Form 956 appoints your migration lawyer 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? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian legal practitioner | 956 | The lawyer, with your declaration | Yes |
| Friend or relative who only receives letters | 956A | You | No, unless separately authorised |
| Changing your recipient | New 956A | You | — |
| Ending a lawyer's appointment | 956 (Part B) or a letter | The lawyer, or you in writing | — |
What is Form 956 for a Carer visa?
Form 956 for a Carer visa is the Department's form that appoints your migration lawyer (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 or a legal practitioner.
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 lawyer, 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 lawyer 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 it reasonably suspects of giving immigration assistance without being entitled to, if it 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 a lawyer's appointment, use Form 956 Part B or a letter.
- 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 or a lawyer's practising certificate can 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?
An Australian legal practitioner, which means a lawyer holding a practising certificate granted under a state or territory law, is the person you appoint on Form 956 to give immigration assistance on a Carer visa.
Form 956 is the Department's record that the person acts for you, so the appointment has to name a lawyer who is entitled to give immigration assistance (Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 280). A migration lawyer appointed on the form can answer the Department's letters, meet its deadlines and represent you at review. Why an Australian migration lawyer makes a Carer visa grant more likely is set out 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.
An Australian migration lawyer 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. An Australian migration lawyer 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 caseRelated guides
ImmiAccount for a Carer visa: paying first and importing a paper applicationPre-pay the charge before posting, then import the application once Perth replies.
Telling the Department about changes while a Carer visa is queuedReport a new address, passport or family change in writing while you wait.
Do you need a migration lawyer for a Carer visa?Why a migration lawyer makes a Carer visa grant more likely.