Form 956 and 956A for a Carer Visa: Agent or Recipient

Form 956 appoints a registered migration agent, a lawyer or an exempt person to act on a Carer visa, and Form 956A appoints an authorised recipient who only receives the Department's letters. Every letter sent to your authorised recipient counts as received by you, so the appointment has to stay current for the whole queue, which the Department estimates at 12 years for a new Carer application (as at 31 May 2026).

Your helper	Form	Who completes it	Can the Department discuss your case with them?
Registered migration agent	956	The agent, with your declaration	Yes
Australian legal practitioner	956	The lawyer, with your declaration	Yes
Exempt person, such as the sponsor or a brother	956	The exempt person, with your declaration	Yes, and they must not charge a fee
Friend or relative who only receives letters	956A	You	No, unless separately authorised
Changing your recipient	New 956A	You	—
Ending an agent's appointment	956 (Part B) or a letter	The agent, or you in writing	—

What is Form 956 for a Carer visa?

Form 956 for a Carer visa is "Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person" (design date 08/22). The person giving you immigration assistance completes it to tell the Department of Home Affairs they act for you.

One Form 956 covers one matter, and everyone listed on it, such as your partner and children, is taken to have appointed the same person. The appointee can also be named as your authorised recipient on the same form, so they receive the letters as well as act. Part B of the form ends an appointment, with your declaration confirming you authorise it.

For a paper Carer visa, Form 956 goes into the envelope with Form 47OF. In Form 47OF Part P (question 77), you tick where letters should go: to you, an authorised recipient, a migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person.

What is Form 956A for a Carer visa applicant?

Form 956A for a Carer visa applicant is "Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient" (design date 03/21). The applicant completes it to name one person who receives the Department's documents.

An authorised recipient gives no advice. The Department cannot discuss the case with them unless they are also appointed as your agent, lawyer or exempt person, or you have separately consented to disclosure. All family members listed on the form share the same recipient. Anyone in the application aged 16 or over who wants a different recipient completes a separate Form 956A.

A registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person who will also receive your letters does not use Form 956A. They are named as recipient on Form 956.

Which form does a Carer visa applicant need?

A Carer visa applicant needs Form 956 when the helper gives immigration assistance, and Form 956A when the helper only receives mail. The table at the top of this page sets out each case.

Immigration assistance means using knowledge of migration procedure to help with a visa application, as Form 956 defines it. Filling in a form for someone, translating, or passing on information "without comment or explanation" is not immigration assistance. A relative who only posts the envelope or collects letters therefore needs Form 956A at most.

Who can be an authorised recipient?

An authorised recipient for a Carer visa can be anyone you choose, but only one person at a time for an application. The Department's page on authorised recipients (updated 23 September 2024) states that you can appoint anyone to receive documents about your visa matter.

The law sets one limit. Under section 494D(5) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), the Department need not send documents to a recipient who is not a registered migration agent, if it reasonably suspects that person is giving immigration assistance and has told you so in writing.

The most recently appointed recipient receives everything, including requests for information and the decision letter, and in most cases you receive no copy. Those documents may include health and character information.

How do you change or end an appointment?

You change or end a Carer visa appointment by sending a new Form 956 or 956A to the office handling the application.

Choose the form. To change or end an authorised recipient, use Form 956A. To end an agent's or exempt person's appointment, use Form 956 Part B or a letter. To switch to a different exempt person, both you and the new appointee sign a new Form 956.
End the recipient role too. If the person you are ending was also your authorised recipient, end that appointment as well, or letters keep going to them.
Send it through the right channel. If your application is imported, upload the form in ImmiAccount, as explained in ImmiAccount for a Carer visa. If it is not, attach it to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.
Keep a copy with the date sent.

Only you can vary or withdraw the appointment. The recipient cannot, although a recipient may update their own address (s 494D(3)–(3A)).

Why does the appointment matter in a 12-year Carer visa queue?

The appointment matters in a 12-year Carer visa queue because the Department writes mainly after release, and every letter sent to an out-of-date recipient still counts as delivered to you.

After a Carer application is queued, the processing centre form says the Department makes no contact until release. Then the letters come with deadlines: requests for health examinations, police certificates and biometrics, the second instalment invoice, and the decision. If information does not arrive in time, the Department can decide with what it holds. A refusal letter delivered to your recipient starts the 28-day review period as if it had reached you. The Act's own worked example in section 494E describes exactly that case.

A recipient's email address, an agent's registration or a relative's willingness to help can all change over a decade. Updating the appointment belongs with the other updates covered in changes while a Carer visa is queued.

It is worth reviewing the appointment whenever any contact detail changes, rather than waiting for the release letter.

Who can act for you on a Carer visa?

Three kinds of people can act for you on a Carer visa:

A registered migration agent, registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. The register is at mara.gov.au.
An Australian legal practitioner: a lawyer holding a practising certificate granted under a state or territory law.
An exempt person, who must not charge a fee. This means a close family member (spouse, child, adopted child, parent, brother or sister), the sponsor or nominator, a member of parliament or their staff, a public official acting in their duties, or a member of a diplomatic mission, consular post or international organisation. Form 956 warns that an exempt person who charges a fee commits an offence, with penalties of up to 10 years in jail.

The Australian relative who sponsors the carer is an exempt person and can act without registration, provided they charge nothing. Whether a paid agent or lawyer is worth it for a Carer visa is weighed on a separate page. The appointment forms travel with Form 47OF and every other document in the paper envelope. The rest of the visa is mapped from Carer Visa Australia.

A registered professional makes a grant more likely

A decision letter or a document request sent to an out-of-date recipient still counts as received, and the 28-day review deadline runs from it. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner keeps the appointment and the contact details current across the queue, which makes it more likely every deadline is met. No adviser can promise an outcome.

Ask about your case

Form 956 and 956A for a Carer visa: agents and authorised recipients in the queue