Individuals and families
Partner, parent and family visas, assessed against the relationship, sponsorship and evidence requirements.
Australian migration advice, built on structured assessment.
Sydney · Australia
Advice from the migration law in force, with an assessment and a review on every matter, for individuals, families and employers in Australia and overseas.
About the practice- Advice prepared from the migration law in force on the day
- Every application reviewed before it is lodged
- Scope and fees agreed in writing
- Consultations by video, in any time zone
( Who we help )
Services for three groups of clients
Requirements differ with circumstances, so our services are organised around the people they apply to.
( Services )
What we do
Eight practice areas, organised by who the client is. Each has a defined scope, and each begins with an initial consultation.
For individuals and families
Visas, partners, parents, graduates, visitors and citizenship.
( For skilled professionals )
Skilled migration
Advice and application support for professionals and tradespeople who want to live and work in Australia.
Points-tested 189/190/491 • Skills assessments • EOI strategy • State nomination
( For families and partners )
Partner and family visas
Assistance with partner, parent and other family migration matters.
Partner 820/801 & 309/100 • Prospective marriage 300 • Parent visas • Child visas
( For permanent residents )
Citizenship and resident return
Assistance with Australian citizenship applications and resident return visas.
Citizenship by conferral • Resident return 155/157 • Evidence of status • Timing and ceremonies
( For shorter and temporary stays )
Visitor, graduate and temporary visas
Visitor, working holiday, graduate, training and short-term work visas, and advice on the conditions each one carries.
Visitor 600, 601 and 651 • Working holiday 417 and 462 • Temporary Graduate 485 • Training 407 and Temporary Activity 408 • Short Stay Specialist 400
For employers and business
Sponsorship, nominations, programs and the obligations that follow.
( For Australian employers )
Employer sponsorship
Support for Australian businesses that sponsor overseas workers, from sponsorship to nomination and the obligations that follow.
Skills in Demand 482 • ENS 186 • Regional 494 • Employer accreditation • Labour agreements
( For business owners and investors )
Business and investment visas
Advice for business owners and investors on the visa options that remain: the National Innovation visa, and the permanent stage for existing Business Innovation and Investment visa holders.
National Innovation visa (858) • Subclass 188 holders moving to 888 • Business planning • Adviser coordination
( For businesses sponsoring people )
Corporate immigration
Immigration support for organisations that sponsor workers, from accreditation to compliance.
Sponsorship programs • Employer accreditation • Compliance health checks • Sponsorship policy design
When a decision goes against you
Responses, review and representation, and the complex matter.
( Australia )
Prepared to be examined.
Every application is assessed against the law in force, prepared against the criteria, and reviewed before it is lodged.
How we work
( Insights )
Analysis of the law and the program
( Practice framework )
How we work on every matter
Migration outcomes are decided by the Department and the Tribunal under the law. What we control is the quality of the analysis, the currency of the law we apply, and how carefully a matter is prepared and managed.
Legislative currency
Advice based on the law in force
Migration law changes often, through amendments, legislative instruments and ministerial directions. Advice is only as reliable as the law it is based on.
We check the provisions, instruments and directions against the authoritative source when we advise, and we record what was checked.
Criteria that are assessed at a fixed point, such as the time of invitation, the time of application or the time of decision, are assessed against that point rather than against present circumstances.
In written advice, Departmental policy is kept distinct from what the law requires.
Structured assessment
Eligibility assessed in a set order
Assessment follows a set sequence rather than the order in which questions happen to be raised, so that the issues that decide a matter are found before cost is incurred.
Threshold questions, such as application validity, statutory bars, status and location, are resolved before any pathway is analysed.
Points claims, where relevant, are assessed item by item against documentary evidence rather than against a self-assessment.
Health, character and family issues are identified early, including those affecting family members who are not applying.
Quality assurance
Checkpoints a matter must pass before it proceeds
Each engagement passes through a series of checkpoints. A matter does not move past a checkpoint until the required step is complete and recorded.
Scope and fees are agreed in writing before substantive work begins.
Every application is reviewed before lodgement for validity, completeness of evidence and the law as it stands on the day.
Every material communication is recorded when it happens, so the matter record is complete.
Managing the matter
Deadlines, obligations and status, managed
Many problems in migration matters come from missed dates and omissions rather than the merits. We manage both.
Deadlines are recorded on the day they arise, with a review date set before each.
Matters are reviewed at regular intervals and you are updated at each review, including where nothing has changed.
Changes in your circumstances that must be reported to the Department are identified and dealt with as they occur.
The framework governs the quality of the work. It does not, and cannot, determine the decision.
( The framework )
One framework. Every visa in its place.
Every current Australian visa has one place in the framework. Each circle is a category; each small node is a visa subclass under the Migration Regulations 1994. Hover a category to name its subclasses.
Shoreline’s own classification of the subclasses in the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994. A classification, not a pathway: the arcs show where each visa belongs, never a route between visas. Whether any pathway is open to you depends on the criteria in force, applied to your circumstances.
Every visa, by category( The Shoreline method )
Three stages, one discipline
Stage 01 · Assess
Understanding comes first
Your history, your objectives and the law as it stands today, examined before any visa is named.
Understanding comes first
Your history, your objectives and the law as it stands today, examined before any visa is named.
Advice you can act on
The pathways open to you, what each requires, the risks worth knowing, and the scope and fees of any further work, set out before anything is agreed.
Toward your next stage
Once engaged, we prepare the application, deal with the Department and stay with the matter until it is decided.
Decisions rest with the Department or the Tribunal. Our work is the quality of the application put to them.
( Australian Migration Program )
The program, from different perspectives
Explore current permanent migration planning levels and state and territory nomination allocations. Figures are official program settings, not visa outcomes or results of this practice.
( Permanent Migration Program )
0
2026-27 planned places
The annual planning level for permanent migration across all streams - skilled, family and special eligibility together.
Planning levels and nomination allocations are program settings. They do not indicate an individual visa outcome.
Source: Home Affairs.
( Corporate advisory )
Sponsorship and compliance advisory
Shoreline Migration advises Australian businesses on sponsorship, nomination and compliance. We set out who does what, keep the business and the candidate informed, and manage the obligations that come with sponsoring.
- Sponsorship and nomination strategy
- Workforce planning for sponsored roles
- Managing sponsor obligations
- Preparing candidates
- Regular status reports
( How we work )
Continuity from the first conversation to the decision
Your matter stays with the person who assessed it. The same hands prepare it, deal with the Department and answer your questions until a decision is made.
We put our advice, each side’s responsibilities and the next steps in writing. If the scope needs to change, we agree the change in writing before the extra work starts.
Initial consultation
Discuss your immigration matter
Book an initial consultation, or send an enquiry that sets out your circumstances.
Clarity before commitmentAssessment before adviceScope and fees agreed firstArrive well