How Arcare Managed Complex Immigration Risk And Built Recruitment Capability Across Critical Workforce Cases

Arcare operates in a workforce environment where immigration support needs to be accurate, responsive, and commercially aware. In 2025, Roam Migration Law supported Arcare across a series of matters that raised detailed Department of Home Affairs requirements, urgent timing pressures, evolving applicant facts, and refusal risk.

These were not routine files. They required careful legal assessment, practical advice, and clear decisions about when to proceed, how to respond, and when risk was too high to accept.

Roam supported Arcare across approvals, workforce continuity, risk management, and decision-making on complex matters, while also equipping its recruitment team with practical tools for future use.

“Roam Migration Law has helped Arcare sponsor critical roles across the business, secure hard-to-fill positions, and strengthen workforce capacity, while also supporting individuals to build long-term careers and stability in Australia.”

Tim Phillips

National Recruitment Manager, Arcare Aged Care

The Challenge

Arcare was managing a range of employer sponsored and related visa matters across its workforce. While many applications moved forward in the usual course, several cases raised more difficult issues that required closer legal attention and a more strategic response.

These matters included:

• A case that required re-lodgement after refusal, linked to historical trust documentation.
• A Subclass 186 matter requiring a detailed and technically accurate response to a Department request for information.
• A matter involving changing facts presented by the applicant, creating refusal risk that needed to be escalated to Arcare before further steps were taken.
• Additional matters involving Form 80 support, procedural irregularities, urgent processing requests, and nomination finalisation issues.

Alongside these live matters, Arcare’s recruitment team also needed clearer internal guidance on key sponsorship and visa pathway issues to support consistent decision-making in future cases.

Each issue carried different legal and operational consequences. Arcare needed clear advice aligned with Department requirements and practical workforce realities.

The Roam Approach

Roam worked closely with Arcare across these matters on a case by case basis, applying detailed legal analysis and practical judgement to each file. Our work included:

• Reassessing refused and high risk matters against current Department requirements.
• Preparing targeted supporting material for complex cases and Department follow up.
• Drafting a strong request for information response on a Subclass 186 matter.
• Escalating refusal risk early where changing applicant facts affected case viability.
• Supporting urgent processing requests where timing was important to workforce planning.
• Guiding Arcare on when to proceed, how to respond, and when the risk profile did not support moving forward.
• Providing practical training and future reference tools to Arcare’s recruitment team.

These training materials were designed to give Arcare’s team practical guidance they could use beyond the immediate matters at hand, helping improve consistency and internal confidence across future recruitment activity.

The focus was broader than approval outcomes alone. It was about protecting Arcare’s position, reducing avoidable risk, building internal capability, and keeping decisions clear at each stage.

The Outcome

Across these matters, Arcare achieved strong outcomes in cases that required more than routine handling.

Key outcomes included:

• Approval of a Subclass 186 case within one day of Department assessment after submission of a detailed request for information response.
• Successful re-lodgement and approval in a matter affected by an earlier refusal, with the relevant government fee waived.
• Expedited finalisation of a Subclass 482 matter within seven days.
• Multiple approvals across Subclass 482, 186, and 407 matters.
• Early identification and escalation of refusal risk in a matter where changing applicant facts created unacceptable exposure, allowing Arcare to avoid proceeding on a weak basis.
• Tailored support on technically demanding issues, including Form 80 assistance and complex documentation.
• Practical training resources delivered to support Arcare’s recruitment team in managing recurring visa and sponsorship questions more confidently.

Client Impact

For Arcare, the value of this work was not limited to visa approvals.

It meant difficult matters were assessed properly. Risk was identified early. Strong cases were advanced with care. Weaker cases were tested before unnecessary exposure developed.

It also meant Arcare’s recruitment team had clearer internal guidance on labour market testing and visa pathways for key roles, supported by practical cheat sheets and targeted training materials they could refer back to.

This gave Arcare clearer decision-making across complex immigration matters, reduced uncertainty in live workforce cases, and stronger internal capability to support hard-to-fill roles across the business.

"Working with Roam Migration Law has been a positive experience for Arcare. The team understands the pace and pressure of recruitment in aged care, and their advice is always clear, responsive and easy to work with. We have valued their support across individual matters, training and practical guidance for our recruitment team. Roam has been a trusted partner, and we appreciate the care and professionalism they bring to their work."

Tim Phillips

National Recruitment Manager, Arcare Aged Care

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