven "scam agents" who between them facilitated more than 470 protection visa applications, charging clients up to A$1,422,000 "despite knowing they were not asylum seekers and would be refused" (Australian Border Force, 15 September 2025). Home Affairs warns that applicants who knowingly make false claims can face "large fines and possible jail time for up to 10 years." The government's own review in 2023 found that regulation of migration agents "must be strengthened to stop exploitation of the system", and the regulator sanctioned 28 registered agents in 2025-26 alone.

That is the short answer. If an agent has offered you a visa "with work rights while you wait", read this before you sign or pay.

Imagine you are 29, from Kerala or Kuala Lumpur, in Melbourne on a visa that runs out in six weeks. You work in a warehouse and send money home. Your student loan is not paid off. In a Facebook group someone posts: "Visa expiring? We can lodge. Bridging visa with full work rights. 3 to 5 years. Fee $2,500. 100% legal." You message him. He says you do not need to be a refugee. "Everyone does this," he says. "The department takes years."

He sends you a form to sign. Your story in it is not your story.

Three years later, the refusal comes. Then the review is refused. Your record now says you made a false claim for protection. Every future visa officer will see it.

This page explains what the public record shows about Australia's scam agent trade: what Border Force and Home Affairs found, what undercover reporting recorded, what the Nixon Review concluded, who has been sanctioned, and how to check an agent in two minutes.

Key facts about migration agent fraud in Australia

How the protection visa trade works

A protection visa is for people who fear persecution or serious harm at home. Border Force says scam agents push false claims "to secure a bridging visa with work rights" while the claim is processed, and for years processing has been slow. That gap is the product scam agents sell.

The Nixon Review spelled out the incentive. Average processing times for onshore protection visas ranged from 11 months to two years and six months over five years, and "this is motivating bad actors to take advantage by lodging increasing numbers of non-genuine applications for protection" (Nixon Review, March 2023). In 2021-22, 89 percent of onshore protection applications were refused at the first stage. The tribunal's backlog of protection cases grew 340 percent in five years, to 37,025.

Put together the official warnings and undercover recordings, and the same steps appear:

1. The hook. An ad on social media or in a community group, aimed at people whose visas are running out. "Work rights while you wait."
2. The reassurance. You do not need to be a refugee. Everyone does it. The department is slow.
3. The story. The agent prepares claims that do not match your life, sometimes using templated statements reused across many clients.
4. The fee. A few thousand dollars per person. Border Force says the seven agents it caught charged "exorbitant fees" adding up to A$1.42 million.
5. The wait. A bridging visa for months or years, then a refusal, a review and often another refusal.
6. The record. A false protection claim stays on your immigration history.

Home Affairs' Lavinia Mitchell put it plainly: "A Protection visa is for asylum seekers, not for people who just want to stay longer in Australia to work" (ABF, 15 September 2025).

What undercover reporters were offered

In 2022, a joint investigation called Trafficked, by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, 60 Minutes and Stan, recorded migration agents and fixers on hidden cameras (The Age, 31 October 2022).

An undercover reporter "cold-called seven migration agents or migration fixers posing as a prospective applicant. Six of the agents appeared to encourage scamming Australia's migration system." The recordings, as reported by The Age:

• One agent told a reporter posing as a massage worker that she could lodge a protection visa, "even though she had not suggested she was a genuine asylum seeker. The charge was $1800."
• A licensed agent was "taped offering to lodge a false asylum protection visa application for $2500": "apply for a protection visa. And then you can get a bridging visa. A bridging visa can be used for about three years."
• Another registered agent said a protection visa could "help you stay here for another five or 10 years ... and you can use this time to see if you get another opportunity, such as marriage and other stuff."
• A licensed agent offered a student visa where the reporter "could keep working full time and never attend school" for $1,400 for three months, plus "another extra $2000 each year" for a false qualification certificate.
• A consultant suggested that work and family details "could be made up."

Their side. One adviser "denied making the comments before hanging up", and another "could not be reached for comment", The Age reported. The paper also said there was no evidence that the agents it recorded knew about the trafficking syndicate it was investigating. Home Affairs did not comment on individuals and said "there was a comprehensive suite of laws and programs in place to defend the integrity of the visa system."

Months later, the government's review of the visa system was asked to look at the "specific circumstances of issues highlighted in media reports" (Home Affairs).

What the Nixon Review found about migration agents

In January 2023 Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil appointed Christine Nixon, a former Victoria Police chief commissioner, to review exploitation of the visa system. Her report was delivered on 31 March 2023 and released in October 2023. The government agreed in full, in part or in principle with 24 of its 34 recommendations, noted eight and disagreed with two (Home Affairs).

On migration agents, Finding 2 was blunt: "The regulation of registered migration agents must be strengthened to stop exploitation of the system." Among the reasons given in the report:

• Easy entry. "Limited identity and background verification is required when registering to become a migration agent."
• Low fines. Unlawful immigration assistance carried up to 10 years in prison, but the fine was "up to 60 penalty units", then A$16,500. "RMAs may perceive engaging in such illegal activity is low risk, and high reward."
• Agents who lose their registration keep going. "Some bad actors, including those who lose their registration as a migration agent, also operate in Australia as unlawful providers of immigration assistance, using family and business connections through networks of education agents, education providers, and travel agents, onshore and offshore."
• Offshore agents are unregulated. Agents outside Australia do not have to register with OMARA. The report cited a 2002 survey of overseas posts that found "on average, 40 percent of the migration agents they dealt with were unregistered", and recommended extending registration offshore. The government only "noted" that recommendation (The Guardian, 4 October 2023).

That last point matters most if you are applying from home. The agent in your city who promises an Australian visa may be subject to no Australian regulator at all.

What has changed since: sanctions, "front agents" and new rules

The government says it has tripled OMARA's staffing and is using it.

• March 2026. Assistant Minister Julian Hill said 61 registered agents had been sanctioned since 2021-22. One agent lost their registration after 20 years for "knowingly supplying false and misleading information in visa applications and using templated statements that didn't reflect each applicant's individual circumstances", and received a five-year ban. Another NSW agent was suspended for two years after sponsorship costs for a Temporary Skill Shortage visa were "unlawfully passed on to the visa applicant." Four new legislative instruments took effect on 1 April 2026, adding mandatory annual ethics training (Julian Hill, 17 March 2026).
• August 2026. OMARA acted against three "front agent" arrangements, where registered agents let unregistered people use their registration numbers. In one case "hundreds of visa applications" involved undeclared help or help from non-registered staff, and the agent's registration was cancelled. In another, an agent was suspended after admitting his son, who was not registered, had given immigration assistance; the investigation also identified allegations that clients were given "falsified departmental correspondence to create the impression visa applications had been lodged when they hadn't." OMARA's new monitoring team, set up in October 2025, checked 85 agents in 2025-26 and found 43 instances of non-compliance (Julian Hill, 19 August 2026).
• October 2026. In a speech to the National Migration Conference on 2 October, Hill said there is "now a dedicated team to pursue fake agents", and criticised lawyers whose online ads "appear to coach people on how to claim they're bisexual when they're not, or how to convince the department they're being persecuted when they're not, in order to support a protection claim." His message: "if you're taking money from people and unlawfully providing migration advice, Home Affairs will be paying a lot more attention and coming after you" (Region Canberra, 4 October 2026).

Region Canberra's report draws a line between "fake agents", who take money for advice without being registered agents or lawyers, and "scam agents", who advertise immigration services online and take the money without providing the service or lodging anything.

OMARA's own message is short: "These actors will be identified and removed from the profession" (19 August 2026).

Why the applicant carries the risk

It is tempting to see the agent as the only wrongdoer. Australian law does not.

• Home Affairs says: "You are responsible for checking the conditions of the visa you apply for, even if your application is completed and submitted by someone else" (Home Affairs, visa scams page).
• Border Force warns that applicants who "knowingly make false Protection visa claims risk serious fines and potentially long jail terms", up to 10 years (ABF, 15 September 2025).
• Home Affairs lists what can follow immigration fraud through a scam agent: "losing money, having your visa cancelled, be refused entry to Australia, be ineligible for future Australian visas, be banned from returning to Australia, be left stranded or sent back home."

If you were genuinely deceived, for example you paid for a lodgement that never happened, you are a victim, and you should report it. If you knowingly signed a false claim, get independent advice from a registered agent or lawyer before you do anything else. Our guide on declaring a previous visa refusal explains why a refused or false application follows you to other countries too.

How to check a migration agent in Australia

1. Ask for the MARN. Every registered migration agent has a Migration Agent Registration Number. Write it down.
2. Search the register. Look the name and MARN up on OMARA's register of migration agents. Check that the name, business and contact details match the person you are talking to.
3. Check for sanctions. OMARA publishes disciplinary decisions. A caution, suspension or cancellation will show there.
4. Make sure the agent is the one doing the work. The "front agent" cases involved real MARNs used by unregistered staff. Ask who will prepare your application, and insist that the registered agent you checked is the one advising you.
5. For a lawyer, check the law society. Australian legal practitioners are regulated by state and territory law societies, not OMARA.
6. Ask what your claim says, and read it. If the facts in your application are not true, do not sign, whatever the agent says about everyone doing it.
7. Offshore agent? Be extra careful. Agents outside Australia do not need to be registered. If you use one, make sure a registered Australian agent or lawyer is actually handling the application.

Our step-by-step guide to checking a migration agent covers the registers in other countries too.

If the offer is a sponsored job

Some agents sell employer sponsorship rather than protection claims. OMARA suspended one agent after sponsorship costs were passed on to the worker, which is unlawful. If you are asked to pay for a job, a nomination or "sponsorship costs", run the offer through our free checker before you pay. The same trade in the UK is covered in UK care visa sponsorship scams.

Red flags you can check yourself

How to report visa fraud in Australia

• Border Watch (Australian Border Force): report suspected immigration fraud, scam agents or unlawful immigration assistance online. Reports can be anonymous.
• OMARA: complain about a registered migration agent through mara.gov.au.
• The state or territory law society: complain about a lawyer.
• The police, if you lost money.

If you are scared that reporting will hurt your own visa, talk first to a registered agent or a free community legal service. Home Affairs lists specialist refugee and immigration legal services for protection visa applicants.

The honest lesson

The scam agent sells time. A bridging visa with work rights feels like a solution when your visa is about to end. But the time is borrowed against your record, and the bill arrives when the claim is refused.

The honest options are narrower and harder: a genuine visa you actually qualify for, a skills assessment, a sponsor who pays the costs the law says they must pay, or a plan to leave on time and come back the right way. Leaving on time keeps doors open that a false claim closes.

If you are in Australia with a visa ending, see a registered migration agent you have checked yourself. If you are deciding where to go next, our 189 vs 190 guide and the free Australia points calculator show whether a genuine skilled route is open to you.

Frequently asked questions

Is my migration agent registered?

Ask for their Migration Agent Registration Number (MARN) and search it on OMARA's register of migration agents. Check that the name and business match, and look at OMARA's disciplinary decisions. Lawyers are regulated by state and territory law societies, so check a lawyer there instead.

How do I report a migration agent scam in Australia?

Report suspected scam agents and immigration fraud to Border Watch, run by the Australian Border Force; you can stay anonymous. Complain about a registered agent to OMARA, and about a lawyer to the law society. If you lost money, also report it to the police.

Is it illegal to give migration advice without being registered in Australia?

Yes. 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, and penalties apply. The Nixon Review noted unlawful immigration assistance can carry up to 10 years in prison.

What happens if I lodged a false protection visa claim through an agent?

You can face refusal, visa cancellation, future visa bans and, if you knowingly made false claims, fines and up to 10 years in jail, according to Home Affairs and Border Force. Get advice from a registered agent or lawyer you have checked yourself before taking any further step.

How much do scam migration agents charge?

Border Force said seven scam agents charged clients up to A$1,422,000 in total across more than 470 protection applications. In 2022 undercover recordings by The Age captured offers of false protection claims for $1,800 and $2,500, and a fake student visa arrangement for $1,400 per three months.

What is a front agent?

A registered migration agent who lets an unregistered person give immigration advice or lodge applications using the agent's registration number. OMARA cancelled one agent's registration and suspended two others for front agent arrangements in August 2026.

What did the Nixon Review find?

The 2023 Nixon Rapid Review made 34 recommendations from seven findings, including that "the regulation of registered migration agents must be strengthened to stop exploitation of the system." It found limited background checks on new agents, low fines, deregistered agents still operating, and slow protection processing that encouraged non-genuine claims.

Are offshore migration agents regulated by Australia?

No. Agents outside Australia do not have to register with OMARA. The Nixon Review recommended extending registration offshore, but the government only noted that recommendation. If you use an offshore agent, make sure a registered Australian agent or lawyer is the one lodging your application.

Related guides

• How to Check a Migration Agent Is Licensed in Any Country
• Do You Actually Need a Migration Agent? A 7-Factor Test
• Ghost Consultants: The Adviser Whose Name Never Appears
• Notario Fraud: How Fake Immigration Lawyers Get You Deported
• Free job offer scam checker