Migration agent software for Australian practices
One system for the client file, the Department's forms, ImmiAccount, the agreement and the money. This page explains what migration agent software is, what to ask before you choose one, and how LodgeHQ does each job.
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What is migration agent software?
Migration agent software is practice management software made for registered migration agents. It keeps everything about a client's matter in one file: who they are, which visa they are applying for, what they have told you, the documents they have given you, the forms you have prepared, the agreement they signed, what they have paid, and every date that matters.
What separates it from a general CRM is that it knows the work. It is built around Australian visa subclasses, the Department of Home Affairs' forms, ImmiAccount, and the record-keeping and client-money duties the Code of Conduct places on a registered migration agent.
Most practices go looking for it at the same moment: when the same passport number has been typed into a fourth form, when a document request has sat unanswered for three weeks without anyone noticing, or when a client asks for an update and the answer is in one person's inbox.
What migration agent software has to do
Eight jobs come up on almost every matter. This is what each involves, and how LodgeHQ does it.
Hold the whole file
Every matter sits on a board of stages you name yourself, with its key dates, linked matters, documents, emails, file notes and tasks in one workspace. Anyone on your team can pick a file up and see where it stands.
Everything in the planTake the client's instructions once
A questionnaire that adapts to the visa type collects the client's details, history and family a single time. Clients answer it in the client portal, where they also upload documents against your checklist, follow their progress and message you.
Client portalGet the agreement and Form 956 signed
Send the service agreement and Form 956 for signature from the matter. Your client signs from an emailed link on any device, and the signed copy is filed on the matter with a record of who signed and when.
E-signatures and Form 956Fill the Department's forms
37 Home Affairs PDF forms, and the Tribunal's MR5, are filled from the questionnaire and the matter. What comes back is the Department's own form, still editable. Signatures and declaration dates are left for the person who signs.
Home Affairs formsFill ImmiAccount without retyping
The eLodge Chrome extension fills the pages of an ImmiAccount application from the same questionnaire, one page at a time. You check each page, and you are the one who submits.
ImmiAccount auto-fillCheck visa status and keep the proof
Run VEVO for Organisations checks from the matter through your own organisation ImmiAccount, for one person or for many. Each answer is saved to the file as a PDF record with a file note.
VEVO checksBill, and account for client money
Quotes, invoices and card payments on the matter, beside a clients' account ledger with deposit requests, receipts, statements of service and a monthly reconciliation. Card payments go to your own Stripe account; LodgeHQ never holds your clients' money.
Invoicing and the clients' accountTake consultation bookings
A public booking page takes the appointment, your intake questions and the payment. The consultation lands in your calendar, and the enquiry is waiting for you as a lead.
Consultation bookingGeneral software, or software built for migration work?
A practice can run its files three ways. Each has a place, and each has a cost that shows up later.
Email, spreadsheets and shared folders
Good for
Costs nothing extra and bends to any way of working. Workable for a sole practitioner with a small number of open matters.
Watch for
Nothing is linked and nothing reminds you. Every form is typed by hand, a chased document lives in one person's inbox, and a file is hard to hand to a colleague or to produce on request.
A general CRM or legal practice management system
Good for
Mature contact management, time recording and billing, and a large market of consultants who can set it up.
Watch for
It is not built around visa subclasses, the Department's forms or ImmiAccount, so expect to configure it yourself and to do the migration-specific work outside it. Pricing is commonly per user, which counts your support staff.
Software built for migration practice
Good for
Arrives knowing the work: subclasses, questionnaires, Form 956, the Department's forms, a path into ImmiAccount, and a clients' account.
Watch for
The products differ more than their websites suggest. Ask how each job is actually done, what is included in the price, and what happens to your data when you leave.
Weighing particular products? Our comparison pages set LodgeHQ beside the systems agents most often ask about, and our price comparison guide puts seven vendors' published prices in one table.
Ten questions to ask before you choose
Put these to any vendor, including us. Under each is why it matters and LodgeHQ's own answer.
1. Is it priced per user, or per practitioner?
Per-user pricing charges you for every receptionist, case manager and bookkeeper who needs to see a file, which pushes practices into sharing logins.
LodgeHQ: A$99 a month + GST for each registered practitioner. Logins for admin and support staff are free and unlimited, and so are clients and matters. Pricing in full
2. Where are my clients' records stored?
A migration file holds passports, police certificates, health and relationship evidence. You need to be able to tell a client where that sits and who else can receive it.
LodgeHQ: Your records are stored in Australia on AWS Sydney. Every service that receives data outside it, and what it receives, is listed publicly. Sub-processors
3. Can I get everything out again?
Your duty to keep client records outlasts any software subscription. An export that omits documents, or that only the vendor can run, is not an export.
LodgeHQ: A full export, documents included, is under Settings and you run it yourself whenever you like. Importing from another system is also self-service, with a preview before anything is created.
4. How does client data reach ImmiAccount?
Retyping a questionnaire into ImmiAccount is where the time goes, and where a wrong passport number or date gets in.
LodgeHQ: A Chrome extension fills each ImmiAccount page from the client's answers. It never types your ImmiAccount password or a verification code, and you click Next, review and submit yourself. How the auto-fill works
5. Does it produce the Department's own forms?
A look-alike form, or a locked PDF you cannot correct, creates work. You want the current official form, filled, and still editable.
LodgeHQ: 37 Home Affairs forms and the Tribunal's MR5, on the Department's own PDFs, editable by default. Boxes it cannot answer are left blank for you. The form list
6. How are agreements and Form 956 signed?
If signing needs a separate e-signature subscription, that is a second system to pay for and a second place a signed agreement can go missing.
LodgeHQ: Signing is built in, with no outside account. Each signed document keeps an audit trail, and a Certificate of Completion is issued. A Department form is never altered: its certificate is a separate PDF. E-signatures
7. How does it handle client money?
Money a client pays in advance is held for them until you are entitled to it, and the Code of Conduct sets out how it is kept and accounted for. Ask to see the ledger, not a slide about it.
LodgeHQ: A clients' account ledger sits on each matter, designed around the client-money provisions of the Code, with a monthly reconciliation you sign off. The software supports your record-keeping; complying with the Code remains your responsibility. Invoicing and the clients' account
8. What will my clients see?
The portal is the part of your software your clients judge you by. Check it on a phone, and check whose name is on it.
LodgeHQ: A portal on your firm's own LodgeHQ address, carrying your logo and brand colour. Your own domain, with LodgeHQ's name removed, is the White Label plan. Client portal
9. What happens if I cancel?
The honest test of a vendor is how it behaves when you leave.
LodgeHQ: You keep full access to the end of the period you have paid for. The account then winds down over 30 days: seven days of full access, then read-only access so you can still view and export your records.
10. Who builds it, and do they do this work?
Migration practice has its own rhythm: the questionnaire, the document chase, the request for more information and the deadline that comes with it. Software written from a feature list tends to miss it.
LodgeHQ: LodgeHQ is built by Awais Nisar, a registered migration agent (MARN 2318017), and is used to run his own practice. About LodgeHQ
What LodgeHQ costs
A$99 a month + GST for each registered practitioner, or A$948 a year + GST. Your support staff, clients and matters are unlimited. The optional add-ons and the tools that are metered are priced on one page.
Practising as a lawyer? Read LodgeHQ for immigration lawyers. Want the detail of a feature? Start at all features or the help centre.
Migration agent software: common questions
What is migration agent software?
Practice management software made for registered migration agents. It keeps each client's matter in one file (their details, documents, forms, agreement, payments and key dates) and it is built around Australian visa work: subclasses, the Department of Home Affairs' forms, ImmiAccount and the record-keeping duties in the Code of Conduct.
What software do migration agents in Australia use?
It depends on the size of the practice. Sole practitioners often start with email, spreadsheets and shared folders. Larger practices use a general CRM or legal practice management system, or software built for migration work such as LodgeHQ. Our comparison pages set LodgeHQ beside the systems agents most often ask us about.
Does LodgeHQ lodge applications with the Department?
No. LodgeHQ prepares the application: it fills the Department's PDF forms and, through the eLodge Chrome extension, the pages of an ImmiAccount application from your client's answers. You review every page, you submit, and you pay the visa application charge in ImmiAccount yourself.
Is LodgeHQ approved by OMARA or the Department of Home Affairs?
No. OMARA regulates registered migration agents rather than the software they use, and LodgeHQ is independent of, and not endorsed by, OMARA or the Department of Home Affairs. LodgeHQ is designed around the Code of Conduct, and meeting your obligations under it remains your responsibility.
How much does migration agent software cost?
Vendors price in different ways: per user, per practitioner, or by quote. LodgeHQ is A$99 a month + GST, or A$948 a year + GST, for each registered practitioner, with logins for admin and support staff free and unlimited. Optional add-ons are priced on the pricing page.
Can I move my existing clients and matters into LodgeHQ?
Yes. The Data Migration page brings in clients and matters from Migration Manager, Agentcis, a Zoho spreadsheet or a plain client list exported from another system. You run it yourself, you see a preview before anything is created, and an import can be undone.
Can immigration lawyers use LodgeHQ?
Yes, for migration work. A lawyer registers with a legal practitioner number instead of a MARN, and Form 956 carries it. LodgeHQ is not general legal practice management software, and the page for immigration lawyers says exactly what it does and does not cover.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, 14 days with no credit card. We approve each new practice by hand, usually within one business day, and the 14 days start from approval.
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 →
Run one real matter through it
Send a questionnaire, generate a Form 956 and fill an ImmiAccount page. The trial is the full plan.
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