Migration Law Training Presenters

Ahmad Shady is a highly regarded migration agent in Australia, and is often consulted by peers about complex or difficult cases. He holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and a Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law from Australia National University.

Prior to his career as a migration agent in Australia, Shady had a successful career as an international IT consultant working for blue chip firms including Ericsson, Vodafone and Hewlett-Packard. He became a registered migration agent in 2015 and quickly became well-known in the industry for his willingness to help others solve complex immigration problems and his deep knowledge of migration law.

A foremost immigration adviser, policy expert and commentator, Alan Chanesman is founder and Managing Partner of Alan Chanesman & Partners.

Alan remains today without question the migration industry’s most accomplished and knowledgeable Labour Agreement industry mastermind in this very specialist field, most often engaged by lawyers and registered migration professionals to assist as an external Labour Agreement expert.

Acknowledged one of Australia’s leading industry authorities of the economic aspect of the Australian Migration Program and its bearing on the broader marketplace, Alan is always in demand as an insightful presenter, a leading media commentator and law educator with particular focus on the labour market, government policy settings, migration employee agreements and specialist frameworks concerning business and worker engagement.

Highly respected for his pragmatic approach, Alan is actively involved in the preparation and presentation of strategic issue papers, propositions and consultations through his involvement on various industry ‘reference groups’ and ‘think-tanks’.

Anka Sahin (MARN 0640984) is an experienced Registered Migration Agent and has been working in the field of immigration since 2005 providing high-level legal advice to individuals as well as corporations. In 2008, he became the first immigration professional in the world to hold a licence to practice in both Australia and New Zealand.

During his time in the profession, Anka has assisted thousands of individuals from more than 70 different nationalities and advised some of the most prominent corporate entities in Australia directly on employee eligibility, sponsorship obligations and compliance.

As a well-known and senior practitioner in this field, Anka places a great deal of emphasis on productive networking and on using his knowledge and experience to further the standing of the profession as a whole. He has been a CPD presenter since 2015 and enjoys the two-way interaction that is inherent in the delivery of CPD to one’s peers.

Prior to committing himself to a career in immigration, he worked for the European Union both in development-related projects and as a professional translator/interpreter and taught English in New Zealand and in Turkey at various schools and universities. Anka holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics, French and European Studies, a Master’s Degree in International Relations and is a Fellow of a number of professional organisations including the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA), the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia & New Zealand (IML) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) in the UK.

Anka speaks several languages including French, Turkish and Spanish and is a NAATI-accredited translator. He is also a keen traveller, having been to more than 80 countries on all 6 continents.

John Sutton is the principal of J Sutton Associates, a boutique criminal law firm and is a Law Society of NSW recognised Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law.

He has over twenty years experience in white collar crime, particularly ASIC compulsory investigations and related prosecutions, as well as prosecutions under the Migration Act and general criminal matters. John has decades of experience as both a prosecutor and defence lawyer, and brings experience, knowledge and balance to ensure clients get the best advice and guidance possible.

Mark Northam is Principal Solicitor at Northam Lawyers and is admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and admitted to the High Court of Australia.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Macquarie University, Graduate Diploma in Law from The College of Law, Graduate Certificate in Australia Immigration Law and Practice from Victoria University, Professional Certificate of New Zealand Immigration Law, and a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Taxation) from the University of Houston. He is a NSW Justice of the Peace.

Mark is a member of the Law Society of NSW, Law Council of Australia (Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section), City of Sydney Law Society, Australian Lawyers Alliance, Migration Institute of Australia and the Migration Alliance. Mark has published a wide variety of articles on immigration regulations including articles published by LexisNexis and others.

In addition to teaching at Migration Law Training, Mark is co-host of The Migration Show, a podcast for immigration professionals.