Who Can Legally Charge to Help With a Subclass 115 Application in 2026?

The Australian Department of Home Affairs answers this narrowly on its Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115) official page, as at July 2026: if you appoint someone to give you immigration assistance, that person must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anyone at all — a friend, a sibling, a neighbour — can instead be appointed simply to receive documents on your behalf. The same page puts the practical warning in plain terms: if you are getting help with your visa, read who can help with your visa application before you pay someone.

Who exactly is allowed to give immigration assistance?

The published limit has three entries, and the Department publishes a separate explanatory page for each.

Registered migration agent — a person registered as a migration agent, appointed on Form 956 (Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person).
Legal practitioner — a lawyer, appointed on the same Form 956.
Exempt person — a category the Department defines separately, also appointed on Form 956.

What matters for your decision is that the Subclass 115 process does not treat "help" as one undifferentiated thing. It splits it into giving immigration assistance, which is restricted, and receiving documents, which is not.

Can a friend or family member help me if no money changes hands?

The published wording turns on the role, not on the fee. It does not set out a different test for unpaid helpers; it describes two roles and says who may hold them.

That distinction is worth holding on to, because Subclass 115 is a document-heavy, paper-only application. A relative who forwards your letters, or who receives the acknowledgement letter and the second instalment invoice, is doing the receiving-documents job. Someone who works out which relationship records prove your remaining relative status, or shapes how your answers are presented, is doing the other job — and that is the one the Department restricts to the three categories above.

Which form tells the Department who is helping me?

What the person does for you	Who may be appointed	Form
Receives correspondence and documents on your behalf	Anyone you choose	Form 956A (Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient)
Provides immigration assistance	Registered migration agent, legal practitioner, or exempt person	Form 956 (Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person)

The form names do the work for you here. Form 956 states its own eligibility in its title; Form 956A does not, because it does not have to.

Does it matter that Subclass 115 is lodged on paper?

Yes, because it changes how the appointment reaches the Department. Subclass 115 must be applied for on paper, using Form 47OF (Application for migration to Australia), with the sponsor completing Form 40 (Sponsorship for migration to Australia), both in English. You must be outside Australia when you apply and when the decision is made.

The appointment forms travel with the rest of the package: the Department's instruction is to send written notification or your forms with your paper application, posted or couriered to the Parent, Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth at the address on the form. Send certified copies rather than originals, and keep a copy of everything for your own records. If the steps are incomplete, the application may be invalid, and the Department does not process invalid applications.

Payment runs on the same logic. You cannot pay in person; the first instalment is paid when you apply, through the online portal payment function in ImmiAccount, and evidence of payment goes in with the application. The second instalment is paid only when the Department sends you an invoice after all other requirements are met.

How do I end the arrangement if it is not working?

The two roles are withdrawn separately, using the same two forms.

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

If you have imported your paper application into ImmiAccount, you can upload the completed form there. If you cannot use ImmiAccount, the form is attached to a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form. Separately, if you discover you gave an incorrect answer, the Department asks you to tell it as soon as possible using Form 1023 (Notification of incorrect answers).

What should I check before paying anyone?

Ask which of the three categories the person claims to fall into, and notice which form they ask you to sign — that form is the clearest evidence of what they are actually doing for you. A person who only receives documents should be on Form 956A; a person who gives immigration assistance should be on Form 956, and must be one of the three.

Accuracy is the other reason to be careful about who touches your application. The Department states that if you cannot prove your identity it will refuse the application, and it might not grant you — or any family members listed on your application — another visa for 10 years. Whoever helps you, the information lodged is lodged as yours.

This article is general information about a published process, not advice tailored to your circumstances; where your situation is unusual or the rules have moved on, the official page and a qualified professional are the reference points.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I pay a friend or relative to fill in my Subclass 115 forms?

The published rule concerns the role, not the relationship: anyone appointed to give immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. A friend or relative can still be appointed under Form 956A to receive documents on your behalf. The Department's own advice on the Subclass 115 page is to check who can help before you pay anyone.

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

Form 956 appoints a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person to provide immigration assistance. Form 956A appoints or withdraws an authorised recipient, who may be anyone you choose and whose job is correspondence. Choosing the wrong one describes the person's role inaccurately to the Department.

Do I need to appoint anyone if I prepare the application myself?

No. The appointment forms only come into play when someone else acts for you, and lodging Form 47OF with your sponsor's Form 40 is what the Department requires either way. Appointing an authorised recipient is optional, but it is the mechanism the Department uses to know who it may correspond with.

Can one person both receive my mail and give me immigration advice?

The Department treats these as two distinct appointments with two distinct forms. Receiving documents is open to anyone and runs through Form 956A; giving immigration assistance is restricted to the three categories and runs through Form 956. A person can hold both roles, but each has to be appointed on its own form.

How do I remove someone who is helping me?

Use Form 956A to withdraw an authorised recipient and Form 956 to withdraw a person providing immigration advice. If you have imported your application into ImmiAccount, upload the completed form there; otherwise attach it to a completed Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.

Will I get my money back if the visa is refused?

The Department states it will not refund the application fee if it refuses your application. Anything you paid a helper sits outside that published process, and the official page does not govern those private arrangements.