Who can legally help with a Subclass 114 application in 2026?

Under the rules published by the Australian Department of Home Affairs, only three categories of people can be appointed to give you immigration assistance on an Aged Dependent Relative visa (Subclass 114) application: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anyone at all can be appointed to receive documents on your behalf, because receiving correspondence is a different thing from giving immigration assistance. This follows the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Aged Dependent Relative visa (Subclass 114) official page.

Who can lawfully give immigration assistance on a Subclass 114 application?

The restriction is written around the activity, not around this particular visa. The Department states that if you appoint someone to give you immigration assistance, that person must be one of the following:

A registered migration agent — someone who is registered to give immigration assistance, which is the category most applicants mean when they say "agent".
A legal practitioner — an Australian lawyer acting in that professional capacity.
An exempt person — a category the Department defines separately on its own page, and that page is the authoritative statement of who falls inside it.

Each of the three is a status a person either holds or does not hold. The practical test is not whether someone is experienced, helpful or recommended by a friend; it is whether they fit one of these three categories at the time they assist you.

What is the difference between immigration assistance and receiving my documents?

The Department draws a clear line between the two, and the line matters because the eligibility rules are not the same.

Immigration assistance is the substantive help: advice about your visa options and help preparing or presenting the application. That work is restricted to the three categories above. Receiving documents relating to your visa matter is administrative, and the Department says you can appoint anyone to do it.

So a relative who agrees to receive your letters is not giving immigration assistance. The same relative preparing your dependency evidence or advising you on how to answer the form would be moving into assistance, and then the three-category rule applies.

Which form appoints which person?

The two roles are recorded on two different forms, and the Department asks you to send written notification or the completed forms with your paper application.

Purpose	Form	What it does
Appoint someone to give immigration assistance	Form 956 Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person	Records the person who may advise and assist you
Appoint or withdraw someone who receives your correspondence	Form 956A Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient	Records who the Department may send documents to

The same pair of forms is used later in the process if you want to stop someone acting for you: Form 956 to withdraw an adviser providing immigration advice, and Form 956A to withdraw an authorised recipient.

What should I check before I pay anyone?

The Department's own instruction is direct: if you are getting help with your visa, read the information on who can help with a visa application before you pay someone. Three checks follow from the published rules.

First, ask which of the three categories the person claims to fall into, and keep in mind that exemption is a defined status rather than a description someone can apply to themselves. Second, expect the person who gives immigration assistance to be recorded on Form 956; if they cannot be, that is a signal about their status rather than a paperwork preference. Third, be clear in your own mind whether you are paying for assistance or only for someone to receive documents, because the second arrangement can be made with anybody.

Does appointing help shift responsibility away from me?

No. The Department's identity and accuracy requirements sit with the applicant. It asks for accurate information, and it sets out consequences where identity cannot be proven or information is not true: the application can be refused, and a further visa may not be granted to you, or to family members listed on your application, for 10 years.

An adviser or authorised recipient is a channel, not a shield. If an appointed person makes a mistake on the form, the application is still yours, and the Department's process for correcting it — notification of incorrect answers on Form 1023 — runs against your application.

Does any of this change how the 114 application itself is lodged?

The assistance rules sit on top of the normal lodgement route rather than replacing it. A Subclass 114 application is made on paper, you must be outside Australia when you apply and when the application is decided, the sponsor completes the sponsorship form, and the first instalment is paid before submission through the ImmiAccount payment function. Appointing an adviser or a recipient simply adds Form 956 or Form 956A to that package.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a friend or family member help me for free?

The published restriction is on who may be appointed to give immigration assistance, and the Department's page lists the three eligible categories without saying whether the test depends on payment. Check that question on the Department's "Who can help you with your application" page before relying on unpaid help.

Do I have to appoint a migration agent to lodge a Subclass 114 application?

No. Appointing someone is optional, and the Department's page presents it as one option within the "before you apply" step rather than as a requirement. What is not optional is that anyone you do appoint to give immigration assistance must be one of the three eligible categories.

Can I appoint someone only to receive my letters?

Yes. The Department says you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa matter, and that appointment is made on Form 956A. This is the narrower arrangement and does not require the person to be a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person.

How do I change or remove the person helping me?

Use the same form that appointed them. Form 956 withdraws a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person providing immigration advice, and Form 956A withdraws an authorised recipient. If you have imported your paper application into ImmiAccount, the forms can be uploaded there; otherwise they can be attached to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.

Can one person both receive my documents and give immigration assistance?

Yes, provided they are in one of the three eligible categories, in which case both Form 956 and Form 956A can name them. If the person is not in one of those categories, they can still receive documents under Form 956A, but they cannot be appointed to give immigration assistance.

What if the person helping me is not in any of the three categories?

Then they cannot be recorded on Form 956 as your adviser, because that form appoints a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person specifically. The arrangement that remains available is appointing them as an authorised recipient on Form 956A, which covers receiving documents but not giving immigration assistance.

This article is general information about how the assistance rules are published, not personalised advice about your circumstances, and the authoritative wording remains the Department's own pages and the current forms, which should be taken as the latest official position.