Who can legally charge to help with a 407 application in 2026?

Only three kinds of people may be appointed to give you immigration assistance on a Training visa (subclass 407) application: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. That list comes straight from the Department of Home Affairs' official Training visa (Subclass 407) page, as at August 2026, which states that "only some people can help you with your application" and that anyone you appoint to give immigration assistance must fall into one of those three groups. The same page's overview adds the practical warning in plain terms: if you are getting help with your visa, read the Department's guidance on who can help before you pay someone.

This article explains the published rules only and is general information, not advice tailored to your circumstances; for anything that turns on your own facts, rely on the current official pages or on a professional who is actually authorised to advise you.

What counts as "immigration assistance" on a 407?

Immigration assistance is the regulated activity: preparing, helping to prepare or giving advice about your visa application, in exchange for payment. It is separate from the mechanical step of letting someone receive correspondence for you.

That distinction matters on this visa because the 407 has a heavy documentary load — identity documents, sponsor approval letter, nomination approval letter (unless your sponsor is an Australian Commonwealth Government agency), the sponsor's written statement of sponsorship obligations, financial capacity evidence, adequate health insurance, functional English evidence, qualifications and CV, and character documents including Form 80 and Form 1221. Work of that kind, done for a fee by someone outside the three permitted categories, is not something the Department treats as ordinary admin.

Anyone at all can be appointed to receive documents on your behalf. Only the three categories below can be appointed to give immigration assistance.

Who are the three categories, and what does each one mean?

Who may be appointed	What that means in practice	Form used
Registered migration agent	A migration agent who is registered; registration is what distinguishes this category from an unregistered "consultant"	Form 956
Legal practitioner	A lawyer entitled to practise in Australia, acting in that professional capacity	Form 956
Exempt person	A category the Department explains on its own exempt-person page; it is not a label someone can simply adopt	Form 956
Anyone you choose	Receiving your correspondence only — no immigration assistance	Form 956A

The three categories are exhaustive. If a person offering paid help is not a registered migration agent, not a legal practitioner, and not an exempt person, they are not on the list the Department publishes for this visa.

How do you appoint someone formally?

Appointment is done by form, not by verbal agreement, and the form tells the Department what the person is actually doing for you.

To appoint someone to provide immigration assistance, use Form 956 — Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person.
To appoint someone to receive your correspondence, use Form 956A — Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient.
Upload the written notification or the completed form to ImmiAccount.

The same pair of forms is used in reverse. If you no longer want someone to receive your correspondence, or no longer want someone to provide immigration advice, you appoint or withdraw them using Form 956A or Form 956 respectively and upload it to ImmiAccount. Ending the appointment is worth doing deliberately: leaving a former adviser on file means they keep receiving material about your case.

What should you check before you pay anyone?

Check the category first, then check what the money is for.

Start from the published list. The Department's guidance is explicit that you should read who-can-help information before paying, and the 407 page ties payment to that same check. A person's job title, website, or claimed experience does not put them into one of the three categories.

Then separate the two streams of money. The visa application charge is paid to the Department; the official page notes there is a charge for the main applicant, a charge for each family member who applies with you, and possible separate costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics, with the Visa Pricing Estimator available to work out your visa cost (the estimator does not include those other costs). Home Affairs also states it will not refund the application charge if it refuses your application. Whatever you pay a helper is a separate, private arrangement, and no helper's fee is a substitute for the government charge — the Department says it cannot process your application if the correct visa application charge has not been paid.

Finally, remember what paying someone cannot buy. The 407 process still runs as: be sponsored by an organisation approved as a temporary activities sponsor; be nominated, unless your sponsor is an Australian Commonwealth Government agency; and, where a Commonwealth agency is the sponsor, be invited. No adviser creates, replaces or speeds up those employer-side steps, and the Department warns applicants to beware of visa scams and to know the conditions of the visa they apply for even when someone else submits the application.

Does hiring help change what you remain responsible for?

No. The applicant stays the source of the information.

The official step-by-step guidance requires accurate information throughout, and sets out the consequences of not being able to prove identity or not providing true information: refusal of the application, possible refusal of another visa for 10 years, and possible refusal for family members listed on the application for 10 years. The visa itself is temporary — Home Affairs may grant a stay of up to 2 years, you cannot extend this visa to stay longer, and applying for a new Training visa requires continuing sponsorship and possibly an explanation of why the training was not completed within the initial period.

One more thing a helper cannot do: add members of the family unit after you apply but before a decision, except a child born after you apply and before the decision. That timing belongs to you, not to whoever you paid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a friend or an overseas consultant be paid to fill in my 407 application?

Only if they fall into one of the three permitted categories — registered migration agent, legal practitioner, or exempt person. Being a friend, being experienced, or operating from another country does not place someone in those categories, so the safest check is the category itself rather than the person's self-description.

Is receiving my mail different from giving immigration advice?

Yes. You can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf using Form 956A, while immigration assistance requires one of the three authorised categories and Form 956. The difference is about what the person does for you, not about how much you pay them.

Do I have to appoint anyone at all?

No. Appointment is optional. If you apply yourself, there is nothing to lodge under Form 956 or Form 956A, though you still have to pay the visa application charge and attach all required documents in ImmiAccount before the Department will process the application.

Who handles sponsorship and nomination — the person I pay, or my employer?

Your sponsoring organisation does. It must be approved as a temporary activities sponsor and must have its nomination approved before you apply, unless it is an Australian Commonwealth Government agency, in which case an invitation takes the place of nomination. A migration agent or lawyer cannot stand in for those steps.

What happens if the person helping me is not one of the three categories?

They are not among the people the Department lists as permitted to give immigration assistance on this visa. Because the Department also warns applicants to beware of visa scams and to understand the visa conditions even when someone else submits the application for them, it is worth resolving that question before paying rather than after.

Will I get the visa application charge back if my application is refused?

No. Home Affairs states it will not refund the application charge if it refuses your application, and it will not process an application unless the correct charge has been paid in the first place.