Registered migration agent for Australia? What Indonesian workers should check before signing

Tips · 2026-10-22 · 10 min read

An Indonesian man checks a phone beside a woman in a hijab holding a document folder at a bright cafe.

A registered migration agent for Australia is a person listed on the Register of Migration Agents, which the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) publishes, and every one of them has a Migration Agents Registration Number, or MARN. If someone in Indonesia offers to handle your Australian visa, ask for that number and search the register yourself before you sign or pay. A registered agent can help you with forms and documents, but cannot promise a result: only the Department of Home Affairs grants Australian visas.

Do you need a migration agent for an Australian visa?

Many Indonesian workers assume an agent is a required part of the process. It is not. The Home Affairs rule is about who may give you immigration assistance, not a rule that you must have it.

Applications are made through ImmiAccount, which Home Affairs says is the only official website for applying for an Australian visa. Some people lodge their own application there; others prefer a professional for a complicated case. Either way, if you pay someone for help, that person has to be allowed to give it.

Who is allowed to help, and who can charge you

Home Affairs says anyone giving immigration assistance with an Australian visa must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person. OMARA explains the exempt group on its page about helpers who are not registered: people such as a sponsor, a nominator or a close family member may help, but must not charge a fee.

Who is helping you	Are they allowed to help?	Can they ask you for money?	What to check
Registered migration agent	Yes	They work as paid professionals	Their name and MARN on the OMARA register
Legal practitioner (lawyer)	Yes	They work as paid professionals	That they are a practising lawyer, in writing, before you pay
Exempt person (your sponsor, nominator or a close family member)	Yes	No, they must not charge a fee	That they are not asking for payment in any form
A friend of a friend, a "consultant" or a calo with no MARN	No	No	Stop and do not send documents or money

Home Affairs is plain about the last row: someone who says they are a migration agent but has no MARN or OMARA listing is not legitimate.

The MARN: the first thing to ask for

Think of the MARN as the agent's professional identity number. A genuine agent expects to be asked for it and gives it in writing without fuss.

Be careful with answers like "my boss in Australia has the number" or "we work under a partner's licence". You are checking one named person with one number, and that person should be the one working on your file.

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta gives the same rule in its visa scams advice: use only official sources, which it lists as the Embassy, the Department of Home Affairs and registered migration agents listed on the OMARA website.

How to search the OMARA register before you pay

The check takes a few minutes on your phone, whether you are in Medan, Surabaya or Makassar.

Ask the person for their full name and MARN in a written message. Save the message.
Open the OMARA website yourself, not through a link the agent sends.
Search the Register of Migration Agents using the MARN, then search again using the name.
Compare the name and number you were given with the listing. They must match the person handling your application.
If there is no listing, or the details belong to someone else, stop. Do not send your passport, KTP, certificates or any payment.
If the listing matches, ask in writing which documents you will need and what each payment is for.
Once the application is lodged, ask to see it in ImmiAccount. The Embassy lists refusing to show your application there as a warning sign.

If a message already feels wrong, our guide on spotting a fake agent on WhatsApp goes through the Embassy's warning signs one by one.

Migration agent, P3MI or calo: three different jobs

In Indonesia, "agen" covers many different people. Mixing them up is how workers pay the wrong person for the wrong thing.

A registered migration agent works on the Australian visa

Their role sits on the Australian side: the visa application in ImmiAccount and the documents Home Affairs asks for. A MARN says nothing about recruiting you or placing you in a job.

A P3MI works on placement under Indonesian law

Under Law No. 18 of 2017 (Article 49), Indonesian migrant workers can be placed abroad only by the government agency, a licensed placement company (P3MI) or a company placing workers for its own business. A P3MI must hold a SIP3MI, the written licence from the Minister. You can check a company's licence and whether a vacancy is official on KP2MI's Cek Legalitas page, and SISKOP2MI publishes the official P3MI list.

Money is a separate question. Law No. 18 of 2017 (Article 30) says Indonesian migrant workers cannot be charged placement costs; our guide to what the law says about biaya penempatan explains which costs that covers.

A calo working alone is not allowed to place you

Article 69 of the same law prohibits individuals from placing Indonesian migrant workers. A single person who collects your money and promises both a job and a visa is a warning sign on both sides. That route is how many people end up as PMI nonprosedural; read what Indonesian workers can lose on that shortcut before you agree to anything.

What a registered agent cannot promise

A MARN shows that a person may give immigration assistance. It gives them no power over the decision:

No promised visa. Home Affairs says no one can promise an Australian visa, and anyone promising a visa, permanent residency or citizenship is misleading you.
No paid "fast track". The Embassy warns that a demand for a large upfront payment to speed up an application is a scam sign.
No promised job on arrival. The Embassy lists a job promised on arrival among its scam signs. An employer chooses who it hires.
No work on a visitor visa. You cannot work in Australia on an Electronic Travel Authority or a Visitor visa.
No help from the Embassy desk. The Australian Embassy does not handle visa enquiries. It points people to the Home Affairs website or the Global Service Centre on +61 2 6196 0196, so a "contact at the Embassy" is not how the system works.

The risk is not only your money. Home Affairs says people who take part in visa fraud through a scam agent risk refusal or cancellation and a ban from Australia for up to 10 years.

Applying to New Zealand? Check for a licensed adviser instead

New Zealand has its own system, and an Australian MARN does not cover it. 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 Immigration Advisers Authority keeps a public register that shows whether a person is currently a licensed immigration adviser. Check it the same way as OMARA.

You are not required to use an adviser for a New Zealand visa, and Immigration New Zealand will not prioritise an application because an adviser is used. INZ also never asks for visa fees to be paid into a bank account. If you are looking at the AEWV route, our plain guide to New Zealand's employer work visa explains how it works.

What you can prepare yourself before paying anyone

With or without an agent, much of the work is yours, and starting early shows how much help you need.

Your English CV. Employers read it before any visa step; Build AI CV can help you write it clearly in English.
An English test, if your visa or employer needs one. IELTS or PTE practice on PractiseNow lets you see where you stand before you book.
Your SKCK. Apply when a police certificate is requested, at a police office or online.
Translations. Home Affairs says non-English documents must be translated into English, with the original and the translation provided.
A real job offer. For an employer-sponsored visa, the employer comes first. Our simple guide to the Skills in Demand (482) visa shows how sponsorship works, and live roles such as this boilermaker and metal fabricator job in Perth show what employers ask for.

Workers in other countries face the same choice. NaijaAbroad's guide on checking two registers before you pay a consultant covers the same OMARA and IAA checks for Nigerian readers.

Common mistakes Indonesian workers make with migration agents

Checking the company, not the person. A smart office in Jakarta proves nothing; the MARN belongs to a person.
Trusting a screenshot of a registration. Anyone can send an image. Search the register yourself.
Paying a calo to "pass the money on". Pay only the person you have checked, and keep every receipt.
Treating a registered agent as a recruiter. A MARN is not a SIP3MI. If someone also offers to place you in a job, check the P3MI licence separately with KP2MI.
Handing over your passport. The Embassy lists requests to hand over your passport as a scam sign.
Using an Australian MARN for a New Zealand visa. New Zealand advice needs an IAA licence, unless the person is exempt.

If something has already gone wrong on the Indonesian side, KP2MI's call centre is 08001000 from within Indonesia and its complaints WhatsApp is 0811-8080-141. Our guide on checking a lowongan kerja Australia before paying covers the job-offer side of these checks.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check a MARN from Indonesia?

Ask the agent for their full name and MARN in writing, then open the OMARA website yourself and search the Register of Migration Agents by number and by name. The details must match the person who will work on your application. No listing means you should not pay or send documents.

Do I have to use a registered migration agent for an Australian visa?

No rule makes you use one. Applications are made through ImmiAccount, and the Home Affairs rule only sets who may help: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person. Many people choose an agent for complicated cases, but it is your decision.

Can a registered migration agent promise that my visa will be approved?

No. Home Affairs says no one can promise an Australian visa, and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta says only the Department of Home Affairs grants them. An honest agent explains requirements and risks, never a certain outcome.

Is a registered migration agent the same as a P3MI?

No. A migration agent helps with the Australian visa. A P3MI is a company licensed under Indonesian law, with a SIP3MI, to place Indonesian migrant workers abroad. If one business offers both, check the MARN with OMARA and the licence with KP2MI's Cek Legalitas page.

Who can help me with a New Zealand visa?

New Zealand immigration advice must come from an adviser licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless the person is exempt. You can check the IAA's public register. You do not have to use an adviser, and INZ will not process your application faster because you have one.

Key takeaways

Every registered migration agent has a MARN and an OMARA listing; search it yourself before you sign or pay.
Only a registered agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person may help with an Australian visa, and exempt people must not charge.
No agent can promise a visa or a job; only Home Affairs decides on Australian visas.
A MARN is not a P3MI licence: check placement companies with KP2MI separately.
For New Zealand, check the IAA register; an adviser is never required.

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