Do you need a migration agent for a Bridging visa B in 2026? Forms 956 and 956A
No. If all you want is someone to receive your letters and other documents from the Department on your behalf, you appoint them as an authorised recipient on Form 956A, and that person can be anyone you choose. Form 956 is a different appointment: it is for someone who gives you immigration assistance, and on the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Bridging visa B (BVB) (Subclass 020) page, such a person must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person.
The dividing line the Department draws is not about job titles or fees. It is about what the person does: receiving documents on your behalf is open to anyone, while giving you immigration assistance is restricted to those three categories.
What is the difference between Form 956 and Form 956A?
| Form 956A | Form 956 | |
|---|---|---|
| Official name | Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient | Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person |
| What it does | Lets a person receive your correspondence about the visa matter | Lets a person provide immigration assistance |
| Who can be appointed | Anyone you choose | Only a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person |
| Also used for | Withdrawing an authorised recipient | — |
Both forms belong to the same BVB application, so it is possible to end up needing only one of them, or neither.
Do I need a migration agent if someone is only collecting my mail?
No. The official page states plainly that you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa matter. A flatmate, a relative, or a friend who simply takes delivery of letters, grant notices and requests for more information fits in this box, and Form 956A is the instrument that records it.
What that person cannot do is step into the advice role. Once the help moves past receiving documents and into immigration assistance, the appointment has to run through Form 956, and the person has to fall into one of the three permitted categories.
When does the appointment have to be Form 956?
Form 956 is the appointment used when the person is giving you immigration assistance. The Bridging visa B page names exactly three kinds of people who can be appointed for that purpose: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anything outside those three is not a valid appointment for assistance, no matter how experienced the person is.
The same official page adds a warning worth taking literally: if you are getting help with your visa, read the Department's information on who can help with your visa application before you pay someone. Paying is the moment the question of who is allowed to help becomes yours to check, not theirs to declare.
How do you lodge the form with a BVB application?
Where the forms go follows the route your BVB application itself takes, and that route is set by how you applied for the associated substantive visa. If you applied for that visa online in ImmiAccount, you must apply for the BVB in ImmiAccount, and the page directs you to upload your written notification or your forms there. If your substantive visa went in on paper, or if you have applied for merits or judicial review of a decision on it, the BVB goes in by webform, and the forms travel with the paper material.
The timing matters too. The Department says you should apply for a BVB no more than three months, and not less than two weeks, before the date you want to travel — so an appointment that is meant to smooth the application has to be sorted out inside that window rather than after it.
What does appointing someone not change?
Quite a lot stays with you. You and anyone included in the application must be in Australia when the BVB application is lodged, and you must be in Australia when the decision is made, because the visa cannot be granted otherwise. An authorised recipient or an appointed adviser does not stand in your place on that requirement.
Accuracy stays with you as well. The page asks applicants to provide accurate information and points to Form 1023, Notification of incorrect answers, if a mistake surfaces on the application. Changes after lodgement — a new phone number, email, address or passport, the birth of a child, or a decision to withdraw — are also things the applicant is expected to report.
One expectation is worth setting early: the Department states that it does not give updates on application processing times, so an appointment does not buy you a progress report.
What should you check before paying anyone to help?
The official Bridging visa B page answers this in a single move: read the Department's material on who can help with your visa application before you pay. That check is the whole point of the distinction between the two forms — Form 956A is a low-risk administrative convenience you can hand to anyone, while Form 956 is the appointment that locks the advice relationship to one of three permitted categories.
The criteria for the visa itself are set out in the Migration Regulations 1994 for subclass 020, and departmental policy guidance sits alongside them; guidance is not legislation and can be revised, so where the finer points matter, the Department's current Bridging visa B page is what governs. This article is general information about how the two appointments work rather than advice on any individual case, and your own situation should be checked against the official page or with a qualified professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a migration agent for a Bridging visa B in 2026?
Only if you want someone to give you immigration assistance. The Department's official Bridging visa B page says a person appointed to give immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. If you only want help receiving documents, no agent is required.
Can I appoint a friend or relative to receive my BVB correspondence?
Yes. The official page says you can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa matter. You record that appointment on Form 956A, Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient.
What exactly is Form 956A for?
Form 956A appoints an authorised recipient to receive your correspondence about the visa matter, and it is also the form used to withdraw such an appointment. It does not authorise the person to give immigration assistance or to act as your adviser.
What is Form 956 for, and who can I appoint on it?
Form 956 appoints someone to provide immigration assistance: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Those are the only three categories the official page allows for that role. Anyone outside them cannot be validly appointed on Form 956.
Can I change or withdraw an authorised recipient later?
Yes — Form 956A covers both appointment and withdrawal of an authorised recipient, so the same form ends the arrangement. The Department also lists changes to your contact details among the things you should tell it about after applying.
If someone helps me, do I still have to be in Australia?
Yes. You and anyone included in the application must be in Australia when the BVB application is lodged, and you must be in Australia when the decision is made for the visa to be granted. Appointing a recipient or an adviser does not shift that requirement.
Will the Department tell me how my BVB application is progressing?
No. The official page states that the Department does not give updates on application processing times and asks applicants to wait to be contacted. You will be told when the application and documents have been received, and the outcome arrives in writing.