Responding to an Information Request on a 115 Application in 2026

If the Australian Department of Home Affairs asks a Remaining Relative visa (subclass 115) applicant for more information, the channel is decided by one fact: whether the paper application has been imported into ImmiAccount. If it has, the additional documents are uploaded there; if the applicant cannot use ImmiAccount, or the application was lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020, the documents go in through the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form. That split is set out on the Department's official Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115) page as at July 2026, and everything below follows that page — it is general information about published procedure rather than advice on any one case, so the wording of an individual request letter and the current official pages remain the authority for what a particular applicant must lodge and by when.

What does an information request on a subclass 115 application actually ask for?

A subclass 115 application is made on paper, on Form 47OF, with the sponsor completing Form 40, and the applicant must be outside Australia when applying. After lodgement the Department confirms receipt of the application and documents, and from that point requests can come in two shapes.

One is the gap the applicant left: the official page says that if you did not include all necessary documents when you applied, you should provide them as soon as you can. The other is a request the Department initiates: "we might also ask you to provide more information". Both are answered through the same two channels, but they differ in what the applicant can control — a known gap can be closed immediately, while a Department-initiated request usually waits on something the Department wants to see.

Requests also arrive in a sequence the applicant cannot accelerate. The Department says it will tell you if health examinations are needed, and it will tell you if biometrics are needed. Police certificates sit at the opposite end: the official page says not to arrange them until you are asked. An assurance of support is provided when asked, and the second instalment is invoiced only after all other requirements for the visa have been met.

Which channel applies — ImmiAccount or the Perth processing centre online form?

The choice is not a matter of preference. It follows the status of the application.

What is being sent	Application imported into ImmiAccount	No ImmiAccount (and, for additional documents, also if lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020)
Additional or missing documents	Upload into ImmiAccount	Attach to a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form
Notification of incorrect answers (Form 1023)	Upload the completed form into ImmiAccount	Attach the completed form to a completed online form
Appointing or withdrawing a representative or authorised recipient (Form 956 / Form 956A)	Upload the completed form into ImmiAccount	Attach the completed form to a completed online form

The centre handling paper subclass 115 applications is the Parent, Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, which is why its online form is the fallback route named on the official page. Keeping the response in the same channel as the rest of the file matters more than it looks: ImmiAccount is where messages, status and attached documents sit together, while an online-form submission leaves the applicant dependent on the acknowledgement the process generates.

When can a subclass 115 paper application be imported at all?

Importing happens after the acknowledgement letter arrives, and it needs three items: the application ID, the applicant's date of birth, and an identity document number — passport, ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage. The official page describes importing as available for applications for this visa made in Australia, and for existing applications made outside Australia on or after 25 June 2020.

Once imported, ImmiAccount gives access to attaching supporting documents, viewing messages, updating details, viewing application status, applying for a bridging visa and withdrawing the application. For an applicant whose file was lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020, no import is described, so the online form remains the route for the life of that application.

Suppose an applicant lodged a subclass 115 application outside Australia in 2019 and has never used ImmiAccount. On the published criteria that application is not one the official page describes as importable, so a later request for documents would be answered through the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form rather than an upload.

How quickly does the response need to go in?

The official page's instruction on missing documents is to provide them as soon as you can, and it separately notes that the Department cannot provide progress updates within normal processing times. Any stated response date therefore comes from the request itself, and that date is what governs — it should be read off the letter rather than assumed.

Time is usually lost on evidence held by other people. Relationship and sponsor evidence means birth, marriage, death and adoption certificates, or officially issued family status certificates and family books, and proving the sponsor's status means a citizenship certificate, passport, or valid visa for an eligible New Zealand citizen. Documents issued overseas take time to obtain and, as the official page requires, documents are supplied as certified copies rather than originals, with the applicant keeping a copy of everything sent.

Identity requests carry the heaviest consequence. The official page states that where identity cannot be proven, the application will be refused, another visa might not be granted for 10 years, and family members listed on the application might also not be granted a visa for 10 years. That asymmetry is why identity items should be closed out first when a request lists several things at once.

Two items cannot be pulled forward at all. Police certificates should not be arranged until asked, and health examinations happen only once the Department says they are needed. Any plan that builds in waiting time for those two is waiting for something that may never be requested.

What if the request is about a wrong answer rather than a missing document?

A correction is a different instrument. The official page says to let the Department know as soon as you can if a mistake was made, using Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, and the completed form travels through the same two channels: uploaded in ImmiAccount if the application is imported, otherwise attached to a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.

It is worth separating a wrong answer from a changed situation. Form 1023 deals with incorrect answers already given. Changes after lodgement — phone number, email, address or passport, marital or de facto status, the birth of a child, a decision to withdraw, or family violence — are notified through the Department's change-in-situation process, not through Form 1023.

Accuracy is not a procedural nicety here. The official page links its own guidance on providing accurate information, and the Migration Regulations 1994 contain a public interest criterion on false or misleading information, commonly cited as PIC 4020, which applies at the decision stage; the consolidated text of the regulations as currently published is the authority for its wording.

Who may prepare and send the response for a fee?

Only some people may lawfully give immigration assistance: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anyone may be appointed to receive documents on the applicant's behalf. Appointing an authorised recipient for correspondence uses Form 956A; appointing someone to provide immigration assistance uses Form 956. Both forms are lodged through the same channels as any other document connected with the response.

What happens after the response goes in?

The decision is given in writing, and the applicant must be outside Australia when it is made — travel to Australia should not be arranged until the Department says in writing that the visa is granted. A grant notification sets out the visa grant number, the date the visa starts and its conditions. A refusal sets out why the visa was refused and whether there is a right to review the decision; the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused.

One obligation still sits ahead of the grant: the second instalment, invoiced after all other requirements are met. The official page is explicit that it must be paid or the visa cannot be granted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I email the documents to the processing centre instead?

The official page describes only two routes for additional documents on a subclass 115 application: upload into ImmiAccount if the application has been imported, or a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form if it cannot be used or the application was lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020. No email route is described for this step.

My subclass 115 application was lodged before 25 June 2020 — can I import it into ImmiAccount?

The official page describes importing for applications made in Australia, and for existing applications made outside Australia on or after 25 June 2020. For an earlier offshore application, the online form is the route named for additional documents; for Form 1023 and Form 956 or 956A the official page names the online form only where ImmiAccount cannot be used.

Should I send original documents with my response?

The official page's guidance on the paper application is to send certified copies rather than originals and to keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents. Carrying that practice into the response protects the applicant if the same document is needed again later in processing.

Can I order police certificates now so they are ready?

No. The official page says not to arrange police certificates until the Department asks for them. Health examinations and biometrics work the same way — the Department notifies the applicant if they are needed.

The request lists several documents and one is held overseas — what should go first?

The official page's instruction is to provide missing documents as soon as you can, and the request letter sets any response date. Because a failure to prove identity can lead to refusal and to a possible 10-year bar on further visas for the applicant and listed family members, identity items are the ones to prioritise.

What if the answer on the form was simply wrong?

Use Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, and do it as soon as possible. The completed form is uploaded in ImmiAccount for imported applications and otherwise attached to a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.

Can a friend or relative handle the response for me?

Anyone can be appointed as an authorised recipient to receive documents on the applicant's behalf, using Form 956A. Giving immigration assistance is limited to a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person, appointed using Form 956.