You import a paper visa application into ImmiAccount by choosing "Import Application" and entering the application ID or Transaction Reference Number, the main applicant's date of birth, and their passport number and country, once the acknowledgement letter has arrived. For a Carer visa, ImmiAccount comes in twice: first to pre-pay the A$2,720 first instalment before Form 47OF is posted, and then to import the paper application, which Carer applicants have been able to do since 23 July 2025.
How do you pay a visa charge in ImmiAccount?
You pay a visa charge for a paper application in ImmiAccount through My Payments, then Manage Payments, then Pre-Pay Paper Service, according to the Department of Home Affairs page on paying for a paper application (updated 4 September 2025).
- Log in to ImmiAccount, or create an individual account. A family member or a friend helping with the application can create one too.
- Open "Manage payments" and select "Pre-pay Paper Service".
- Enter the required details. An applicant with only one name enters it in both the family name and the given name fields.
- Pay by credit or debit card registered for 3D Secure, by PayPal or by UnionPay. The surcharge is 1.40% on cards, 1.01% on PayPal and 1.90% on UnionPay.
- Note the receipt number and print the receipt.
For a single carer paying by card, the A$2,720 first instalment plus the 1.40% surcharge comes to A$2,758.08. Paying with someone else's card needs that person's permission. An applicant outside Australia who cannot pay online checks the visa office for their location for other payment options.
Why pay through ImmiAccount before posting a Carer visa?
You pay through ImmiAccount before posting a Carer visa because the application is valid only if proof of the full first instalment travels with Form 47OF. Form 47OF (design date 07/26) states that an application without the full first instalment is not valid. Its question 79 asks for the ImmiAccount receipt number, with a copy of the printed receipt attached.
No personal cheques or cash are accepted for paper applications lodged in Australia. The payment can come from the sponsor or another relative, because ImmiAccount allows payment for other applicants.
Can a paper Carer visa application be imported?
Yes, a paper Carer visa application can be imported into ImmiAccount after the acknowledgement letter arrives, for both the subclass 116 and the subclass 836. The Department's notice reads: "From 23 July 2025, applicants for Other Family subclasses 114, 115, 116, 835, 836 and 838 can import their paper application into ImmiAccount."
Importing does not change how the application was made. It stays a paper application, lodged in Perth. What changes is access: after importing, the subclass 836 page lists attaching documents, viewing messages, updating details, seeing the status, applying for a bridging visa and withdrawing the application.
How do you import a Carer visa application?
You import a Carer visa application by choosing "Import Application" in ImmiAccount and entering the main applicant's details from the acknowledgement letter.
- Wait for the acknowledgement letter. The Department acknowledges new Carer applications in approximately 5 weeks (as at 31 May 2026).
- Log in to ImmiAccount.
- Choose "Import Application".
- Enter the application ID (or TRN), the main applicant's date of birth, and the passport number and country. The Carer visa pages also accept an ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage number as the identity document.
- Choose "Confirm". The application then shows in your ImmiAccount.
Each application can be imported no more than three times, according to the Department's page on applying and managing an application in ImmiAccount (updated 21 August 2026).
Which Carer visa applications cannot be imported?
The Carer visa applications that cannot be imported include some subclass 116 applications made outside Australia before 25 June 2020. Also excluded are applications whose ID on the acknowledgement letter begins with "IRIS", finalised paper applications, applications not yet submitted, and applications already imported three times.
The subclass 116 page puts it positively: existing offshore applications made on or after 25 June 2020 can be imported. A family whose application cannot be imported sends documents and forms through the Department's online form instead (see the next section).
How do you send documents after lodgement?
After lodgement, you send Carer visa documents by uploading them in ImmiAccount. If the application is not imported, attach them to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.
| Compared | ImmiAccount (imported) | Processing centre online form |
|---|---|---|
| Limit | Up to 60 documents per person | 10 MB in total per submission |
| File size | Identity documents up to 500 KB; others up to 5 MB | Scans at 300 DPI, readable and in colour |
| Formats | PDF, JPG, PNG, Word and others; no encrypted PDFs | PDF, PNG or JPG only |
| Can you take it back? | No, not after the application is submitted | Do not resend documents already sent |
Typical uploads are the Bupa certificate (if you lodged with Bupa's letter), a Form 1023 correcting a wrong answer, and forms appointing or ending an agent or recipient. Paper originals are never sent. Every scan should be of the certified copies and translations prepared for the paper file, so what the Department sees online matches what it received in Perth.
What do ImmiAccount statuses mean for a Carer visa?
ImmiAccount statuses for a Carer visa use the Department's general labels, defined on its ImmiAccount help page (updated 28 May 2025):
- Received: the Department has received the application and can assess it.
- Initial assessment: the Department is assessing the application.
- Further assessment: the Department is assessing information it asked for.
- Finalised: a decision has been made. A withdrawn application also shows as finalised.
A queued Carer application does not move quickly through these labels. According to the processing centre form, the Department does not answer individual status enquiries for queued cases and makes no contact until the application is released from the queue. The Department does not publish which label a queued Carer application shows during those years.
Who else can see or act on the ImmiAccount?
Other people see or act on an imported Carer application only in the ways ImmiAccount and the appointment forms allow. The account holder can "share" an application with another ImmiAccount user so they can view it and attach documents, while it has the status Received, Initial assessment, Further assessment or Finalised.
Seeing documents is not the same as dealing with the Department. Apart from the applicant, the Department discusses a case only with a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person appointed on Form 956, and sends letters to one authorised recipient named on Form 956A. How to appoint, change or end each role over a long queue is explained in the guide to Form 956 and 956A.
How much of a Carer visa is paid online?
The part of a Carer visa paid online is the first instalment: A$2,720 for the main applicant, A$1,365 for each extra applicant aged 18 or over and A$680 for each extra applicant under 18, plus the payment surcharge. These amounts come from the Department's price list, current from 1 July 2026. The rest is paid later or elsewhere:
- Second instalment: A$2,065 for each person in the application, invoiced by the Department after release and paid before grant. The Department may reduce it to nil for the carer, but not for family members, on severe financial hardship.
- Bupa carer assessment: paid to Bupa Medical Visa Services when the assessment is booked.
- Health examinations, police certificates, biometrics and translations: paid to each provider.
Every charge is added up for one carer and for a family in a worked total. The order in which forms are completed, paid for and sent is set out in the guide to post a Carer visa application. The rest of the visa is mapped from Carer Visa Australia.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
A short payment or a missing receipt makes a Carer visa application invalid, and a document sent through the wrong channel after lodgement adds delay to an already long queue. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner checks the charge, the receipt and the import before anything is posted, which makes a clean, valid lodgement more likely. No one can promise the outcome.
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