How we work

From the first conversation to lodgement

What happens once you contact us, in the order it happens: what to bring, how costs are set out in writing, who does the work and how you are kept informed.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

Last updated: 23 September 2026

Most people who contact us are part way through something already — a decision letter, a request for more documents, a form started and put down more than once. This page sets out what an engagement involves, so you know what you are agreeing to before you agree to it.

My Visa Lawyer is an informational website about Australian immigration law. Much of what follows is set by the Legal Profession Uniform Law and the conduct rules for solicitors in New South Wales.

The first conversation

We start with where you are up to: what you have applied for or want to apply for, what the Department of Home Affairs has said so far, and whether any date is running against you.

If you have had a visa refused or cancelled, say so at the outset. Review time limits are strict, the limit that applies to you is stated in the decision record you were given, and in migration matters the Administrative Review Tribunal has no power to extend it.

You do not need your documents organised. Bring what you have.

Your passport, and passports for anyone else to be included
Any decision letter, cancellation notice or request for further information
Your most recent visa grant notice, or the reference number of an application already lodged
The dates that matter: when you arrived, when your current visa ends, when you were notified
Anything you have already sent the Department

If a deadline is close, say so when you first make contact rather than waiting for an appointment. See visa refusals and cancellations and the first days after a refusal.

The conflict check

Before a law practice can act for you it has to check whether it is able to. It cannot act where its duty to you would conflict with a duty owed to another client or with its own interests. In immigration matters that comes up often: a sponsor and an applicant, or two family members whose accounts of the same relationship may not match.

So expect to be asked who else is involved, and asked early. Usually nothing turns on it. Where a conflict does exist you should be told, and told what the options are. What you say during that check is confidential whether or not you go on to engage the firm.

Costs, in writing, before work starts

Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law a law practice must tell you in writing, at the outset, how its legal costs will be calculated and what it estimates the total will be. The disclosure has to set out your rights as well. A costs agreement is a separate document, and you do not have to sign one the day it is put in front of you.

We do not publish fees on this website. Cost depends on the visa, the complexity of your history and how much of the work you do yourself, so a number published here would tell you nothing reliable about your own matter. Ask, and it comes to you in writing.

Who does the work

Your matter is handled by a solicitor of Jameson Law. Ask who has carriage of your file and who to contact about it. You are entitled to know.

An Australian legal practitioner holding an unrestricted practising certificate may give immigration assistance without being a registered migration agent. That has been the position since 22 March 2021, when such practitioners were removed from the register kept by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. A lawyer advising you on a visa matter will not have a migration agent registration number and does not need one.

Where we deal with the Department for you, we are appointed on the Department’s form 956, which covers appointing a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person. You can withdraw that appointment at any time.

Documents and confidentiality

Ask where to send documents and in what form before you send anything. Do not post originals unless you are asked for them: a clear scan or certified copy is usually what is needed, and a passport is hard to replace. Documents not in English generally need a translation, so ask which ones before paying for any.

Your material is held by the law practice under Australian privacy law and the solicitor’s duty of confidentiality. Our privacy policy explains what is collected and how it is stored.

How we keep you informed

A solicitor’s duty is to keep you informed about the progress of your matter, in writing where that is practical. So expect to be told what has been lodged, when, what the next step is, and what the Department has written about you. If you have not heard for a while, ask. A progress report needs no reason.

We do not publish processing times. The Department publishes an indicative processing time for each visa and updates it, so check it on the Department’s visa processing times page rather than relying on a figure from anywhere else. If you would rather the Department wrote to us instead of to you, that is a separate appointment as an authorised recipient.

What we will not do

Three things we will not do, whatever you ask.

Guarantee an outcome. The decision belongs to the Department, or on review to the Tribunal. Anyone who promises you a grant is telling you something they cannot know.
Keep a poor prospect to ourselves. A solicitor's duty is to advise you on your options and the best course open to you. That includes saying when an application has very little prospect, and giving the reasons. You may still decide to proceed. What matters is that the decision is yours and informed.
Advise you to give the Department anything untrue. Not a document, not a date, not an account of a relationship. False or misleading information and bogus documents can lead to refusal, cancellation, a bar on later applications and criminal liability under the Migration Act 1958. It is also something a solicitor cannot be party to.

If there is a gap or a difficulty in your history, deal with it openly. That is almost always a stronger position than hoping it goes unnoticed.

If you are not happy

Tell us first. Most problems are about what was expected rather than what was done, and they are easier to fix early. Our complaints page sets out how to raise one. A complaint about a solicitor, or a dispute about a bill, can also go to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner, which is independent of the firm.