Tamsin Johnston, Director, Australian Presence Legal with Lal Wickrematunge, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Sydney

Australian Presence Legal (APL), an established full-service commercial and immigration law firm based in the central business district of Sydney, Australia,is set to continue the expansion ofits consultancy services to provide face to face consultations in Sri Lanka, to meet thegrowing needfor skilled migrants in Australia. These advisory services will be available in January 2019 for Sri Lankansinterested in relocating to Australia.

As a topmigration destination of choice, Australia hasreceived tens of thousands of visa applications in 2017 alone. Owing to the complexities of the laws and procedures surrounding Australian migration, a significant proportion of these applications are requisitioned, or refused.

Having successfullydelivered face-to-face consultancy services in South Africain November 2018, APL is seeking to include Sri Lanka in its expanding global footprint in early January 2019. By doing so, APLintends to provide both individuals and companies in Sri Lankawith access to experienced Australian lawyers who have a strong commitment to providing independent and trustedlegal advice.
Australian Presence Legal is headed by Managing Director, Maya Nanayakkara, who has a distinguished legal career spanning over 40 years, having practiced law in both Sri Lanka and Australia. Maya has provided advice to both government and private sectors, and has served as legal counsel to a sitting Prime Minister. 

Leading the team delivering migration advice in Sri Lanka, is Tamsin Johnston. Tamsinis a senior lawyer, licensed to practice law in both Australia and South Africa, and isadditionally an Australian Registered Migration Agent and a Director of APL. Tamsin is primarily responsible for the commercial, employment and immigration divisions within the firm. With a strong background in litigation as well as commercial and insurance law, Tamsin is also a uniquely experienced immigration lawyer in Australia, having previouslyheld a critical position overseeing the nationwide delivery of immigration services under Australian Government contracts. This exceptional background places Tamsin in an excellent position to advise and assist new applicants from Sri Lanka.

Maya Nanayakkara, Director, Australian Presence Legal

What sets APL apart from someother agencies providing migration services locally, is that its services are built on a team of established immigration lawyers, and not just migration agents.Lawyers are regulated not just by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), but are also regulated and held to a very high standard by the Law Society. 

APL currently representsan admirable clientele ofgovernment departments, multinational companies, as well as successful stock exchange-listed businesses in the commercial and immigration space, all of whom require high calibrelegal counsel.

“Given the Sri Lankan background of our Managing Director, Maya, we are particularly excited to be ‘coming back home’,” saidTamsin Johnston from her Sydney office.“The Sri Lankan diaspora is widely recognised as having made major contributions to Australia socially, culturally and economically, and has enriched the constantly developing Australian experience. We in turn understand that migration to Australia is extremely appealing to Sri Lankans, and we are certain that our legal team has the professional capacity and expertise to smoothen and add credibility to an otherwise daunting process.”

As a result-oriented firm, APLis not merely a form-filling servicethatsimply lodges applications. Instead, its lawyers diligently prepare detailed submissions with ‘front-end loaded’ applications, and directly address all regulations and requirements at the very outset, meaning that all applications prepared and lodged by APLare already decision-ready. Unlike other less intensive and less detail-oriented approaches, APL’s client-centric formula places its clients in a far stronger position to achieve a positive outcome.

Shanil Nanayakkara, Chief Operating Officer, Australian Presence Legal

Furthermore, APL also specialisesin challenging negative decisions received from immigration.Currentlyrepresenting clients on contentious immigration matters at the Immigration Assessment Authority, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Federal Circuit Court, the Federal Court, and the High Court of Australia,the firm also assistsclients with contentious protection visa applications at the UNHCR,meaning that APL’s team of immigration lawyers haveexperience at every single available review authority.

In addition to its immigration practice, APLalso provides strategic advice toboth private and commercial sectors in many other areas of the law, namelywith regards to property, wills and estates, employment disputes, and even in theestablishment of businesses in Australia.The firm also plans to offer some of these services toSri Lanka over the coming year.

Tamsin was recently invited to meet with the Consul General, Mr. Lal Wickrematunge and Corporate Consul, Mr M. M. Abdul Raheem, at the Sri Lankan Consulate in Sydney. At the meeting Tamsin discussed how APL has the capacity to meet the commercial legal needs of successful Sri Lankan businesses or Sri Lankan investors who trade with Australia, and how the organisationcan offer timely and personalized advice with which to set up anAustralian incorporated company.

Aspiring Sri Lankan migrants hoping to have their eligibility assessed face-to-face by APL’s legal team should email their CVs to [email protected] before the end of the year. A free preliminary assessment will follow to determine whether applicants qualify for the formal assessment in Sri Lanka come January – a step in the right direction towards a life-altering move to Australia.

Tegan Arnold, Chief Financial Officer, Australian Presence Legal