Book – The Immigration Kit (10th edition)

Edited by: Ali Mojtahedi
(Commissioned by the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre)
Publisher: The Federation Press
Reviewer: Duncan Marckwald

The Immigration Kit (10^th edition) is a plain language practical guide to Australia’s immigration law. It is a useful starting point for those embarking on a journey in this area of the law. 

It is not a comprehensive text that assays all the relevant authorities. Nor does it contain a deep analysis of legal principle or relevant provisions. 

Rather, the purpose of the Kit is to simplify what is a very complex area of the law, to ensure information about immigration is accessible to all, regardless of means and to promote informed discussion of and participation in Australia’s immigration processes. 

This is consistent with the book being commissioned by the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (a community legal centre in New South Wales). It is authored by a team of experienced immigration lawyers. 

In the foreword, the Honourable Justice Kirby AC CMG describes the chief merits of the Kit as including a clear, user-friendly, step-by-step guide on how the Australian immigration law and administrative system operate and being an accessible resource for individual legal and political engagement. 

It achieves this in less than 800 pages, split into 23 chapters.  The chapters address topics such as an overview of Australia’s immigration system, refugee and humanitarian visas, bridging visas, family visas, skilled migration, temporary work and activity visas, student visas, cancellation of visas and deportation and Australian citizenship. There is a chapter on the review of migration decisions. Within that chapter, judicial review of migration decisions is covered within 3 pages.

Given that level of commendable brevity, the Immigration Kit is unlikely to serve as the only point of reference for those practicing in this area of law. However, it is a useful and easily digestible book that will be particularly helpful to those encountering an area of immigration law for the first time.

A notable feature is that, for each type of visa, a text box is provided that lists the relevant migration regulations, legislative instruments, ministerial directions, other legislation and forms.

The book is current as at 31 September 2021 and, particularly given the pace of developments in this area of law, practitioners will need to check that any parts of the text relied upon are still current.

The Immigration Kit has come a long way from the first edition, published in 1991 as a ring binder folder. A digital edition is to launch online in 2025 with a new, interactive Q&A tool and search bar with a smart search capability. 

More information about the digital edition is available here.