Summary
Introduced with the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Amendment (Rates of Charge) Bill 2017, the bill amends the Migration Act 1958 to: remove legal practitioners from regulation by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA); provide that the time period in which a person can be considered an applicant for repeat registration as a migration agent is set out in delegated legislation; remove the 12-month time limit within which a person must apply for registration following completion of a prescribed course; remove redundant regulatory provisions; enable the MARA to refuse an application to become a registered migration agent where the applicant does not respond to requests for further information; require migration agents to notify the MARA that they have ceased acting on a non-commercial basis and commenced acting on a commercial basis; and ensure that the definitions of ‘immigration assistance’ and ‘immigration representations’ include assisting a person in relation to a request to the minister to revoke a character-related visa refusal or cancellation decision.