Turner Coulson are both registered migration agents and immigration lawyers. We have over 30 years experience in advising on and preparing visa applications of all kinds. We have helped thousands of people achieve their Australian visa and migration goals applying our legal and processing skills and knowledge to each Australian visa application to ensure each application is properly prepared, lodged and managed through to a decision.

If any single criterion for grant of a visa is not satisfied, then the visa application cannot succeed. Australian migration law is very complex and visas are regularly refused where people do the work themselves or a registered migration agent is used that does not have the necessary experience and knowledge. Visas are often cancelled also where an applicant or agent in an application has provided incorrect information or failed to disclose matters that are relevant and critical to the outcome.

There is a misconception that as expert Australian migration lawyers and migration agents, we are necessarily more expensive then other migration agents who, are not lawyers and do not have a legal background or legal training. This is not correct on many levels particularly where applications are poorly prepared, visas refused or cancelled and having to be fixed on appeal to the AAT if at all possible. Often applications can’t be fixed , relodged or successfully appealed and in these cases, lives ruined and the associated cost to this is incalculable. Further, if you have lodged a visa appeal, having your case prepared and argued according to the law and your circumstances is the only chance you have of turning around an Australian visa refusal or Australian visa cancellation. Therefore, getting the right advise and getting the visa done right first time is critical.

To register as a migration agent, historically a person only needed 4 days of legal training and no formal qualification of any kind. Now, all that is required if you are not already a solicitor, is completion of a 6 months graduate certificate in Australian Migration Law and a Tertiary qualification of any kind regardless of relevance, and evidence of a basic level of English language competence. As Australian migration law is one of the few areas of semi-deregulation; that is where people can give legal advice without being lawyers, the risks of getting poor, incorrect or partial advice is higher.

Also when comparing prices between us and other migration agents and lawyers you will need to consider if there any real price difference over the period of the application for the Australian visa or visa refusal. We will discuss your case on the phone first to give you some views on the way forward and indication of price, and at our initial consultation, advise you in detail of our view of our strategy, advise of our professional fees, fix our fee and do not find hidden or additional charges. To us a fixed fee means a fixed fee. So call us or a quote or 2nd opinion to compare and be sure you are getting the best deal and the best service.

A 2nd opinion is always a good idea when seeking legal advice rather than finding the cheapest Australian migration agent to complete your work, as often there is a relationship between price and quality. Putting your family’s and your future in an Australian migration agent or migration lawyer’s hands may be the most important decision of your life. Turner Coulson are unique as migration agents and lawyers as we are happy to have a free preliminary phone discussion to identify your issues, consider some strategies and advise if we think we can help and how we can do that.