How to Update Your Address, Email or Phone Number on an Australian Visa Application

What is the quickest way to update your contact details?

The Department of Home Affairs says the quickest way to change your contact details is through ImmiAccount.

Contact details include:

• email address;
• telephone number;
• residential address; and
• postal address.

If the relevant application is available in your ImmiAccount, use the application's update function. Home Affairs states that contact details changed through ImmiAccount update instantly.

Who can use the contact-details update process?

The official Home Affairs Update contact details form is available when contact information changes for:

• a visa applicant;
• a visa holder;
• a citizenship applicant; or
• the sponsor of a visa applicant, visa holder or citizenship applicant.

If you have an ImmiAccount containing the relevant application, Home Affairs instructs you not to use the separate contact-details form and to update your details through ImmiAccount instead.

How do you update your details in ImmiAccount?

After submitting an application, ImmiAccount allows you to check messages and application status, provide information and update details.

1. Sign in to ImmiAccount.
2. Open the relevant application.
3. Use the available Update details or Update Us option.
4. Select the contact-details change that applies.
5. Enter the new address, email or phone information accurately.
6. Review the information and submit the change.

For some application types the precise wording or location of the update option can vary, but Home Affairs consistently directs applicants to manage contact-detail changes through the relevant application in ImmiAccount.

What if your application is not visible in ImmiAccount?

If you have not previously used ImmiAccount, Home Affairs says you can create one and may then be able to import your existing application.

If the application can be imported, use ImmiAccount to make the contact-details change. If you cannot import it, use the Department's official Update contact details online form instead.

This distinction matters because Home Affairs tells people who already have the relevant application in ImmiAccount to use that channel rather than submitting the separate form.

How does the Update contact details form work?

The web form is the alternative route where you cannot update the relevant record in ImmiAccount.

It can be used to notify Home Affairs that your:

• residential address has changed;
• postal address has changed;
• email address has changed; or
• telephone number has changed.

Provide enough identifying and application information for Home Affairs to match the change to the correct record. Enter the new contact information carefully, particularly an email address that Home Affairs may use for important correspondence.

How long does the contact-detail update take?

Home Affairs states that contact details changed through ImmiAccount update instantly.

For the separate online Update contact details form, two current Department pages give slightly different processing guidance. The main change-in-situation page says Home Affairs will update the details within 14 days, while the form page says submissions may take up to 30 days to process.

Because of that published difference, do not leave a web-form update until the last moment if you are expecting important correspondence. ImmiAccount is the faster route where it is available.

Do visa applicants have to tell Home Affairs when details change?

Yes, where the change affects information given in a visa application. Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 requires a non-citizen to inform an officer in writing as soon as practicable if circumstances change so that an answer in the visa application becomes incorrect in the new circumstances.

The obligation operates for applicants in Australia for relevant changes before visa grant. For an applicant outside Australia, the Act can continue to apply to changes after application and before immigration clearance, even where the visa has already been granted.

Section 105 separately requires a person who discovers that information was already incorrect when it was originally supplied to notify the Department as soon as practicable and provide the correct answer.

What if you move house while your visa application is being processed?

Home Affairs' change-of-contact-details instructions specifically emphasise keeping your residential address current. Its Form 929 guidance states that if you intend to change your residential address for more than 14 days while an application is being processed, you should tell the Department your new address before moving.

The current online process is preferable where available: update the address through ImmiAccount or, if you cannot use the relevant ImmiAccount record, through the online Update contact details form.

What happens when your email address changes?

Update it promptly. Home Affairs uses electronic communication for application correspondence, including requests for information and updates.

When setting up ImmiAccount, Home Affairs recommends choosing to receive electronic messages and checking the account regularly. Updating your email address does not mean you should rely only on email; continue checking messages inside ImmiAccount while your application is being processed.

What if an agent or another person controls the ImmiAccount?

Your application may have been submitted through an organisation, registered migration agent, legal practitioner, sponsor or another person's ImmiAccount.

Home Affairs allows applications to be shared or imported in appropriate circumstances. If you need control of your own application, follow the Department's ImmiAccount procedures rather than creating duplicate applications.

If the problem is purely technical and prevents you from accessing or managing an ImmiAccount application, Home Affairs provides an ImmiAccount Technical Support Form. That support form is for technical problems, not for general visa-status enquiries.

Do you use the same process for a new passport or other changes?

Not always. The contact-details process is specifically for details such as address, email and phone numbers.

A new passport has its own Home Affairs process. In many cases you can update passport details through ImmiAccount, but some passport changes must use the Department's dedicated New Passport Details web form. If you hold a visa and want to confirm your current visa status or conditions, you can also use the Helpydo guide on checking your visa details and conditions in VEVO.

Changes involving your name, sex or gender, relationship status, family composition or other circumstances can also require different forms or evidence. Use the Home Affairs change-in-situation instructions that match the actual change.

Does this also apply to citizenship applicants and sponsors?

Yes. Home Affairs explicitly permits the Update contact details online form for citizenship applicants and relevant sponsors, as well as visa applicants and visa holders.

Citizenship guidance also tells applicants to notify Home Affairs as soon as possible if their contact details change, including their email address, phone number, residential address or postal address.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using the separate web form when the application is already in ImmiAccount. Home Affairs directs ImmiAccount users to update the details there.
• Waiting until important correspondence has already been missed. Update contact information promptly, especially your email and postal address.
• Assuming a web-form change is instant. Unlike ImmiAccount, the separate form can take days to process.
• Entering an email address incorrectly. Check spelling carefully because Home Affairs may use it for important communication.
• Updating only one application when several family members have separate records. Make sure the change reaches every relevant application or record.
• Using the contact-details form for a different type of change. Passport, name, relationship and other changes can have separate procedures.
• Stopping checks of ImmiAccount after changing email. Continue monitoring messages and requests in the account.
• Assuming Home Affairs already knows because another government agency has the new address. Migration Act notification obligations are not removed merely because the Department or another agency may have access to information from another source.