Registered migration agent or japa consultant? Nigerians, check two registers before you pay

Tips · 2026-10-20 · 10 min read

A Nigerian woman checks her phone beside an open laptop and a folder of papers in her Lagos apartment at dusk.

A registered migration agent for Australia is a person listed on the Register of Migration Agents kept by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA), with a Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN) you can look up yourself. For New Zealand, the equivalent check is the public register of the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA). A japa "consultant" in Lagos, Abuja or Enugu who is on neither register cannot legally take your money to handle your visa, however confident the WhatsApp messages sound.

This guide shows Nigerian applicants who is allowed to help, how to check a name in a few minutes, what a genuine adviser can and cannot promise, and the mistakes that cost people their money and sometimes their chance of a visa.

Who the law lets help with an Australian visa

Australia is strict about this. The Department of Home Affairs says anyone giving immigration assistance with an Australian visa must be one of three things:

A registered migration agent, listed on the OMARA Register of Migration Agents.
A legal practitioner.
An exempt person, such as your sponsor, your nominator or a close family member.

The third group matters more than people think. An exempt person may help you with the application, but OMARA says they must not charge a fee. So the uncle in Melbourne can guide you for nothing; a stranger who calls himself a "visa processing officer" and asks for a fee is not exempt.

Every registered migration agent has a MARN. Home Affairs puts it plainly: someone claiming to be an agent without a MARN or an OMARA listing is not legitimate. You can read who counts as a registered helper on the official Home Affairs "who can help" page.

Who may give New Zealand immigration advice

New Zealand goes further. By law, anyone giving New Zealand immigration advice must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority unless they are exempt, and it is a criminal offence for anyone else to give it. The IAA's page for migrants explains the rules and links to its public register, which shows whether a person is currently a licensed immigration adviser.

There is also good news for your pocket. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) says you are not required to use an adviser at all, and it will not prioritise an application because an adviser was used. Paying someone does not move you up any queue.

If you are looking at an Accredited Employer Work Visa, our plain guide to the New Zealand AEWV shows what the employer does and what you prepare yourself.

Registered agent, licensed adviser or japa consultant: how they compare

Use this table when someone offers to "handle everything" for you.

Who is offering help	Can they charge you for visa help?	How you check them
Registered migration agent (Australia)	Yes, for Australian immigration assistance	Name and MARN on the OMARA Register of Migration Agents
Legal practitioner (Australia)	Yes, for Australian immigration assistance	Not on the OMARA register: ask for their full details and confirm them before you pay
Exempt person (sponsor, nominator, close family)	No, they must not charge a fee	Their real link to you or to your job offer
Licensed immigration adviser (New Zealand)	Yes, for New Zealand immigration advice	Current licence on the IAA public register
Unregistered "japa consultant" or "visa processor"	No legal basis for Australian or New Zealand visa help	Not on either register: walk away

How to check a migration agent or adviser before you pay

This takes a few minutes and can save you a lot of money. Use your own phone, not a link the person sends you.

Ask for the full name and number. For Australia ask for the MARN; for New Zealand ask for the name the IAA licence is held in. A genuine agent gives this without fuss.
Open the official register yourself. Type the government address into your browser: the OMARA register through mara.gov.au, the IAA register through iaa.govt.nz. Do not trust a screenshot of a "certificate".
Match every detail. The name, MARN or licence on the register must belong to the person you are actually dealing with, not to a different agent whose number was copied onto a flyer.
Check that the licence is current. The IAA register shows whether a person is licensed now. Being listed years ago is not enough.
Ask how you will see your own application. Australian visas are applied for through ImmiAccount, the only official website for it. Insist on seeing what is lodged in your name.
Pay only once you have checked. If anything does not match, stop.

What a genuine agent can and cannot do for you

A registered agent or licensed adviser can explain which visa may suit people in your situation, prepare documents, lodge the application and deal with the department for you.

What no one can do is promise the result. Home Affairs says anyone promising an Australian visa, permanent residency or citizenship is misleading you. INZ adds that a temporary New Zealand visa does not promise residence, and that scammers often overstate how likely residence is.

Nobody can "push" a file at the High Commission either. The Australian High Commission in Nigeria does not process visa or citizenship applications: Home Affairs manages them through ImmiAccount. A consultant who says he has a contact inside the High Commission is describing something that does not exist.

For a sponsored job, the employer leads the sponsorship and you prepare your own side. Our guide to the Australian Skills in Demand (482) visa sets out who does what.

A recruiter's licence is not a migration licence

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment issues a Recruiter's Licence to private employment agencies (PEAs), in two categories: one for jobs inside Nigeria and one for international placements. The Ministry's NELEX portal lists accredited agencies with their registration numbers, and our guide on checking whether a recruitment agency is really licensed walks you through it.

That licence is about recruitment. It does not make anyone a registered migration agent for Australia or a licensed immigration adviser for New Zealand. An agency can be on the NELEX list and still have no right to give Australian or New Zealand visa help for a fee; that needs its own check on the OMARA or IAA register.

NaijaAbroad is a job platform, not a migration agent. Our disclaimer says nothing on the site is migration or legal advice: in Australia only registered migration agents or Australian legal practitioners may give immigration assistance for a fee, and in New Zealand advice generally has to come from a licensed immigration adviser or another person the law allows. You apply to the employer, and a clear English CV is your first step; Build AI CV can help you put one together before you contact a sponsoring employer.

Warning signs of a fake visa consultant

The EFCC warns that visa scammers claim connections at embassies, demand repeated fees and may issue fake visas that lead to arrest at exit or entry ports. It advises checking the official website of the country you plan to go to. Watch for these signs:

"I know someone at the embassy." Australian visas are decided by Home Affairs, not by a contact in Abuja.
A "work permit" for Australia. Australia does not issue work permits, visa labels or Labour Market Impact Assessments, so anyone offering one is running a scam.
Fees into a personal bank account for a New Zealand visa. INZ never asks for visa fees to be paid into a bank account; it takes card payment on its forms, or payment at an approved Visa Application Centre.
A new fee at every stage. "Biometrics fee", "release fee", "clearance fee": repeated demands are exactly what the EFCC describes.
A visa grant you cannot find yourself. A grant that does not show in VEVO is probably fake, and a New Zealand visa can be confirmed with INZ's Visa Verification service.

The stakes are high. Home Affairs warns that people who engage in visa fraud through a scam agent risk visa refusal or cancellation and a ban from Australia for up to 10 years. Many fake offers arrive by email first; our guide to testing a fake Australian job offer email shows the checks the High Commission publishes.

Common mistakes Nigerian applicants make with visa helpers

Trusting a recommendation instead of the register. "My cousin used him" is not a MARN. Check the person yourself every time.
Treating a NELEX listing as visa approval. A Recruiter's Licence covers recruitment, not Australian or New Zealand immigration help.
Paying an "exempt" helper. A sponsor, nominator or close relative may help, but must not charge you. A fee changes the picture completely.
Handing over the whole process. If you never see your ImmiAccount or INZ application, you cannot tell what was lodged in your name, or whether anything was lodged at all.
Believing a promised outcome. Anyone promising a visa is, in the words of Home Affairs, misleading you.
Sending your international passport to a stranger. Scamwatch advises never sending your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruitment firm unless you are certain they are genuine.

Where to report a fake agent

The Australian High Commission asks people to report suspected scams to the local police, to Scamwatch, or through the Home Affairs Border Watch online form. For New Zealand, INZ's page on protecting yourself from immigration scams explains the warning signs and what to do next. If the "job" looks like recruitment for forced work, NAPTIP takes trafficking reports on 627 or *627#.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a migration agent for Australia is registered?

Ask for the person's full name and Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN), then search the Register of Migration Agents on the OMARA website yourself. If the name is not on the register, or the person will not give a MARN, the Department of Home Affairs says they are not legitimate.

Is a japa consultant in Lagos allowed to prepare my Australian visa application for a fee?

Only if that person is a registered migration agent or a legal practitioner. Exempt people such as your sponsor, nominator or a close family member may help, but they must not charge a fee, so a paid consultant without registration is outside the rules.

Do I need a licensed immigration adviser for a New Zealand work visa?

No. Immigration New Zealand says you are not required to use an adviser, and it will not prioritise an application because an adviser is used. If you do pay someone for New Zealand immigration advice, check the Immigration Advisers Authority register first.

Can a registered migration agent promise me a visa?

No. Home Affairs says anyone promising a visa, permanent residency or citizenship is misleading you. A genuine agent explains your options and prepares a strong application; the government makes the decision.

Is a recruitment agency licence from the Ministry of Labour the same as being a migration agent?

No. A Recruiter's Licence from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment covers recruitment for jobs, in Nigeria or outside it. It does not register anyone to give Australian immigration assistance or New Zealand immigration advice, which need an OMARA or IAA check of their own.

Key takeaways

For Australia, only a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person may give visa help, and exempt people must not charge.
Check every Australian agent's name and MARN on the OMARA register, and every New Zealand adviser on the IAA register, yourself.
You do not need an adviser for a New Zealand visa, and using one gives no priority.
Nobody can promise a visa, and no one at the High Commission "pushes" files.
A Recruiter's Licence from the Ministry of Labour is not permission to give visa help.

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