MEET THE TEAM
Victoria Lenton
Victoria Lenton is the Director and Principal Lawyer of Lenton Migration Law and an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law (NSW and Qld).
Experience
Victoria has a unique background: she has the benefit of a 13 year career with the Department of Home Affairs (previously Department of Immigration), including over six years on overseas diplomatic postings in South America and Africa.
She is one of only six Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law in Queensland. You can find more information about Specialist Accreditation for Lawyers here: https://www.qls.com.au/Education/Specialist-Accreditation.
Her time in the Department of Home Affairs included roles as:
- Head of the Visa and Immigration Section at the Australian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, where she was responsible for the visa program from West and Southern Africa, and the Student visa program for all of Sub-Saharan Africa;
- Deputy Head of the Visa and Immigration Section at the Australian Embassy in Santiago, Chile, responsible for the visa program for South America (including Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia);
- Manager in NSW Onshore Protection in charge of protection visa applications from South Asia, Africa, South America and Europe; and
- Assistant Director in charge of Character Policy, in the Department’s National Office.
Victoria’s has extensive and in depth experience within both the corporate and public sector which has given her an insight across the full spectrum of immigration matters.
Her high level technical expertise and diverse experience means that she is uniquely placed to provide high value and strategic immigration advice, and she has been able to obtain successful outcomes in the most complex and difficult of immigration matters.
Pro Bono And Advocacy Work
Victoria has a strong interest in pro bono migration legal work, with a particular focus on vulnerable people, including children and persons with disabilities.
She provides pro bono migration legal services on a regular basis, directly, as well as through the Queensland Prisoner’s Legal Service.
She is the Deputy Chair of the Queensland Law Society’s Migration Law Committee. She is also a member of the Queensland Law Society Access to Justice/Pro Bono Law Committee, and the Australian Law Council’s Migration Law Committee.
Training And Education
She is also strongly committed to training and development of immigration lawyers and Registered Migration Agents, and regularly provides training and mentoring in immigration law and policy.
Qualifications
Victoria has the following qualifications:
- Bachelor of Arts (International Relations), University of Queensland, 2002;
- Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), University of Queensland, 2003;
- Master of Laws (Human Rights and Social Justice), University of New South Wales, 2016;
- Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, Australian National University, 2017;
- Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland (admitted 12 June 2017);
- Solicitor of the High Court of Australia (admitted 6 July 2018); and
- Specialist Accreditation in Immigration Law (accredited through the Law Society of NSW).
- Conversational Spanish
Spencer Dang
Spencer Dang is a lawyer with Lenton Migration Law.
Experience
Spencer Dang is a highly qualified migration lawyer, completing his Master of Australian Migration Law and Practice in 2021. He speaks intermediate/advanced Japanese.
Like Victoria, he comes to his career as a migration lawyer with diverse work experience, including:
- 6 years working in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET Programme), a highly competitive initiative aimed at promoting international exchange between Japan and other nations through English education; and
- 5 years working as a customer service specialist for the Commonwealth Bank Australia.
He also brings direct and personal life experience in the immigration and citizenship legal system, as the son of refugee parents in Australia. He lived overseas in Japan from 2015 to 2021, so he understands the pressures and challenges of moving to a new country.
Spencer’s wealth of life and work experience, as well as his high level migration law qualifications mean that he is a highly empathetic, compassionate and skilled migration lawyer, with strong technical and customer service skills.
Qualifications
Spencer has the following qualifications:
- Bachelor of Arts (Japanese), University of Queensland, 2014
- Bachelor of Laws, University of Queensland, 2014
- Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, Queensland University of Technology, 2015
- Master of Australian Migration Law and Practice, 2021 and
- Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland (admitted 7 June 2021).
Raihanah Elgafi
Raihanah Elgafi is a Law Clerk with Lenton Migration Law .
Experience
Raihanah is a recent law graduate from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
She is currently completing her Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the College of Law, with the aim to become a fully qualified and admitted solicitor by the end of 2024.
She has a particular passion for immigration law, having previously worked at Fragomen in Sydney as a Business Immigration Assistant. She has also volunteered for the Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS).
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Science, University of Technology Sydney, 2022
- Intermediate/advanced Bahasa (Indonesian)
- Intermediate Arabic