Restriction on charging fees for immigration representations
282 Restriction on charging fees for immigration representations
Subject to subsection (2A), a person who is not a registered migration agent must not ask for or receive any fee or other reward for making immigration representations.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
Subject to subsection (2A), a person must not ask for or receive any fee or other reward for the making of immigration representations by another person who is not a registered migration agent.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
This section does not prohibit:
an Australian legal practitioner from asking for or receiving a fee or other reward for making immigration representations in connection with legal practice; or
a person from asking for or receiving a fee or other reward for the making of immigration representations by an Australian legal practitioner in connection with legal practice.
A person is not entitled to sue for, recover or set off any fee or other reward that the person must not ask for or receive because of subsection (1).
For the purposes of this section, a person makes immigration representations if he or she makes representations to, or otherwise communicates with, the Minister, a member of the Minister’s staff or the Department:
on behalf of a visa applicant about the application for the visa; or
on behalf of a cancellation review applicant about the cancellation review application; or
on behalf of a person nominating (or seeking to nominate) a visa applicant for the purposes of the regulations, about the nomination; or
on behalf of a person sponsoring (or seeking to sponsor) a visa applicant for the purposes of the regulations, about the sponsorship; or
on behalf of a person who has made (or is proposing to make) a request to the Minister to exercise his or her power under section 351 or 501J in respect of a decision (whether or not the decision relates to that person), about the request; or
on behalf of a person who has made (or is proposing to make) a request to the Minister to exercise a power under section 195A, 197AB or 197AD (whether or not the exercise of the power would relate to the other person), about the request; or
on behalf of a person who has made (or is proposing to make) a representation to the Minister to exercise a power under subsection 501C(4) to revoke a decision to refuse to grant, or to cancel, a visa (whether or not the decision relates to that person); or
on behalf of a person who has made (or is proposing to make) a representation to the Minister to exercise a power under subsection 501CA(4) to revoke a decision to cancel a visa (whether or not the decision relates to that person).
A person does not make immigration representations in the circumstances prescribed by the regulations.
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