You have passed the Capstone, you are listed on the register, and you are ready to stop working for someone else. Congratulations — but a registration number is not a practice. Setting up your own migration agency means standing up the legal, financial, software and client-acquisition scaffolding that lets you deliver immigration assistance safely and profitably from day one. This is the practical setup checklist for a newly registered agent launching in 2026, sequenced roughly in the order you will need each piece.
A note on timing before we start: the Migration Agents Regulations 2026 commenced on 1 April 2026, replacing the long-standing 1998 Regulations. The substance of the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021 — in force since 1 March 2022 — continues to govern how you must conduct your practice. Treat the OMARA and Department of Home Affairs websites as your source of truth, and confirm any specific figure or fee before you rely on it.
1. Confirm your registration is launch-ready
Being on the register is the baseline, not the finish line. Before you take a single client, make sure your status supports a commercial practice:
- Commercial registration. If you intend to charge fees, you must hold a commercial registration. Under the 2026 Regulations the line between commercial and non-commercial registration has been tightened — a non-commercial agent may only assist on a genuinely non-commercial basis. Confirm your category matches your intended fee-charging model.
- CPD obligations. Continuing Professional Development continues each registration year, and from 1 April 2026 the framework places more weight on ethics and Code of Conduct refresher training — including a mandatory CPD activity on ethical standards and one on the Code of Conduct — and tightens the cap on how many CPD points you can earn from online activities in a single 24-hour period. Build CPD into your calendar now rather than scrambling near renewal, and confirm the current point requirements on the OMARA website. See our 2026 CPD requirements guide for the detail.
- Your details on the register. Your business name, contact details and email must be accurate on the public register so prospective clients can verify you.
2. Professional indemnity insurance — non-negotiable
Section 27 of the Code of Conduct imposes a duty to hold professional indemnity (PI) insurance of the kind prescribed by the regulations, or to be a director, employee or member of an organisation that holds it. This is not optional and it is not something to organise "later" — you should have a policy bound before you advise your first client.
If your advice causes a client a financial loss or a missed visa opportunity, PI insurance is the difference between a manageable claim and a personal financial catastrophe. It is the single most important purchase you will make in your first week.
The prescribed minimum cover has long been $250,000, and that floor continues under the 2026 Regulations — but it is a minimum, not a recommendation. Several insurers and broker schemes (including those marketed through migration-industry associations) offer policies tailored to migration agents. Confirm the current prescribed amount and conditions on the OMARA/Home Affairs website, and choose a level of cover appropriate to your caseload and risk profile, not just the floor.
3. Set up the business structure
Your registration is personal to you, but the business around it needs its own foundations. Speak to an accountant about the right structure for your circumstances, but the typical decisions are:
- Structure. Sole trader, company, partnership or trust — each has different tax, liability and cost implications. Many agents operate through a company (Pty Ltd) for liability separation. Get tailored advice; this is a decision you live with for years.
- ABN and business name. Register an Australian Business Number and, if you trade under anything other than your own name, register the business name with ASIC.
- GST. Register for GST if your turnover meets the threshold — currently $75,000, though you should confirm the current figure with the ATO — and consider voluntary registration below it.
- Banking. Open a dedicated business transaction account. Keep personal and business money strictly separate from day one — it makes bookkeeping, BAS and any future audit dramatically easier.
4. The clients' account
This is where new agents most often slip, so treat it carefully. Section 50 of the Code of Conduct sets out specific duties about how you handle client money. In broad terms, money a client pays you in advance for work not yet done is not yet your money, and it must be handled in line with the Code's clients'-account requirements: paid into an appropriately named account with a financial institution, kept apart from other money, and only drawn down as you become entitled to it.
- Use a separate, clearly named clients' account for money held on the client's behalf, distinct from your general business operating account.
- Do not pay your own money into it, and do not draw money out of it except as the Code permits (for example, to pay yourself fees you have earned, to pay Department charges, or to pay agreed disbursements).
- Keep meticulous records of every deposit and withdrawal so each client's balance is reconcilable at any time.
The exact mechanics and account-handling requirements are set out in Section 50 of the Code — read the relevant provisions in full and, if in doubt, get accounting advice. Our OMARA Code of Conduct compliance checklist walks through the client-money and record-keeping duties in detail.
5. A compliant client agreement and fee disclosure
Before you start work and before you take payment, the client needs a written services agreement setting out your services, your fees and the Department's charges. Section 42 of the Code requires a services agreement for most engagements (with a narrow exception for initial consultations), and the Code more broadly requires you to give clients clear, upfront information about what you will do and what it will cost so they can make an informed decision. A vague or missing agreement is one of the most common sources of complaints to the OMARA.
Your standard agreement should, at minimum:
- Describe the specific services you will provide (and what is excluded).
- Set out your professional fees, how they are calculated, and the schedule for payment.
- Separately and clearly identify Department of Home Affairs visa application charges and other disbursements (which are not your fee).
- Explain refund arrangements and what happens if the engagement ends early.
Get the fee and disclosure mechanics right from your very first client — it is far harder to retrofit good habits. Our deep-dive on fee disclosure and client agreements covers exactly what to include and the traps to avoid.
6. Your software stack
The right tools turn a one-person practice into something that runs like a firm. You are assembling four capabilities — and the fewer disconnected systems you stitch together, the fewer compliance gaps you create.
Case management
This is the spine of your practice: a single place for client records, matter stages, deadlines, tasks and — critically — the contemporaneous file notes the Code requires. The Code's obligations to record material oral communications (Section 55) and maintain proper client files (Section 56) are far easier to meet when note-taking is built into the workflow rather than scattered across email and notepads. See our rundown of the best software for registered migration agents and the file note requirements every system should support.
ImmiAccount workflow
You will live in ImmiAccount. Decide early how questionnaires, client data collection and lodgement fit together so you are not re-keying the same information into three places. Reducing manual re-entry is not just efficiency — it cuts transcription errors that can damage an application.
Document management
Clients send you passports, identity documents and sensitive evidence. You need secure storage, confidentiality, and a reliable record of original documents received and returned. Build this around the Code's document-handling and record-keeping duties, not around whatever folder structure is convenient.
Accounting
Invoicing, disbursement tracking, GST/BAS and clean separation of clients'-account money from operating money. Whether you use dedicated accounting software, your case-management platform's billing, or both, make sure your clients' account is reconcilable on demand.
If you are weighing platforms, our comparison pages set the landscape — for example LodgeHQ vs Migration Manager and LodgeHQ vs EzyMigrate. And before you pay for anything, read Migration Manager pricing explained so you understand the publicly advertised cost of the incumbent.
7. Getting your first clients
Compliance keeps you registered; clients keep you in business. A pragmatic early-stage mix:
- Referrals and network. Tell former colleagues, community groups, education agents and complementary professionals (accountants, employment lawyers, HR contacts) that you are open. Warm referrals convert best and cost nothing.
- A credible website. Prospects will Google you and check the register before they call. A clean, honest site that states your registration number, your areas of practice and how to engage you does a lot of selling for you.
- Google Ads. Paid search puts you in front of people actively looking for help. Start with a small, tightly targeted budget on specific visa intents, send the click to a focused landing page, and measure cost per genuine enquiry before you scale.
- Be honest in all marketing. Section 26 of the Code prohibits false or misleading statements when promoting your business, services or qualifications. Never promise outcomes, never imply a guaranteed visa, and always present fees and services accurately.
8. Compliance habits from day one
The agents who get into trouble rarely set out to. They simply let small habits slide until a complaint exposes the gap. Bake these in now:
- File a contemporaneous note after every client conversation — phone, email summary or meeting. Same day, every time.
- Issue the services agreement and fee disclosure before doing the work, not after.
- Reconcile the clients' account regularly and only draw fees you have actually earned.
- Keep CPD current and log it as you go, including the mandatory ethics and Code-of-Conduct components.
- Acknowledge and respond to client communications promptly — slow responses are behind a large share of complaints.
None of this is glamorous, but it is what separates a practice that grows from one that gets investigated. Confirm every specific figure, threshold and account requirement against the OMARA and Home Affairs websites as you set up, because the 2026 changes are recent and the detail matters.
A practical way to start
You can run your first month on spreadsheets and willpower. You will not want to run your second year that way. The earlier you put case management, ImmiAccount workflow, document storage and billing on one compliant footing, the fewer cracks open up as your caseload grows — and the easier it is to demonstrate compliance if the OMARA ever asks.
LodgeHQ is built specifically for Australian registered migration agents who want compliance habits baked into the workflow rather than bolted on — contemporaneous file notes, matter stages, document management and billing in one place. If you are setting up your practice in 2026, start a free trial and stand it up properly from day one.