Who Can Help With Your Partner Visa 100 Application in 2026?

Updated 2026-10-15 · General information, not migration advice · Run by the Arrivau team

If you are applying for the permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) and wondering who may help you, the answer turns on what kind of help you mean. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) page, you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf — but a person who gives you immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. That is the whole distinction in one sentence, and it is the reason two separate forms exist.

What is the difference between Form 956A and Form 956?

The two forms look similar and are both about "appointing someone," but they authorise very different things.

Form 956A — Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient

This form appoints someone to receive your correspondence. The official page describes it as appointing a person to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa application. There is no professional qualification requirement attached to this role.

Form 956 — Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person

This form appoints someone to give you immigration assistance. The official page restricts this appointment to three categories of person. If the person you have in mind is not in one of them, Form 956 is not the form for them.

Both forms are also used in reverse: you use the same form to withdraw the appointment when you no longer want that person acting in that role.

Can a friend or family member receive your letters?

Yes. The official page states plainly that you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa application, and Form 956A is the instrument for doing so. Your sponsor, a relative, or a friend can all occupy this role.

What they cannot do — at least not under this appointment — is step into the substance of your case. An authorised recipient is, in practical terms, a forwarding address. If that person begins discussing your application with the Department, supplying information about it, or arguing your circumstances, you have moved beyond what Form 956A covers.

Who may actually give you immigration assistance?

Only three categories, per the official page:

a registered migration agent
a legal practitioner
an exempt person

The page directs readers to further detail on the Department's "Who can help with your application" pages for each of these categories, which is where the definitions live.

This category test is the practical gate for anyone thinking about paying for help. Because the Subclass 100 process only recognises these three as people who may be appointed to give immigration assistance, a person outside them cannot occupy that role in your application — however they describe themselves, and whether or not money changes hands. If you are considering engaging someone, the first question to settle is which of the three categories they fall into, and the second is whether you are signing Form 956.

What can someone providing immigration assistance do for you?

The official page sets out three things a person giving immigration assistance can do:

discuss your application with the Department
give the Department information
send and receive correspondence about your application

Then comes the sentence that matters most: the Department treats any correspondence they send as if it came from you.

That is not a technicality. Anything your helper submits carries your name for decision-making purposes, including errors. It is also why the choice of who you appoint deserves more care than the convenience of having someone else handle the paperwork.

Why must you still give your own contact details?

Because appointing help does not redirect everything away from you. The official page says it is important to provide your own contact details in case the Department needs to contact you directly, and notes that the partner visa application form will ask you for your own phone number and email address.

The point is reinforced in the privacy section of the same page. The Department may need to contact you directly even if you have:

nominated your sponsor's email address for all electronic correspondence
appointed your sponsor or someone else to receive your correspondence as your authorised recipient
appointed someone to give you immigration assistance

Consider a hypothetical applicant who appoints their partner as authorised recipient under Form 956A and provides only the partner's email address. Nothing in that arrangement prevents the Department from needing to reach the applicant directly, and the official guidance is that the applicant should have supplied their own details and should update them if they change. The same logic applies a fortiori when a migration agent is appointed under Form 956.

How do you end the arrangement?

The official page covers this under "No longer need help with your application":

to stop someone receiving your correspondence, complete Form 956A
to stop someone providing immigration advice, complete Form 956

After the form is attached in ImmiAccount, the page says the Department should be notified using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.

What should you never hand over?

Your login. The official page tells applicants to protect their ImmiAccount, email account and passwords, and not to share them with anyone.

Appointing someone under Form 956 or Form 956A gives them a formal, recognised role with the Department. None of that requires your credentials. If a person helping you asks for your ImmiAccount password, that request sits outside what the official process contemplates, and runs directly against the guidance the page gives.

What this means if you are weighing paid help

The Subclass 100 page does not publish a fee schedule or a list of approved businesses, and this article does not recommend any firm or practitioner. What the page does do is define who may act for you — and that definition does the work. Only a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person may be appointed to give immigration assistance, and the appointment is made on Form 956. Anyone else may receive your correspondence under Form 956A, and nothing more.

This article explains the general framework only and is not personalised advice about your circumstances; the categories and forms are subject to change, so confirm the current position against the Department of Home Affairs pages or take advice from a qualified professional before relying on any of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a friend or relative manage my Subclass 100 application for me?

Receiving your correspondence and managing your application are two different things. Anyone can be appointed under Form 956A to receive documents on your behalf. Managing the application — discussing it with the Department, giving information, and sending and receiving correspondence — is immigration assistance, which only a registered migration agent, legal practitioner, or exempt person may provide, appointed on Form 956.

Do I have to appoint anyone at all?

No. Appointing someone is entirely optional, and many applicants deal with the Department themselves throughout the permanent stage. If you do appoint someone, make sure the form you sign matches the role you actually intend them to have.

What is an "exempt person"?

The Subclass 100 page lists "exempt person" as one of the three categories who may be appointed to give immigration assistance, alongside registered migration agents and legal practitioners. The page points to the Department's "Who can help with your application" pages for the detailed definition of each category.

If I appoint someone, will the Department stop contacting me directly?

No. The Department may still need to contact you directly even if you have nominated your sponsor's email address, appointed an authorised recipient, or appointed someone to give immigration assistance. The official guidance is to provide your own phone number and email address and to update them if they change.

Does what my helper sends count as coming from me?

Yes. The Department treats any correspondence sent by a person appointed to give immigration assistance as if it came from you. That makes accuracy critical and is a strong reason to review anything submitted on your behalf.

How do I remove someone I previously appointed?

Use Form 956A to withdraw an authorised recipient, and Form 956 to withdraw a registered migration agent, legal practitioner, or exempt person. The official page says that after attaching the form in ImmiAccount, the Department should be notified through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.

Is it safe to share my ImmiAccount login with the person helping me?

No. The official page instructs applicants to protect their ImmiAccount, email account and passwords and not to share them with anyone. A valid appointment under Form 956 or Form 956A does not require you to hand over your credentials.

Can I appoint my sponsor?

Yes — the official page refers to appointing your sponsor to receive correspondence as your authorised recipient, and to nominating your sponsor's email address for electronic correspondence. In either case you should still provide your own contact details.