Acacia Staff Profiles

Mark Webster, Director

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Mark Webster is the Founder and Director of Acacia Immigration Australia and President of the Migration Institute of Australia NSW/ACT and MIA National Treasurer. He has a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Sydney, and a Bachelor of Science (Hons, University Medal majoring in Pure Mathematics) also from the same university.

Mark has been a Registered Migration Agent since 1999, and a member of the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) since 2001.

Mark frequently presents seminars on Australian Immigration Law for IARC, the MIA and for Acacia Immigration. He has also presented for the University of NSW, and worked on the General Skilled Migration topic for the MIA's migration agent entry course. He was a major author of the MIA submission to the Joint Senate Committee on Migration on skills assessment.

A recognised expert in the field, Mr. Webster has been quoted in print numerous times, including in Phillipe Legrain's 2007 book, Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them(Princeton University Press).

Mark wrote the chapters on General Skilled Migration and Temporary Workers for the current edition of the Immigration Kit (Federation Press), which is the definitive Immigration Law textbook used by migration agents.

Natalya Khodan, Associate

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Natalya is a Registered Migration Agent and a member of the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) since 2008. She has completed a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice from Australian National University in Canberra in 2007. She also has a Bachelor of International Business from the Ukrainian Government University, a Diploma in Management and a Certificate III in IT from the International College of Business & Technology.

She mainly specializes in ENS, temporary business sponsorship (457s) and skilled offshore visas. Natalya's knowledge of migration law allows her to work with companies as well as individuals. Natalya is professional, extremely organised, motivated and dedicated to her clients' needs. Her main goal is to meet any client expectation.

Natalya understands that the migration process can be very complicated if not stressful as she migrated to Australia from the Ukraine in 2001. This helps her to understand her client better than anyone else. She is also fluent in Russian and Ukrainian languages.

Aki Takahata, Registered Migration Agent

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Aki Takahata completed his law degrees both at Kyushu University in Japan and the University of New South Wales in Australia. After admission to the Supreme Court of New South Wales as a legal practitioner he practiced as a commercial lawyer at several Sydney CBD law firms before moving to the area of immigration law. Aki has experience in all visa areas including Employer nomination, Business Temporary, Spouse and Parents visas with a special focus on General Skilled Migration.

Sarah Kabbara, Solicitor and Migration Agent

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Sarah is a Solicitor and Registered Migration Agent. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Sydney as well as a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Western Sydney. She was admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of NSW in July 2009 and holds a current NSW practicing certificate.

Sarah has extensive experience in ENS and 457 visas, general skilled migration visas and family sponsored visas. She has handled over 100 successful cases since starting at Acacia Immigration in October 2007.

April Nurse, Paralegal

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April is a Registered Migration Agent, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pune, a Master in Logistics from the University of Wollongong, Postgraduate Certificate in Human Resources Management from ACAP, and a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice from ANU. She moved to Australia in November 2002, and is now an Australian citizen. She has first hand experience of studying in Australia and migration to Australia.

Justin Kowalski, Head of Business Development and Customer Relations

Justin is a graduate with distinction in International Relations and Politics from the University of New South Wales.

Originally from the United States, Justin came to Acacia as an international student and never left! Assisting with corporate and overseas development as well as our ongoing and one-of-a kind 'Acacia-on Campus' concept, he is proud to assist fellow internationals in achieving their dreams of prosperity in Australia.

Lara Arcos, Business Development - South America

Lara worked with Acacia Immigration during her studies in Australia, finishing a Masters in Business Law at the University of Sydney in 2009. Lara has returned home to Argentina and continues to work with Acacia in expanding our service to the Latin American Market.

Chrissye Wirya, Sales Coordinator

Chrissye is a sales coordinator at Acacia Immigration Australia. Her role is to be the first point of contact for clients seeking immigration advice - arranging face to face consultations and liaising with clients wishing to use our full visa application service. She has worked at Acacia since September 2008. She has an Advanced Diploma in IT & a Diploma in Business Marketing.

Originally from Indonesia, she decided to migrate and live in Australia upon her arrival here in year 2000.