Our Expert Team | James Tan Immigration Lawyer

JAMES TAN

Principal

James Tan, the principal of the firm, read law at the Middle Temple in London and was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in July 1977. He is also a member of the Malayan Bar and the Borneo Bar. In October 1989 he was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland. In September 2004 he relocated his legal practice to Victoria and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria. In mid-2013 James was awarded Fellow status of the Migration Institute of Australia (FMIA). Following a distinguished service career in the Malaysian Armed Forces, during which he attended courses in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia, James sought early retirement from the Malaysian Armed Forces in 1987 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Courses attended by James include a year each as an exchange student in the United States of America on an American Field Service (AFS) scholarship, the Royal Australian Engineers School of Military Engineering in New South Wales, the US Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) School at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in Virginia, and the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College in Kuala Lumpur.

In May 1989 James and his family moved to the Gold Coast in Australia where he began practice as a Solicitor in Queensland. In January 1996 James decided to specialise and has since practised exclusively in the area of Immigration Law as a Registered Migration Agent. He has been, and still is an active member of the Migration Institute of Australia for many years and has held the position of Secretary of the Queensland/Northern Territory Branch of the Migration Institute of Australia for two years. He was also a Principal Member of the Professional Practice Panel, a body established by the Migration Institute of Australia to provide advisory assistance to other registered migration agents and is also a past Committee Member of the Migration Institute of Australia, Victoria/Tasmania Branch.

Whilst residing in the Gold Coast, James played an active role in his church and in the Gold Coast local community. He has served 3 two-year terms as a member of the Surfers Paradise Catholic Parish Pastoral Council. He has also served as Secretary and Committee Member of several ethnic organisations including the Gold Coast Chinese Club Inc and as a Committee Member of the International Relations Advisory Committee of the Gold Coast City Council. He has also served as President of the Rotary Club of Surfers Paradise West Inc., the Gold Coast Australian Asian Association Inc., the Multicultural Communities Council (Gold Coast) Inc., the Queensland Chinese Forum Inc., and the Chinese Australian Chamber of Commerce (Gold Coast) Inc. In November 2003, James was awarded a Multicultural Service Award by the Premier of the State of Queensland, Mr. Peter Beattie for his contributions to the advancement of the ideals of multiculturalism in Queensland.

Over the years the firm of James Tan Immigration Lawyers has assisted countless clients to successfully migrate to Australia. Many of them have since become personal friends and have provided the firm with letters of appreciation and testimonials praising the firm for the quality of its service. To read samples of those letters please click on the Client’s Testimonials page or the review page of our website in our Google Business Page.

In January 2004 James relocated his practice to Melbourne to continue his practice as an Immigration Lawyer. As a respected member of the Gold Coast community and in particular of the Chinese community for nearly 16 years and now as a respected member of the Melbourne Eastern Suburbs community, and with his multi-national experience and vast experience in immigration law, James and his associates look forward to assisting any potential client to migrate to Australia.

WENDY TAN

Registered Migration Agent

James’ wife, Wendy Tan, who is also a registered migration agent, and assists James in his work. She worked for nearly 20 years working as an analyst programmer for the National Electricity Company of Malaysia. She found an interest in immigration work in early 2000 and later enrolled for the Australian Immigration Law and Practice Training Course conducted by the University of New South Wales in Sydney. She completed her training in August 2003 and obtained the Grade of Distinction for her efforts. Since then she has totally immersed herself in assisting James in many cases especially in doing critical research in more complex and difficult cases.

MELVIN CHAN

Registered Migration Agent

Another valued member of our Team is Melvin Chan, a graduate of Monash University, Melbourne, and now based in Sydney. Melvin is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ). In his successful career, Melvin has worked for large global organizations, dealing with all levels of the organizations, managing, and executing projects across risk management and finance activities. As a former migrant himself, Melvin understands the needs of potential migrants. Utilising his training, experiences and attention to detail, Melvin is passionate about helping his clients to migrate to Australia in a consultative manner and work with them to be a trusted adviser.