Software for immigration lawyers, built around migration work
An Australian legal practitioner can run their migration matters in LodgeHQ without a MARN. This page says exactly what LodgeHQ does for a law practice, and what it does not.
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What is different for a lawyer
LodgeHQ was built for registered migration agents. These are the places where it behaves differently when the practitioner is a lawyer.
Register with your legal practitioner number
Enter your LPN in place of a MARN, or both if you hold both. Every practitioner on the account keeps their own profile, and a matter's documents carry the details of the practitioner who runs it.
A Form 956 that says you are a lawyer
Form 956 ticks the legal practitioner box and prints your LPN. Form 1193 and the Tribunal's MR5 carry it as well, written the way each form expects it.
Your LPN on your client emails
Emails LodgeHQ sends a client about a matter you are responsible for carry your LPN at the foot, where a registered migration agent's MARN would appear.
Your own costs agreement
The built-in agreements are written for registered migration agents, so a law practice uploads its own. Bring in your Word file, give it the title Costs Agreement, and send it for signature from the matter.
The agents' Code is left out of your matters
When your practitioners hold an LPN and no MARN, LodgeHQ treats the firm as a law practice. OMARA's Consumer Guide and Code of Conduct are not added to your agreements or welcome emails, and the checks that enforce the Code do not run on your matters.
A supervising lawyer can sign too
Add a second signing lawyer to a client agreement, after the practitioner and before the client. A junior's supervisor can be filled in for them each time.
In a practice with both registered migration agents and lawyers, all of this follows each matter's own practitioner.
The same tools for the migration file
Everything a migration matter needs works the same way whether the practitioner holds a MARN or an LPN.
Client portal
One secure place for each client to follow their application, answer your questionnaire, upload documents and message you.
E-signatures and Form 956
Send service agreements, Form 956 and your own documents for signature from the matter. The signed copy is filed for you.
ImmiAccount auto-fill
A Chrome extension that fills ImmiAccount application forms from your client's questionnaire answers, one page at a time.
Home Affairs forms
Form 956, 956A, 80, 1221 and the rest of the library, filled from the file as the Department's own editable PDFs.
VEVO checks
Run VEVO for Organisations checks from the matter, one person or hundreds at a time, with each answer saved to the file.
Invoicing and the clients' account
Quotes, invoices, card payments and the clients' account ledger on the matter itself, with statements of service and a monthly reconciliation.
Consultation booking
A booking page for your practice that takes payment, fills your calendar and creates the lead.
What LodgeHQ does not do
Better to read this here than to find it out in the second week of a trial.
It is not general legal practice management
LodgeHQ is built for visa, citizenship and merits review work. It does not cover other areas of law, so a practice that also does them will still want its legal practice management system for those files.
It is not trust accounting software for a law practice
The client-money ledger is designed around the Code of Conduct for registered migration agents. A law practice can have its screens say "trust account", but that changes the wording only. LodgeHQ does not claim to meet the trust accounting rules that apply to law practices in any state or territory, so keep your trust records in the system you use for that today.
Your obligations as a practitioner stay with you
Your disclosure, trust and conduct obligations as a legal practitioner are yours to meet. LodgeHQ does not check them for you.
Comparing LodgeHQ with a legal practice management system? See how LodgeHQ compares, or read what to ask of any migration software.
Questions from immigration lawyers
Do I need a MARN to use LodgeHQ?
No. An Australian legal practitioner registers with a legal practitioner number instead. Enter the full seven-digit LPN the Department issued you (it starts with 55) so that Form 956 prints it correctly.
Does Form 956 show that I am a legal practitioner?
Yes. When the practitioner on the matter holds an LPN and no MARN, Form 956 ticks the legal practitioner box and prints the LPN. Form 1193 and the Tribunal's MR5 print it too.
Can I use my own costs agreement?
Yes. Upload your agreement as a Word file, give it the title Costs Agreement, and send it for signature from the matter. Your client signs from an emailed link, and the signed copy is filed on the matter.
Does the migration agents' Code of Conduct get applied to my matters?
Not when the matter's practitioner holds an LPN and no MARN. In a practice with both registered migration agents and lawyers, each matter follows its own practitioner: the Code's documents and checks apply on the agent's matters and are left out of the lawyer's.
Does LodgeHQ's ledger meet the trust accounting rules for law practices?
LodgeHQ does not claim that it does. The ledger is designed around the Code of Conduct for registered migration agents. A law practice can have the screens say "trust account", but that is a change of wording only, so keep your trust records in the system you use for that today.
Can LodgeHQ replace my legal practice management system?
For your migration matters, yes. It is not built for other areas of law, so a practice that does those as well will still want its general system for them.
How is LodgeHQ priced for a law practice?
The same way as for a migration practice: A$99 a month + GST, or A$948 a year + GST, for each practitioner with an LPN or a MARN. Logins for paralegals, admin and support staff are free and unlimited.
LodgeHQ holds SMB1001:2026 Gold (issued on director attestation), was independently assessed by a Google-authorised CASA lab in July 2026 for the Gmail integration, and is a Microsoft verified publisher. Your records are stored in Australia on AWS Sydney; what leaves, and to whom, is listed in full. How we protect client data →
Try it on a migration matter
Register with your legal practitioner number and generate a Form 956. The trial is the full plan.
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