The OMARA Code of Conduct on advertising, for migration agents

On This Page

1. What prospective clients are told to check
2. Which rules apply
3. What your website and profiles need
4. Advertising fees
5. Testimonials, client stories and grant photos
6. Staff, partners and your MARN
7. Lawyers, education agents and offshore operators
8. How OMARA has enforced it
9. Channels that work inside the rules
10. Can I say this?
11. Your first 90 days
12. Questions I get asked

The Code of Conduct for registered migration agents has only a few lines on advertising, and the Migration Act adds a few more. Together they decide what has to be on your website, your Google profile and every ad, and what can never appear there. Search for the rules and the top result is often the old Code, which stopped applying for conduct from March 2022. This guide covers the current rules in plain English: the MARN duty, the claims you can't make, fees, testimonials and client privacy, staff and partners, lawyers, offshore operators, and how OMARA has enforced it. It's general information, not legal advice.

What prospective clients are told to check

There's no Australian survey of how visa applicants find a migration agent. What there is, is the government's advice to them, which works as a checklist they run over your website. Home Affairs tells people to search the OMARA Register by name, location or MARN, says your agent must give you the Consumer guide, and warns that anyone who says they can fast track or guarantee a visa "is lying and may be trying to scam you". An Australian High Commission campaign tells people to ask for your registration number, your office address and your official website, to avoid agents who use only Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or WhatsApp, to get a written contract and receipts, and to ask for testimonials or references they can verify.

A website that shows the MARN linked to the Register, a real office address, an email on your own domain, a plain explanation of fees and verifiable client stories answers that list point by point. That's also how you stand out from offshore operators who face none of these rules.

Which rules apply

The Code in force is the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021, which started in March 2022. The regulations around it were remade in 2026 (registration, CPD and insurance), but the advertising sections haven't changed since 2022. The Migration Act sets who may give and advertise immigration assistance. The Australian Consumer Law applies to your ads like any business's.

The Migration Act. Only registered migration agents, Australian lawyers and a short list of exempt people may give immigration assistance or charge for it. A person who isn't registered must not represent that they are (section 283) or advertise that they give immigration assistance (section 284), and nobody may advertise that an unregistered person gives it (section 285). That last one binds anyone: your business, a directory, an education agency or a marketing firm.

The MARN duty (Code section 25). Each agent's MARN must appear on their correspondence and business cards. The MARN of at least one registered agent in the business must appear on the business's website, its social media, and any ad for immigration assistance. Your MARN must not be used in a way that suggests someone else's work is yours, and if you find it being misused, you must tell OMARA in writing within 14 days.

The claims rule (Code section 26). You must not make false or misleading statements about your qualifications, "immigration opportunities or risks" or "migration procedure"; say your registration involves "a special or privileged relationship with any government official"; or say you "can procure a particular decision". You must also take reasonable steps to stop anyone in your business, and anyone who publishes an ad about you, from making those statements. Section 15 adds a general ban on false or misleading statements.

The old Code spelt out examples that still show what section 26 catches: "guaranteeing the success of an application", "priority processing", and phrases like "Australian Government registered" or "Department registered". The current Code dropped the examples but kept the substance.

What your website and profiles need

Tick these off as you check your site; the list remembers your progress on this device.

Your website address is shown on the public Register, so a new domain or business name counts as a change to tell OMARA about. A footer that matches your Register entry exactly, with the MARN linked to the Register, is the most useful single thing on a migration agent's site.

Advertising fees

Nothing in the Act or the Code bans advertising your fees. The Code lets you charge a fixed fee, or an hourly rate with a reasonable estimate of the time, including GST, and either must be "fair and reasonable". Disbursements are listed separately in the service agreement. The consumer law expects an advertised price not to mislead about the total. So a fee line like "Partner visa: fixed professional fee, including GST; government charges and third-party costs are separate" works, as long as it's the fee the agreement will state.

Two limits matter online. You can't take money for immigration assistance before a signed service agreement is in force, so a "buy your visa package now" checkout that takes the full fee breaks the Code; the only exception is a fee for the first consultation. And that first consultation can be free or charged, but a charge must be reasonable, and you must tell the person your MARN.

On the example figures, a fixed fee of $3,300 plus $200 of translations comes to $3,500 before government charges. The hourly version, 10 hours at $250 plus GST, is $2,750. If you quote hourly, the Code says you can't charge more than the estimate without exceptional circumstances, a new written estimate and the client's agreement, so say that too.

Testimonials, client stories and grant photos

The Code has no testimonial rule. What governs them is confidentiality: you must not disclose any personal information about a client or their affairs "without the client's written consent". A visa grant notice carries a name, date of birth, visa subclass and grant number, so posting one, even blurred, needs written consent that names that exact use. A run of "visa approved" posts can also mislead about immigration opportunities if it implies everyone gets a grant.

Done properly, testimonials are a strength: the High Commission tells people to ask for testimonials they can verify. Get written consent naming the platform and what you'll show, keep them genuine, and leave out anything you don't need. For Google reviews, ask every client the same way when the matter closes, with no incentive. When you reply, never confirm visa details or history; "We're sorry to hear this; please contact our office" is the safe pattern.

Staff, partners and your MARN

For the Code, your business includes employees, contractors and volunteers, so the person who runs your Facebook page is covered. Answering a specific person's visa situation in a Facebook or WeChat group can be immigration assistance, which needs a service agreement and the Consumer guide first. OMARA's guidance is that generic answers, such as how many points a visa needs, are fine; move specific cases to an initial consultation.

Never let an education agency or anyone else use your MARN on their ads. The Code's explanatory statement names exactly that, an agent letting their MARN be used "for commission", as what the MARN duty prevents. Search your MARN and business name now and then, and check what partners, directories and community newspapers say about you, because ads others publish about you are your responsibility to check.

If a referral partner pays you a commission, for example a college paying for students you refer, the Code requires written disclosure to the client of who pays and how much before you act. "Free visa help" funded that way needs it.

Lawyers, education agents and offshore operators

Lawyers with a practising certificate can give and advertise immigration assistance "in connection with legal practice" without registering. The Code doesn't bind them; the Solicitors' Conduct Rules and the consumer law do. A lawyer who isn't registered must not call themselves a registered migration agent or keep advertising an old MARN, and "Accredited Specialist, Immigration Law" is only for lawyers accredited by a law society scheme.

Education agents who aren't registered or lawyers can't give immigration assistance, and OMARA says so plainly. In Australia, an education agency advertising "visa services" is advertising immigration assistance.

Offshore, Home Affairs has said the Act's rules on unregistered assistance don't reach operators outside Australia. Registered agents working offshore are still bound by the Code, staff included.

How OMARA has enforced it

Advertising usually sits inside a bigger case, but not always. OMARA's published decisions include a caution for "misleading statements in the promotion of her business"; a suspension where an agent's employer published a false ad about her credentials and she hadn't taken steps to stop it; cancellations where agents ran false or misleading websites or internet ads, one of which "implied the existence of a relationship with the Department"; and cancellations and suspensions over agents who let their MARN be misused or lost control of it. OMARA has also set up a compliance and monitoring section.

Channels that work inside the rules

Google Business Profile. Your real business name only, with no "Visa Agent Sydney" keywords or MARN in the name. A virtual office isn't eligible. Put the MARN in the description. My guide to local SEO for small businesses covers the setup.

Google Ads. Google restricts ads for directly obtaining government documents, including tourist and student visas, and adds "Not a government website" to search ads in those categories. Advice on partner, skilled or employer-sponsored visas is consultancy; if an ad is wrongly caught, Google lets you apply for an exclusion. The ad needs a MARN too. My guide to what Google Ads cost covers budgets.

Ads in other languages. The same MARN and the same care. A claim that's careful in English and a guarantee in another language is still a breach.

Content. General visa news and explainers aren't immigration assistance, but the accuracy duty applies, so out-of-date posts about changed rules can become misleading. Write without dates and prune old news. "Apply now before the rules change" is a statement about immigration risks: make sure it's true. If you use AI for content or a chatbot, OMARA says you remain responsible for what it says, and putting client details into AI tools may breach confidentiality.

Can I say this?

Tap a card to see the verdict.

Your first 90 days

Weeks 1 and 2: audit. List everywhere your business appears: website, profiles, Google, directories, partner sites and ads. Add a MARN to each, and each agent's MARN to their email signature. Remove guarantee, fast-track and "government registered" wording and any government crest. Relabel support staff. Search your MARN and business name for misuse.

Weeks 3 and 4: match the Register. Make your website, business name, address, phone and email identical to your Register entry, notify any material change, and link the MARN to the Register search.

Month 2: fees, proof and reviews. Publish a fees page and a "how we work" section. Build a written consent form for testimonials and collect a few genuine ones. Start asking every finished client for a Google review, and write a reply template that never confirms client details. Fix your Google profile.

Month 3: channels. Translate key pages with the same MARN and the same care, linking the Consumer guide in those languages. Write a social media rule for staff. Check any Google Ads against the government documents policy. Diary a quarterly check of every listing and every ad others run about you.

Questions I get asked

What is the OMARA Code of Conduct?

The Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021, the rules every registered migration agent must follow. It covers honesty, competence, service agreements, fees, confidentiality and advertising, and OMARA can caution, suspend or cancel an agent who breaches it.

Does my MARN have to be on my website?

The MARN of at least one registered agent in the business must be on the website, the business's social media and every ad. Each agent's own MARN must be on their correspondence and business cards.

Can I advertise my fees?

Yes. Fixed fees and hourly rates are allowed, including GST, and must be fair and reasonable. Show government charges and third-party costs as separate, and don't take payment before a signed service agreement, other than a first-consultation fee.

Can I use client testimonials?

Yes, with the client's written consent and if they're genuine. The Code's confidentiality duty covers any personal information about a client, including grant notices.

Did the advertising rules change in 2026?

No. The regulations around the Code were remade, but the Code's advertising sections are the same as when it started in 2022.

Can I say "Government registered"?

No. It implies a special relationship with the Department, which the Code bans. Say "registered migration agent" with your MARN.