Not long ago, an email landed in Corina Chen's inbox. It was from a former client, a man she had guided to permanent residency in Australia. Attached was a photo of his newborn daughter. He and his wife had just welcomed their first child, and he wanted Chen to be among the people who knew.

"It was so nice to know that I've made such an impact that they wanted to share that update with me," she says. "It was a good reminder of why I do this work and why I love what I do."

For Chen, a partner at the Brisbane law firm Mullins, that photo captures something she returns to again and again. Immigration is rarely about the document itself.

"Immigration outcomes are not just administrative outcomes. They can shape the trajectory of entire lives."

How Corina Chen Found Her Way Into Immigration Law

Chen did not set out to become an immigration lawyer. What pulled her in, and what has kept her there, is how personal the work is. As she describes it, immigration law sits at the intersection of people's careers, families, identities, and futures.

She realised early that the legal outcome is only one part of what clients want. "What they're actually seeking is certainty, stability, opportunity, and often a sense of belonging," she says.

The strategic dimension hooked her too. Many people assume immigration is mostly forms and processes, she notes, but the gap between success and failure usually comes down to judgment, planning, and understanding how the system works in practice. Over time she gravitated toward employer sponsorship and corporate mobility, work that offers a wider view. "You're not just helping individuals," she says. "You're helping businesses grow and helping countries solve real skill shortages."

From Receptionist to Partner at Mullins

Chen's legal career began at the front desk. Before she had a law degree, she worked as a receptionist at a law firm. She left to study law, returned to that same firm as a law student to complete her practical legal training, stayed on as a junior lawyer, and worked her way up to senior associate over roughly seven years.

Then came an offer from Mullins. The move made sense because the firm aligned with what she wanted to achieve for her clients and for her own career. She joined as a senior associate, advanced to special counsel, and became a partner in 2022.

Asked what she did right to climb that far, Chen resists the idea of a formula. "I don't think there's a magic recipe," she says. For her, it came down to finding work she was genuinely passionate about.

The Mistake That Holds Junior Lawyers Back

That passion has a sharper edge to it: a clear view of where younger lawyers tend to go wrong. One of the biggest mistakes a junior immigration lawyer can make, in Chen's view, is assuming the field is purely technical. The legislation matters, of course. But technical knowledge alone is not enough.

"The strongest immigration lawyers develop their commercial awareness, emotional intelligence, and strategic judgment," she says.

Communication sits at the centre of that. Clients are often facing life-changing decisions under enormous stress, and clarity and empathy matter as much as legal technical skill. But empathy is not simply an innate trait. Chen believes it is developed by taking the time to understand what is truly at stake for clients beyond the visa application itself.

“Behind every matter is a person, a family, a career, or a business trying to achieve something important. The more you understand what the client is actually trying to accomplish, the better equipped you are to guide them through the process.”

Her advice to junior lawyers is to spend time listening to their clients, to remain curious about their clients’ circumstances, and to remember that immigration outcomes affect far more than their legal status.

Immigration law changes constantly because it reflects economic conditions, labour markets, and global movement, and lawyers who want to thrive long term must stay genuinely engaged with that bigger picture.

Why Corporate Mobility Is a Growth Strategy, Not a Quick Fix

At Mullins, a commercial law firm, Chen's immigration practice splits into two streams. On the corporate side, she helps businesses secure visas for their workforce, navigate skill shortages, and bring in global talent. On the private client side, she helps families reunite, partners stay, skilled individuals migrate independently, and clients pursue Australian citizenship.

Across the corporate work, she sees one error more than any other. "A lot of the time they look at migration as a quick fix," she says, "but in reality, they need to deal with that as a long-term workforce planning solution."

The encouraging news is that this is shifting. Businesses are becoming more strategic, Chen says, and increasingly recognise immigration as part of a broader workforce planning and growth strategy rather than a narrow HR function.

"It's not just a HR function anymore. Businesses are starting to see immigration as part of a broader workforce planning and growth strategy."

When pressed on her favourite visa to work on, Chen lights up on two fronts. Technically, she loves employer sponsorship for its many moving parts and for the window it gives her into how a business really operates. Emotionally, parent visas and family reunion cases are the ones that stay with her.

Inside Australia's Tightening Scrutiny of Skilled Visas

Recent changes have made strategy even more important. Chen points to a clear trend of increased scrutiny on visa applications, particularly around employer sponsorship and temporary visas such as the 482 Skills in Demand Visa and the 407 Training Visa.

"Applications are no longer just assessed at face value," she says. Decision makers now look closely at the genuineness of an application: the business operations, what the labour market actually needs, and whether the occupation being sponsored genuinely aligns with what the business does and where it is heading.

The 407 Training Visa offers a concrete example. The visa involves three separate stages: applying for the business to be approved as a sponsor, nominating a position for the worker, and lodging the visa itself. Employers used to be able to lodge all three stages on the same day and let them process at the same time. Under the recent change, each application must be approved before the next can be lodged, which adds real time to the process. For Chen, the lesson is consistent. Plan ahead.

Corina Chen's Strategic Playbook for Australian Employers

If Chen has one piece of advice for employers, it is to start planning early – well before a role becomes critical. "Before that project deadline comes up, before you are desperate to find someone to fill a vacancy," she says. Six to 12 months of lead time is ideal. Even three to six months gives her enough room to map a realistic path and find ways to bridge any gap.

Timing is not the only lever. The nationality of a candidate can change a timeline significantly. Sponsorship under the Skills in Demand 482 Visa usually requires labour market testing, where an employer advertises a role for at least 28 continuous days to demonstrate a genuine shortage in the local workforce. Candidates from certain countries however, such as the United Kingdom and Japan, are exempt from that requirement, which can remove a month or more from the process.

This is why Chen encourages employers to involve their migration lawyer during recruitment, not after it. If a business is interviewing ten candidates, knowing which ones need visas, what passports they hold, and whether they are eligible for sponsorship at all can shape the hiring decision itself.

Her broader point is to look past the immediate visa. She gives the example of recruiting for a CEO position. If the chosen candidate is only eligible for a four-year temporary visa but the role is meant to be long term, that gap needs a plan, whether that means an extension, a renewal, or a permanent residency pathway. "A particular decision today might affect a future option," she says.

What Migrants Need To Know About Visa Strategy

The same principle applies to individuals. The most common mistake migrants make, Chen says, is assuming immigration is simply about eligibility on paper, when strategy and timing matter just as much.

She points to the 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa, granted for up to five years for work within a specific set of regional areas. What many holders do not realise is that the visa can effectively lock them into living and working in regional locations for three years before certain permanent residency options become available. A decision that looks straightforward today can quietly close doors later. "It might not be possible once certain buttons are pressed anymore," she says.

Another trap is relying on online information, or on what happened for a friend. Immigration law moves quickly, and what works for one person may not fit another person's circumstances. Even small inconsistencies in documentation, Chen warns, can create much larger problems further down the track.

Her advice to migrants is direct. Think long term rather than visa to visa, so that each step aligns with the bigger goal. Be proactive and organised, because immigration processes reward good preparation. And seek advice early. "Many immigration problems become harder to fix once deadlines have passed or incorrect assumptions have already shaped what the pathway looks like."

How AI Is Changing Australian Immigration Law

Technology is the other force reshaping the field, and Chen has a measured view of it. She believes AI will absolutely change immigration law, but not in the way headlines suggest. "Not the simplistic lawyers will be replaced in the way that people often imagine," she says.

Much of immigration practice is process-heavy work, including document management and information synthesis, and these are areas where AI can genuinely improve efficiency and accessibility. But the work also depends on nuance, judgment, and human context. Two people can look almost identical on paper and still have completely different risk profiles and strategic options. That kind of contextual reasoning, Chen argues, is where experienced lawyers remain essential.

"Lawyers who effectively use AI will become more valuable, not less valuable."

Client expectations are shifting alongside the technology. People increasingly expect faster communication, clearer information, and more transparent processes, and the firms and migration lawyers that embrace technology will be the ones that deliver a better client experience.

The Human Impact That Keeps Corina Chen in the Work

For all the talk of legislation, timelines, and strategy, Chen keeps returning to people. She does not have a single success story, she says, so much as an overall feeling that has built up over years.

Clients often arrive overwhelmed, sometimes convinced they have no viable pathway forward, sometimes carrying years of conflicting advice or past visa refusals. Then, years later, she watches them become permanent residents and citizens. They build careers, buy homes, raise families, and genuinely establish their lives in Australia.

Which brings her back to that photo of a newborn daughter, sent by a client who wanted her to share the moment. For Chen, it is proof that the work is never really about the form.

"Those moments where you can see the impact you've made on a person's life, it stays with you," she says. "You give someone the hope of an opportunity."