Paralegal migration to Australia: which ANZSCO code, which visa

"Paralegal" covers at least four different ANZSCO codes, and they reach very different visas — from one that only supports a subclass 494, to one that reaches six. None of them reaches a subclass 189. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 "Paralegal" isn't one code —
  2. 0:13 Four codes
  3. 0:34 Law Clerk (599214) reaches
  4. 0:49 Law Clerk (599214) does NOT reach
  5. 0:59 Legal Secretary and Conveyancer
  6. 1:17 271299 reaches the widest range
  7. 1:34 None of the four reaches
  8. 1:45 The code must match
  9. 1:57 A realistic pathway:
  10. 2:10 Where to read more

Transcript

Planning to migrate as a paralegal? There isn't one ANZSCO code for that — there are at least four, and they don't reach the same visas.

The four codes people are classified under: Law Clerk, ANZSCO five nine nine two one four. Legal Secretary, five two one two one two. Conveyancer, five nine nine one one one. And Judicial and Other Legal Professionals not elsewhere classified, two seven one two nine nine.

Law Clerk, ANZSCO 599214, is the most common classification for general paralegal work. It sits on the Regional Occupation List only. The only visa it reaches is the subclass 494.

That means no subclass 482, no 186, and no 189 through the Law Clerk code — whatever a law firm might tell you.

Legal Secretary, 521212, and Conveyancer, 599111, reach further. Both sit on the Regional Occupation List and the Core Skills Occupation List, which supports the 186, the 482, and the 494.

The broadest of the four is Judicial and Other Legal Professionals nec, 271299. It reaches the 186, the 190, the 407, the 482, the 491, and the 494.

None of the four codes reaches a subclass 189. That visa needs the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, and no paralegal or legal-clerk code sits on it.

The code used for sponsorship has to match the actual work performed. A role genuinely doing Law Clerk-type work can't be sponsored as a Legal Secretary just because that code reaches more visas.

A realistic pathway for genuine Legal Secretary or Conveyancer duties is 482 sponsorship with a law firm. Moving toward solicitor admission afterwards is handled as a separate, later step.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.

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