Principal solicitor of Visa Lawyers Australia, Aristotle Paipetis, began his legal career in litigation and corporate dispute resolution, but was always interested in Immigration law. After working in litigation law in both Australia and then London, Mr Paipetis returned to Australia and in 2000 made the move into immigration and citizenship law.

“I went into this area because I found it quite a direct way of assisting people who are in obvious need of help…from my own point of view I find it quite challenging and personally rewarding to see that people can stay or come to Australia”.

The German born lawyer hails from Greek origins with his father born in the Greek town of Amflohia, and his mother from a village called Vrohista, just outside of Pyrgos.

“I came out (to Australia) on a ship when I was two years old. My Mum and Dad met and married in Germany and then when I was two we all came out here”. Mr Paipetis says he has revisited Greece on a couple of occasions and even lived there for four years while undertaking tertiary studies.

Today the solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia, and registered migration agent, works extensively representing international students, who he believes are a vastly underrepresented group.

Mr Paipetis initially began representing international students after being approached by an international student representative from the University of Sydney who felt international students were being racially discriminated against, because local students were entitled to travel concessions while the international students weren’t.

“I looked into the case, decided to take it on, we did and we were successful in NSW. And incredibly the NSW government ultimately accepted that it was discriminating against international students and had done so for over 15 years, and had reaped the rewards of millions of dollars in the process,” he said.

As a result, Mr Paipetis said the government changed the law and legalised the discrimination. And from here, the rest is history, Mr Paipetis told Neos Kosmos.

“Early on it was possible for me to identify and assist with these causes, and since that time I’ve continued to assist international students with these types of cases, with their enrolment or education providers, whether they be universities or private colleges, who perhaps may not be doing the right thing.”

Mr Paipetis was in Hobart last weekend for an international student’s conference, where he made presentations on changes to immigration laws that affect international students, and international student’s rights, which he says is about obligations that education providers have towards international students and how immigration laws interplay.

Mr Paipetis said a key issue that international students face is they have all these entitlements, but the students and the student representatives aren’t informed of them.

“In Hobart I was advising student representatives on how they could assist international students who get into trouble with their universities or private colleges,” Mr Paipetis said.

“In the last few years we’ve seen quite a few changes. On one view you can understand why the government introduces these sorts of changes, but on the other hand the way that they’re introduced and implemented is really unfair, and it leaves students who have had to borrow money in the lurch,” Mr Paipetis said.

“For a long time expectations have arisen with people applying for student visas to come here (to Australia), believing that they’ll be able to get permanent residency, and the unfairness comes into it when the government introduces changes and says it affects everyone, whether you’re here or coming in the future, and for those that are already here; that is tough,” he says. Asked if his personal experience as a migrant influenced his career path Mr Paipetis said he had never considered this until it was pointed out to him.

“Somebody suggested to me a few years ago that perhaps I’d gone into this area because I am a migrant myself and perhaps I identify with migrants; I don’t know if that’s the truth,” he muses.

“I went into this area because I found it quite a direct way of assisting people who are in obvious need of help… from my own point of view I find it quite challenging and personally rewarding to see that people can stay or come to Australia”.