Farid Varess

Farid Varess was admitted to legal practice in 2002. He has been an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law since 2010, included on the Best Lawyers in Australia list for Immigration Law since 2013, included on the Best Lawyers in Australia list for Human Rights Law list since 2014, and listed in the Doyle’s Guide list of Leading Immigration Lawyers in NSW since it was first published in 2021. Farid has extensive experience in immigration litigation matters, regularly providing advice and representation in relation to matters in the: • Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia; • Federal Court of Australia; • High Court of Australia; • Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), and its predecessors. Farid has also advised and assisted with applications for a very wide range of visas and other approvals under Australian immigration law, including those by employers, investors, skilled migrants, partners and other family-based visa applicants, students, asylum seekers and refugees, and national innovation visa applicants. He also has significant experience in related administrative law areas, including requests for access to documents under Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) and regularly acts in IC review applications submitted to the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and associated tribunal review applications. As part of his work, Farid advises and assists clients facing a possible or actual unfavourable decision, such as those who do not clearly meet visa criteria, clients with health or character issues, those facing a visa refusal or cancellation, and employers subject to a notice of intention to take action or sanction notice. Farid has acted for clients detained in and been to many of Australia’s immigration detention facilities, including Christmas Island IDC, Perth IDC and Villawood IDC. He has also advised and assisted clients with migration related compensation claims. Farid regularly presents/chairs Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions for immigration lawyers and registered migration agents, and other conferences, including: • Law Council of Australia, 2025 Immigration Law Seminar, Challenging airport visa cancellation decisions and obtaining injunctions, 17 October 2025. • Legalwise Seminars, Immigration Law Conference 2024, Chair, 18 March 2024. • Legalwise Seminars, Visas Under the New Regime and Judicial Review, Chair, 8 September 2023. • Legalwise Seminars’ 9th Annual Immigration Law Conference, Chair, Sessions 2 and 3, 17 March 2022. • Legalwise Seminars’ 8th Annual Immigration Law Symposium, Chair, Session 2, 18 March 2021. • UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Conference 2016, From refugee emergency to protracted exile: The role of “time” in international protection, Panel 1 – Time and refugee status determination, Chair, 18 November 2016. His publications include: • Lexis Nexis, Federal Civil Litigation Precedents, Immigration chapter, co-author, November 2019. • Lexis Nexis, Practical Guidance Social Justice, Australian Humanitarian Immigration, Onshore humanitarian program, February 2017. • HC Online TV, New 400 visa changes and you, 2014. • Lexis Nexis, Practical Guidance Social Justice, Australian Humanitarian Immigration, Offshore humanitarian program, November 2013. • Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC), The Immigration Kit, 9th Edition, Chapter 7, Bridging Visas, 2012. • IARC, Immigration News, Issue 94, DIAC policy on “exceptional circumstances” is inconsistent with legislation, 2010. • IARC, Immigration News, Issue 88, Mischief, Inadvertence, Certainty, 2009. • Commercial Law Association of Australia, Commercial Law Quarterly, “The Buck Stops at the Board”? An Examination of Directors’ (& Other) Duties in Light of the HIH Collapse, 2002. • College of Law, Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax Practice Papers, co-author, 2002. Farid has provided pro bono advice under the former Administrative ReviewTtribunal's Migration Duty Solicitor Program and volunteered with the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) and IARC. Additionally, Farid understands Persian.