Nepali migration agent in Australia — talk to Keshab in Nepali

Who Keshab is

Keshab Chapagain is originally from Nepal, came to Australia as an international student in 2007, and has practised as a Registered Migration Agent in Sydney since 2015 (MARN 1576536 — verify on the OMARA register). He is the sole agent at WIDEN: the person you speak to in Nepali is the person who prepares and lodges your matter. He also teaches other registered agents, writing OMARA-approved CPD on employer sponsorship, and runs SponsorTalent, a free marketplace where Australian employers approved to sponsor find workers.

The pathways Nepalis most often ask about

Student visa to permanent residence

The most common conversation. The route is the subclass 500, then the 485 Temporary Graduate visa, then one of three doors: a points-tested skilled visa (189, 190 or 491), employer sponsorship on the 482, or the regional employer-sponsored 494. Each door needs something started during the 485, not after it: a skills assessment in an occupation that is actually on a list, an English result at the right band, work in the nominated occupation, or a move to a designated regional area. The consultation maps which door is realistic for your occupation and points, and in what order to do things. The points calculator and the state nomination tracker give you the free first read.

Regional: 491 and 494

Everywhere outside Greater Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is designated regional, including Newcastle, Wollongong, the Central Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin. The 491 adds 15 points and is nominated by a state; the 494 is sponsored by a regional employer; both lead to the permanent 191 after three years of living and working regionally. For many Nepali graduates in Sydney with a points score that will not reach an invitation, the regional move is the pathway that exists, and it is better decided early than after years of waiting.

Partner visas

Partner visas (820/801 onshore, 309/100 offshore, and the 300 prospective marriage visa) are decided on evidence of the relationship across four pillars: financial, household, social and commitment. Relationships that are genuine still get refused when the evidence is thin or the story is inconsistent across forms, so the preparation is about the evidence set, not the form-filling. The application charge is A$11,710 from 1 July 2026; it is worth doing once, properly.

Parent visas

Bringing parents from Nepal is a question of queues and money more than eligibility. The contributory 143 costs tens of thousands per parent and still takes many years; the non-contributory queue is far longer; the sponsored parent 870 is temporary but gives up to ten years in Australia without a permanent-residence queue. The parent visa guide compares them; the consultation is often about which one fits the family's money and timeline, and whether a long-stay visitor visa is the practical interim.

Sponsorship by Nepali-owned businesses

Restaurants and cafés, aged-care and disability providers, cleaning companies, transport and logistics operators and small retail chains in the community sponsor workers on the 482 and 494 regularly, and WIDEN acts for both the business and the worker. The business needs Standard Business Sponsorship approval, a genuine full-time position in an occupation on the Core Skills list, a salary at or above the A$79,423 threshold and the market rate for the role, and labour market testing done the Department's way. Aged-care workers can be sponsored under the industry labour agreement with a Certificate III, which has opened the door for many Nepali carers; the aged care sponsorship guide covers it. Employers: how to sponsor a worker and the full cost of sponsoring. Workers looking for a sponsor: a free profile on SponsorTalent, and how to find employer sponsorship.

Why applications from the community get refused

• Student visas: the genuine student requirement: a course change that does not fit the study history, financial evidence that does not add up, or a statement that reads as a migration plan rather than a study plan.
• 482 and 494 nominations: a position that looks created for the visa, a salary below the threshold or the market rate, or labour market testing that was done but not done correctly. The 482 nomination refusal page lists the patterns.
• Partner visas: thin evidence in one of the four pillars, or inconsistencies between the two partners' forms and statements.
• Skilled visas: claiming points that the skills assessment or employment evidence does not support, or an occupation not on the list for the visa applied for.
• Any visa: an unmentioned prior refusal, a breached visa condition, or incorrect answers to character and health questions. These follow you to every later application, so get advice before lodging, not after the refusal.

If a visa has already been refused, the ART review deadline is usually 28 days and cannot be extended. Bring the decision record to the consultation; the review is built on its exact reasons.

A caution about free advice

In every migrant community, ours included, there is a market of unregistered "consultants" and confident friends. Some are kind and wrong; some are neither. The law is plain: only OMARA-registered agents and Australian lawyers may give migration advice — and a wrong move on a visa can cost the government charge (from A$4,015 on a 482), the review deadline, or the pathway itself. Check anyone's MARN on the register before trusting your future to them. That includes checking mine.

Fees and booking

$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes with Keshab on Zoom — in Nepali, Hindi or English — credited in full toward your fee if you engage the practice, with a written summary afterwards. Complex matters (refusals, family, several pathways) take the extended hour at $550. Fixed professional fees for the common matters are published on the fees page. Book here →. Looking for an employer first? Start free at SponsorTalent. In Sydney and prefer to meet? The office is in Campsie.