Subclass 200 help and Forms 956/956A: who may charge for immigration assistance (2026)

If you want help with a Refugee (Subclass 200) application, only three kinds of people may lawfully give — and be paid for — immigration assistance: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anyone at all, however, can be appointed simply to receive documents and correspondence on your behalf, which is the separate role created by Form 956A. This follows the Australian Department of Home Affairs page "Refugee category visas (Subclass 200, 201, 203 and 204)".

Who is allowed to be paid for help with a Subclass 200 application?

The Australian Department of Home Affairs states that only some people can help with a visa application. If you appoint someone to give you immigration assistance, that person must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person.

The practical consequence is about money as well as paperwork: the Department's own guidance on the Subclass 200 page advises applicants to read its "Who can help with your visa application" material before paying anyone. So the question to ask a prospective helper is not whether they are experienced or well reviewed, but which of those three categories they fall into. If they fall into none of them, they are not in a position to be paid for immigration assistance on your application.

Registered migration agent — a person registered as a migration agent and permitted to give immigration assistance for a fee.
Legal practitioner — a lawyer entitled to practise and to provide immigration assistance.
Exempt person — a person who is exempt from the requirement to be a registered agent, as described in the Department's guidance for exempt persons.

What is the difference between giving assistance and receiving documents?

These are two different jobs, and the Subclass 200 rules treat them differently.

Giving immigration assistance means helping you prepare, present or argue your case — the advice and representation side of the application. That is restricted to the three categories above.

Receiving documents is narrower. The Department's Subclass 200 page says you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa matter. That person is the authorised recipient. They are the address the Department writes to; they are not required to hold any migration qualification. In a case where a relative is helping you stay on top of letters and emails but is not advising you on the substance of the claim, the authorised recipient route is the one that fits — and it can be a family member, a friend, or a support worker.

Confusing the two is the common error: appointing an unqualified person on the assumption that a "helper" form covers advice, or paying an unregistered person for advice on the assumption that being named as recipient makes it lawful.

Which form do you need: 956 or 956A?

	Form 956	Form 956A
Full name	Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person	Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient
Purpose	Nominate someone to provide immigration assistance	Nominate someone to receive your correspondence
Who can be appointed	Only a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person	Anyone you choose
Also used to	Withdraw an appointed agent, lawyer or exempt person	Withdraw an authorised recipient

Both forms are part of the Subclass 200 document checklist under "Tell us you are getting help", which sits alongside the identity, humanitarian, relationship and character documents the applicant must provide.

How do you appoint someone, and how do you remove them?

The appointment is made on the form. For a paper application, the Department's instruction is to send written notification or the completed forms with the application itself. If the appointment happens later, or you change your mind, the same two forms do the undoing:

To stop someone receiving your correspondence — Form 956A.
To withdraw someone providing immigration advice — Form 956.

The Department's post-lodgement guidance is to send written notification or the forms to the office where the application was submitted. Using the correct form matters, because withdrawing a recipient does not end an agent's authority, and vice versa.

What should you check before paying anyone?

Start with the category question, not the fee. Ask which of the three categories the person claims, and whether that claim can be checked against a professional register or practising status rather than a website or a business card. The Department's warning to read its "Who can help with your visa application" guidance before you pay exists precisely because the cost of getting this wrong falls on the applicant: advice from someone outside the three categories is not covered by the regulatory framework that registered agents and legal practitioners operate under, and a fee paid to them is not recoverable through that framework.

This article is general information about how the published rules are structured; it is not personalised advice on your situation or on any individual's credentials, and the current wording of the Department's own pages remains the reference point for anything that affects your application.

Does the same rule apply after you have lodged?

Yes. The Subclass 200 page repeats the same two-form structure in its post-lodgement section: Form 956A for correspondence, Form 956 for immigration advice. That matters in practice because humanitarian applications can run a long time, and helpers change — an agent may stop acting, or a family member who was receiving letters may move.

Two related updates also run through forms rather than phone calls: adding certain family members before a decision is made uses Form 1436 (Adding an additional applicant after lodgement), and correcting an answer you got wrong uses Form 1023 (Notification of incorrect answers). The Department separately notes that it cannot give status updates on applications and will contact you, which is another reason the authorised recipient details need to stay accurate.

What does this mean if a UNHCR referral is involved?

Subclass 200 is usually granted to people referred for resettlement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Where a UNHCR referral applies, the Subclass 200 document guidance asks for proof of registration with an international organisation dealing with refugees and a full copy of your resettlement registration form. Separately, and whether or not UNHCR referred you, it also asks for a written statement, in English, about why you left your home country.

None of that changes the help rules. A referral creates documents to gather; it does not create an exception to who may be paid for immigration assistance, and it does not remove your ability to appoint any person you trust as authorised recipient. Suppose an applicant is assisted by a community volunteer who helps organise the UNHCR paperwork but gives no immigration advice and charges nothing for advice: the volunteer can be appointed under Form 956A. If the same volunteer later begins preparing submissions and charging for it, the lawful route is a registered agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person appointed on Form 956.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a friend or relative help me with my Subclass 200 application for free?

The Department's restriction is stated without reference to payment: only some people can help you with your application, and anyone you appoint to give you immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person. The Refugee visa page adds a separate caution to read the "Who can help with your application" information before you pay anyone. A friend or relative who is not giving immigration assistance can still be appointed to receive your correspondence by lodging Form 956A, because the page says you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf.

Who may legally charge a fee for immigration assistance on a Subclass 200 application?

Only a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person may be appointed to provide immigration assistance. The Department's Subclass 200 guidance tells applicants to read its "Who can help with your visa application" information before paying 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, while Form 956A appoints or withdraws an authorised recipient who receives your correspondence. The key difference is who may be named: 956 is limited to the three qualified categories, 956A is not limited at all.

Can I have both an authorised recipient and a migration agent at the same time?

Yes, the two roles are separate and the Subclass 200 guidance provides a form for each. You would lodge Form 956 for the agent or lawyer and Form 956A for the person receiving correspondence, and each is withdrawn with its own form.

How do I remove someone who is helping me?

To stop someone receiving your correspondence you use Form 956A, and to withdraw someone providing immigration advice you use Form 956. The Department's guidance is to send written notification or the forms to the office where you submitted your application.

Do I need a form if I am only correcting a mistake or adding a family member?

Those are different forms: Form 1023 (Notification of incorrect answers) for mistakes, and Form 1436 (Adding an additional applicant after lodgement) to add certain family members before a decision. Neither replaces the 956 or 956A appointments.