Australia Visa Condition 8580: The 28-Day Rule for Address, Employer and School Evidence (2026)
Under visa condition 8580 in Schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations 1994, a visa holder who receives a written request from the Minister must provide evidence — within 28 days after the date of that request — of any or all of four things: their residential address, the address of each employer, the address of each location where they are actually employed, and the address of any educational institution they attend. That is the operative wording published by the Australian Government's Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au as of September 2026. The rest of this piece unpacks each element of the rule, starting with the full text, because the drafting itself drives almost every practical question. It is offered for general understanding only and is not advice on any individual case; what a person actually owes depends on the conditions attached to their own visa and on current official information.
What does condition 8580 actually say?
The condition is short enough to quote in full. As set out in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994:
8580 If requested, in writing, by the Minister to do so, the holder must provide evidence of any or all of the following within 28 days after the date of the request: (a) the holder's residential address; (b) the address of each employer of the holder; (c) the address of each location of each position in which the holder is employed; (d) the address of an educational institution attended by the holder.
Three features matter immediately. First, nothing happens until a written request arrives. Second, once it does, the holder has exactly 28 days measured from the date of the request. Third, the Minister may ask for "any or all" of the four categories, so the request may be narrow or broad.
When does the 28-day clock start — and does anyone have to ask first?
The clock starts from the date of the request, not from the day the holder opens the letter or reads the message. Someone who receives a request several days after it was dated has correspondingly less time to assemble everything, which is why the date printed on the request is the first thing to check.
There is also no ongoing duty to volunteer these addresses. Condition 8580 is dormant until the Minister makes a written request; nothing in its wording requires a holder to send evidence on their own initiative, and nothing resets at fixed intervals. It is a request-triggered power, not a periodic reporting obligation.
Which four things can you be asked to prove?
Each item is about an address, and the plural-counting in the text is deliberate:
- (a) Residential address — where the holder lives. One home address, but it has to be evidenced rather than merely stated.
- (b) Address of each employer — every employer, so someone holding two jobs owes information about both, not just the main one.
- (c) Address of each location of each position in which the holder is employed — each physical place where work is performed. A person employed in one role who splits time between two sites has two locations to cover under this limb.
- (d) Address of an educational institution attended — the institution itself, not a transcript or attendance record as such.
Points (b) and (c) are separate limbs, so an employer's registered office and the actual place of work are distinct pieces of information, and a request covering both requires both.
What counts as "evidence" of an address?
The regulation deliberately does not prescribe a checklist. It asks for evidence of an address, which leaves the form open and means the question is whether a document plausibly ties the holder to that place. Leases, utility accounts, pay records showing a work site, or enrolment documentation showing a campus are the kinds of records people commonly rely on for these purposes, but that list is illustrative rather than something the condition itself mandates.
The practical test is therefore one of fit: the item requested determines what will be useful. Evidence that establishes where a person sleeps will rarely establish where they perform each job, and vice versa. Documents should be current enough to describe the present situation, since the request concerns the holder's address now.
Does condition 8580 apply to every Australian visa?
Not necessarily. The note to the condition states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to condition 8580 depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. In other words, the condition attaches according to the rules written for each visa class, rather than automatically to all Australian visas.
For a holder, that means the definitive answer sits in the conditions list attached to the grant. If 8580 is not among them, the 28-day evidence duty does not arise; if it is, the request power described above applies in full.
What happens if nothing arrives within 28 days?
Once the 28 days lapse without the requested evidence being provided, the holder has not complied with the condition. The note following condition 8580 directs readers to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119 regarding cancellation for breaches of conditions. So non-compliance is not simply a late administrative step; it moves the matter into the cancellation framework set out in the Act.
The condition itself contains no extension mechanism, no partial-grace rule and no allowance for events that made collection difficult. Within the text, the deadline is fixed. Later compliance does not retroactively undo the fact that the obligation was not met inside the period, though how any breach is ultimately treated is a matter resolved under the Act rather than something this page can predict.
How is this different from condition 8578's 14-day duty?
Holders frequently mix up the two address-related conditions in Schedule 8, because one is triggered by events in your life and the other by a request from the Minister.
| Condition 8578 | Condition 8580 | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | A change occurs | The Minister requests it in writing |
| Deadline | 14 days after the change | 28 days after the date of the request |
| Scope of addresses | Residential address, employer's address, address of the location of a position | Residential address, each employer's address, each location of each position, educational institution |
| Other items covered | Email address, phone number, passport details | None — addresses only |
| Nature of duty | Notify Immigration of the change | Provide evidence of the address |
Reading them side by side clarifies the common confusion: moving house starts a 14-day clock under 8578 whether or not anyone asks, while 8580 stays silent until a letter arrives.
What doesn't condition 8580 do?
It does not limit how long a person may remain in Australia. Those stay-limit conditions are separate entries in Schedule 8 — condition 8573 (not more than 12 months in any 24-month period), condition 8575 (not more than 7 months in any 12-month period) and condition 8576 (not more than 10 months in any 12-month period).
It also does not require anyone to live, work or study in a particular region. That is condition 8579, which applies the regional residency requirements to Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) and Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) holders by reference to designated regional areas and nomination timing.
And it does not require keeping contact or passport details current — those items belong to condition 8578. Condition 8580 is narrow by design: it is an evidence-on-request power, used to test whether the information the holder has given, or is obliged to give, actually holds up.
What does this look like in practice?
Assume a hypothetical visa holder whose visa carries condition 8580, who holds two casual positions for two different employers at two different sites, and who is enrolled at a college. A written request covering all four limbs would ask for four distinct answers: the home address, both employer addresses, both physical work locations, and the college's address. The same person would still owe nothing if no request ever arrived — but once one does, "I'll get to it later" consumes days that the condition has already allocated to someone else's timeline. Scenarios like this are illustrations of how the wording operates, not descriptions of any real case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is condition 8580 attached to all Australian visas?
No. The note to the condition says whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to it depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The reliable check is whether 8580 appears among the conditions attached to a specific visa grant.
Where does the 28-day period start counting from?
From the date of the request, not the date it is received or read. Because the text says "within 28 days after the date of the request", any delay between the date on the letter and the moment it reaches the holder reduces the time actually available.
Do I have to send anything even if nothing has changed?
Only if the Minister requests it in writing. Condition 8580 itself creates no standing obligation to submit addresses unprompted, unlike condition 8578, which is triggered by a change in the holder's circumstances.
What if I can only get some of the requested documents in time?
The condition allows the Minister to ask for "any or all" of the four categories, and whatever is requested carries the same single 28-day window. There is nothing in its text that extends the deadline for part of the answer, so anything that cannot be supplied within the period is best explained in writing at the same time rather than left unexplained.
Can a visa really be cancelled over an unanswered request?
The note to condition 8580 points to sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958 for cancellation following breaches of conditions. That places non-compliance squarely inside the cancellation framework, which is why the deadline deserves more attention than typical paperwork.