A Carer visa change of address must reach the Department whenever you plan to live somewhere else for 14 days or more. A new passport, or any other change that makes an answer on your application wrong, must be reported in writing as soon as practicable.
Paper Form 929 has been withdrawn since 25 November 2024. Address and passport changes now go through ImmiAccount or the Department's web forms, other changes go on Form 1022, and mistakes go on Form 1023.
| Change | Form or channel | Law | Time the Department states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address, phone or email | ImmiAccount after import, or the Update contact details web form | Migration Act s 52(3A)–(3B) | instant in ImmiAccount; up to 30 days by web form |
| New passport | ImmiAccount "Change of passport details", or the New Passport Details web form | s 104 | 1 to 3 days in ImmiAccount; up to 14 days by web form |
| Marriage, separation, a new baby, a child turning 18 or 23, the relative's situation | Form 1022 | s 104 | not stated |
| A wrong answer on the application | Form 1023 | ss 100 and 105 | not stated |
| A new agent or authorised recipient | Form 956 or 956A | s 494D (authorised recipient) | not stated |
| Adding a partner or dependent child | Form 1436 and the additional applicant charge | reg 2.08A | not stated |
What changes must you report while a Carer visa is queued?
You must report three kinds of change while a Carer visa is queued: where you live or how to reach you, your passport, and anything else that makes an answer on your application incorrect.
- How long the duty lasts. An 836 applicant must report changes until the visa is granted. A 116 applicant must report them until immigration clearance on arrival (s 104(2)–(3)).
- Why it matters. Form 1022 warns that a visa is "liable to be cancelled" if section 104 is not complied with. Before a grant, the new information is weighed in the decision.
Many changes happen on the relative's side, such as a move, residential care or a death. The applicant still reports them, because the answers about the relative are part of the application.
How do you change your address or passport?
You change your address or passport in ImmiAccount once the paper application is imported, or through the Department's web forms if it cannot be imported, because paper Form 929 has been withdrawn.
- Import the paper application into ImmiAccount. This has been possible since 23 July 2025. Offshore applications lodged before 25 June 2020 cannot be imported.
- Change your address. Do it in ImmiAccount, where it updates instantly, or use the Update contact details web form, which the Department says may take up to 30 days to process.
- Record a new passport. In ImmiAccount, choose "Update details" and then "Change of passport details"; the link takes 1 to 3 days. Without ImmiAccount, use the New Passport Details web form, which may take up to 14 days and accepts paper Carer applications.
- Keep the confirmation the Department sends back.
On Form 929:
- It is withdrawn. The Department's site alert says that from 25 November 2024 the paper Form 929 "will no longer be available to use". The old PDF address now opens the Department's Change in your situation page.
- One Department page has not caught up. The processing centre's online form page still tells applicants to complete Form 929. Follow the change-in-situation pages instead.
What if you marry, have a baby or a child turns 18?
If you marry, have a baby or a child turns 18, the family on the application changes, and each change is reported on Form 1022, Notification of changes in circumstances.
A new baby
A child born after lodgement "is taken to have applied" and is combined with the application (reg 2.08). Tell the Department on Form 1022 and send the birth certificate.
Marriage or a new partner
A new spouse or de facto partner can be added only by a written request before the decision, with the additional applicant charge paid (reg 2.08A). The Department's form for this is Form 1436. The rules for adding a new partner or baby while the Carer visa is queued are set out on the page on including your family.
A child turning 18 or 23
An unmarried child aged 18 to 22 stays on the application only while dependent on you. From 23, the child stays only if dependent because of incapacity (reg 1.12(2) and 1.05A). Report the birthday on Form 1022 with evidence of dependency.
Separation or divorce
A former partner stops being a member of your family unit and cannot be granted the visa through you. The family violence provisions (cll 116.311, 116.321, 836.311 and 836.321) are the exception. Report the separation on Form 1022.
Moving house, interstate or overseas
The 14-day address rule applies to every move. An 836 carer must be in Australia at the decision, so travel overseas needs a Bridging visa B. A 116 carer must be outside Australia at the decision.
What if an answer on your Carer visa application was wrong?
If an answer on your Carer visa application was wrong, section 105 of the Migration Act requires you to tell the Department in writing as soon as practicable, on Form 1023. The duty applies even if you did not know the answer was wrong when you gave it.
- What counts as incorrect. Under section 100, an answer is incorrect "even though the person who gave or provided the answer … did not know that it was incorrect".
- How to send it. Upload Form 1023 in ImmiAccount, or attach it to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.
- After the grant. Sections 107 to 109 allow a visa to be cancelled for incorrect information.
- Before the grant. Accurate information is also a criterion for the visa itself, through PIC 4020, which is why a correction is better made early.
- Character forms. A mistake on the character forms is corrected the same way, as explained on the page on Form 80 and Form 1221.
How do you send updates for a paper Carer visa application?
You send updates for a paper Carer visa application through ImmiAccount once the application is imported, or by attaching them to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.
- Use the prescribed way. Section 52 of the Act requires communication "in the prescribed way". Anything sent another way "is taken not to have been received unless the Minister in fact receives it".
- No counter service. Carer applications cannot be lodged in person at the processing centre in Perth, and updates follow the same two channels.
- Deadlines you cannot meet. Contact the processing centre through its form before the period ends.
- Changing who acts for you. Appointing or removing an agent or authorised recipient uses Form 956 and 956A, uploaded the same way.
Can you ask about progress while the Carer visa is queued?
You cannot get a progress update while the Carer visa is queued, because the Department does not answer individual status enquiries. Once an application is queued, the Department makes no contact until it releases it.
The processing centre does answer two practical problems:
- No acknowledgement. If more than 3 weeks have passed since the Department received the application and no acknowledgement has arrived, the Department investigates.
- A deadline you cannot meet. Ask through the processing centre form before the time runs out.
A reported change does not move the application up the queue. The page on Ministerial Direction 117 explains why compassionate circumstances do not reorder queued Other Family applications.
What else must stay current during the Carer visa queue?
Two more things must stay current during the Carer visa queue: the relative's need for care, and the documents you will be asked for again at release.
- The relative's need for care. It is tested again at the decision, so read what happens if the person you care for dies, moves into residential care or recovers.
- Documents for release. Release brings fresh police certificates and health checks. The original order is set out in the 8 steps to paper lodgement.
How the queue itself moves is explained under capping and queueing. The whole guide starts at Carer Visa Australia.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
Over a decade in the queue, an unreported marriage, a child who is no longer dependent or an uncorrected answer can refuse the application at release, or later be a ground for cancellation. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner keeps the file current and answers the release letter on time, which makes a grant more likely, though never certain.
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