Fill Out Home Affairs Form 956 Online
Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person
Department of Home Affairs
Notify Home Affairs that a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person will provide immigration assistance for your application.
Reviewed July 2026
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Form 956, Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person, tells the Department of Home Affairs that someone has been appointed to provide immigration assistance for a client's matter and, where indicated, to receive documents on the client's behalf. It is also used to notify the Department when such an appointment ends.
The form is completed by the representative rather than the client, although the client signs a declaration confirming the appointment. A separate Form 956 must be completed for each matter, such as each visa application. You can fill in the fields on this page and download the completed PDF for lodgement with the relevant application or office.
What Form 956 is used for
Under the Migration Act 1958, a person gives immigration assistance if they use, or claim to use, knowledge or experience in migration procedure to help someone with a migration matter, most commonly a visa application, a visa cancellation process or a sponsorship process. Form 956 puts the Department on notice about who is providing that assistance, so the representative can act in the matter and, if appointed as authorised recipient, receive the Department's correspondence.
The form can also record the end of an appointment, including withdrawal of an appointment as authorised recipient, in which case the client completes a declaration confirming the withdrawal is made with their authority. Simply filling in a form for someone, translating, or passing on information without comment does not count as immigration assistance.
Who can be appointed
Only three kinds of people can lawfully provide immigration assistance in Australia, and Form 956 can only be used by them.
- Registered migration agents: people registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). Agents operating in Australia must be registered, and the OMARA website at www.mara.gov.au explains how to find one.
- Legal practitioners: lawyers holding an Australian practising certificate, whether restricted or unrestricted, granted under the law of a state or territory.
- Exempt persons: close family members such as a spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, sponsors or nominators, members of parliament and their staff, certain officials, and members of diplomatic missions, consular posts or international organisations.
- An exempt person must not charge a fee for immigration assistance. Charging a fee is an offence with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment.
How to fill out Form 956
The representative completes the form with their own details and the client's details, indicating whether the appointment covers immigration assistance only or also appointment as authorised recipient. If the representative is also the authorised recipient, the Department will send documents about the matter to them instead of the client.
- Representative details: name, organisation if applicable, contact details, and the Migration Agent Registration Number (MARN) or Legal Practitioner Number (LPN) where relevant.
- The matter: identify the application or matter, including a Request ID or Transaction Reference Number where you have one.
- Client details: name, date of birth and contact details, or the organisation and contact person where the client is a business.
- Dependent applicants: everyone listed on the form is treated as having appointed the same representative, and as authorised recipient where indicated.
- Declarations: the representative declares the appointment, and the client signs to confirm it.
How to lodge Form 956
Lodge the completed form with the application or matter it relates to. For online applications, the usual route is to attach the form in ImmiAccount, and ImmiAccount also lets representatives record their appointment electronically for applications they lodge; for paper or existing matters, provide the form to the office of the Department handling the matter.
Do not use Form 956 if the person is only being appointed to receive documents and will not provide immigration assistance; that is what Form 956A, Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient, is for. Home Affairs forms are version dated, so check the official website for the current version before lodging.
Frequently asked questions
The registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person completes the form, and the client signs a declaration confirming the appointment. The form can only be used by those three categories of representative.
Yes. A separate Form 956 must be completed for each matter, so a representative acting on two applications for the same client lodges two forms.
Form 956 appoints someone to provide immigration assistance, optionally also as authorised recipient. Form 956A only appoints or withdraws an authorised recipient, someone who receives documents but does not provide immigration assistance.
A close family member, such as a spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, can be an exempt person, as can sponsors and nominators. Exempt persons must not charge a fee; doing so is a criminal offence in Australia.
Search the register on the OMARA website at www.mara.gov.au. Migration agents operating in Australia must be registered with the OMARA, and registered agents have a seven-digit MARN you can verify.
The representative can notify the Department on Form 956 or in writing that the appointment has ended. Withdrawing an appointment as authorised recipient requires the client's authority, confirmed by the client's declaration on the form or by using Form 956A.
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