Form 956, and what it actually means to appoint an agent

When you engage a migration agent, a form is lodged with the Department telling it that the agent acts for you. It is called Form 956, and understanding what it does is worth ten minutes of your life, because the thing it changes is where your mail goes.

What Form 956 does#

Form 956 does two related things.

It tells the Department you have an agent. The agent can then act for you: correspond with the Department, respond to requests, and be treated as your representative.

It usually also appoints them as your authorised recipient. This is the part that matters. Once someone is your authorised recipient, the Department sends correspondence about your application to them, and not to you.

Why the authorised recipient part matters so much#

Australian migration runs on deadlines that are short, strict and calculated from the day the Department sends something, not the day you read it.

If the Department writes to your authorised recipient asking for a document within 28 days, that clock starts whether or not your agent forwards the letter to you. If the agent is on leave, has changed email, has stopped responding, or has simply missed it, the deadline still runs.

Almost every "my application was refused and I never knew" story comes back to this.

Three practical consequences:

1. Ask your agent to copy you on everything. They are not obliged to under the Act, but any decent agent will, and section 45 of the Code requires them to keep you informed of progress anyway.
2. Check your ImmiAccount yourself. If you have one, correspondence is usually visible there. Look at it monthly. It costs nothing.
3. Tell your agent immediately if you change address, phone or email. And ask them to update the Department.

Only one at a time#

You can have one authorised recipient for an application. Appointing a new one ends the previous appointment.

This is why changing agents needs to be done properly rather than informally: a new Form 956 for the new agent replaces the old appointment. Until it is lodged, correspondence keeps going to the old agent.

Ending the appointment#

When the engagement ends — the visa is granted, you change agents, or you part ways — the agent must notify the Department that they are no longer acting. Until that happens the Department keeps treating them as your representative.

If you have terminated an agent and are not sure this has been done, you can withdraw the appointment yourself. Do it in writing, and keep the confirmation.

What appointing an agent does NOT do#

• It does not make the agent responsible for the outcome. Nobody can promise an outcome, and section 26 of the Code prohibits an agent from claiming they can.
• It does not remove your obligations. You still have to tell the truth, provide the documents, and notify changes of circumstance.
• It does not make the agent your lawyer for anything outside the migration matter.
• It does not stop you contacting the Department yourself, though in practice it is better to let one channel do the talking.

Where VisaBid fits#

When an engagement starts here, the platform records whether Form 956 has been lodged, its reference, and whether the agent has been appointed as your authorised recipient. When the engagement ends, it records the notification to the Department that the appointment has finished.

That is not the platform doing anything the agent would not otherwise do. It is the platform keeping a dated record of whether they did — which is the difference between "I'm sure I lodged it" and being able to show that it was lodged on the eleventh.

Questions people ask#

Do I have to appoint an authorised recipient?#

You do not have to nominate your agent as authorised recipient, and you can ask to receive correspondence yourself. In practice most people do appoint the agent, because the whole point of engaging one is that a professional reads and answers Department correspondence. The right arrangement is usually: appoint the agent, and ask them to copy you on everything.

Can my agent lodge Form 956 without telling me?#

They should not, and you sign it. If a form was lodged in your name that you did not sign, that is a serious matter — take it to OMARA.

I changed agents. Why is the old one still getting my mail?#

Because a new Form 956 has not been lodged, or has not been processed yet. Ask your new agent to confirm it is in, and keep checking your ImmiAccount in the meantime.

My agent has gone quiet and I think I have missed something. What do I do?#

Move quickly, in this order: check your ImmiAccount for correspondence; ask the agent in writing, with a deadline; request your file under section 54, which starts a 14-day clock; and get another registered agent or lawyer to look at what has actually been lodged. If a deadline has passed, the options narrow by the day, so do this before you complain rather than after.

Does Form 956 cost anything?#

No. It is a form, not a charge. Preparing and lodging it is part of what your agent's professional fee covers.