Australian Form 1022: When to Lodge, Documents, and Submission

Australian Form 1022, the Notification of Changes in Circumstances, is the form you lodge with the Department of Home Affairs when something you told them on a visa application has changed before a decision is made. Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 requires you to report any change that affects an answer on your original application form, and the Department expects the notification as soon as practicable.¹ Delay puts your visa at risk of cancellation.

When You Need to Lodge Form 1022

The rule is broad. If anything you told the Department on your application is no longer accurate, update it. The common triggers Home Affairs lists include:²

The birth of a child during processing. If you don’t add the baby, they won’t be covered by any visa grant.
A marriage or a new de facto relationship, which changes your family composition and may affect eligibility for your visa subclass.
A divorce or separation, which matters especially on partner visas where the relationship is the basis of the application.
A change of residential or postal address. The Department sends legal notices and requests for information to the address on file, so an outdated one can cause you to miss a deadline.
A renewed or reissued passport, or a change of nationality.

The list isn’t exhaustive. If your application asked about employment, health, or character, a change to any of those answers also needs reporting. Being charged with a criminal offence, for instance, affects the character answers you gave and is reported the same way.¹

Form 1022 or Form 1023

Timing decides which form you use. Form 1022 covers information that was correct when you lodged your application but has since changed. Form 1023, Notification of Incorrect Answers, covers information that was wrong at the time you gave it.³ A wrong passport number typed on the original application is a Form 1023 matter. A new passport issued after lodgement is Form 1022.

Filling Out the Form

Form 1022 is short, but every field connects the notification to the right file. It has four parts.¹

Your Details

Questions 1 through 12 collect your identity and contact information: full legal name, date and place of birth exactly as on your passport, current relationship status, passport and citizenship details, residential and correspondence addresses, phone contacts, and consent to be contacted by fax or email. Question 12 asks for your client or file number issued by the Department. It appears on the acknowledgment letter you received when your application was accepted. The form marks this field “if known,” so you can leave it blank if you can’t find it, but supplying it helps the Department match your notification to your file faster.

Other Applicants

Question 13 covers anyone else included on your application: partner or dependants. You provide their name, date of birth, country of birth, passport number, and residential address. There is space for up to three people. This is where a newborn child is added.

Details of the Change

Question 14 is the heart of the form. It gives you three numbered rows with two columns: the information that is no longer current on the left, and the new correct details on the right. Be specific. Write your old address on the left and your new address on the right, rather than a general phrase like “address changed.” If you have more than three changes, attach a separate sheet in the same two-column format.

Visa and Application Details

Questions 15 and 16 collect any visa details you already hold (date granted, stay period, visa class) and details of the pending application (date lodged, where it was lodged, visa class applied for). Fill in what you know. Question 17 is the signed declaration. If other applicants aged 18 or over are included, they must sign as well.

Documents to Attach

The form on its own isn’t enough. You need to attach evidence of the change, and on paper submissions the Department requires certified copies.²

For the birth of a child, attach a colour scan of the birth certificate and the baby’s passport pages showing photo, personal details, and issue and expiry dates. If the baby doesn’t have a passport yet, send the passport copy as soon as it becomes available.² For a marriage, a certified copy of the marriage certificate. For a new passport, colour copies of the biographical pages. There isn’t a published checklist for every scenario, but the principle is simple: whatever you claim changed, prove it with an official document.

How to Submit

The path depends on whether your application sits in ImmiAccount or was lodged on paper.

Through ImmiAccount

If your application is in ImmiAccount, this is the faster route. For simple contact detail changes (address, phone number, email), you can update directly in ImmiAccount without filling out Form 1022 at all, and the change takes effect instantly.⁴ For substantive changes such as a new relationship, birth of a child, or a new passport, you complete Form 1022 within ImmiAccount and attach the supporting documents electronically.²

If you originally lodged on paper, you may be able to import the application into ImmiAccount to manage it online. Some application types can’t be imported, including partner visas, Refugee and Humanitarian visas, organisation applications, and any application with an ID beginning with “IRIS.”⁵

On Paper

If importing isn’t available, download Form 1022 from the Department of Home Affairs website, complete and sign it, and mail it with certified copies of the supporting documents to the office where you originally lodged the application.² The office address is on the acknowledgment letter you received when your application was accepted.

After You Submit

Your case officer reviews the new information and works out how it affects the application. Some changes are administrative, like a new phone number noted on the file. Others start further steps. A newborn added to a family visa application may need their own medical examination. A change of relationship status on a partner visa can prompt a request for further evidence about the new circumstances. These follow-ups can add weeks or months to processing, but that is far better than a refusal or cancellation triggered by the Department discovering the change on its own.

Timing and the Risk of Not Reporting

The form carries a blunt warning: failure to comply with Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 leaves your visa liable to cancellation.¹ Section 109 allows the Department to cancel a visa granted on the basis of information that turns out to be incorrect. There is no requirement to prove you intended to mislead; outdated information you failed to correct is enough. For applicants still waiting on a decision, an unreported change can also lead to outright refusal if the officer finds the discrepancy first.

The legislation sets no specific deadline in days. The standard is “as soon as practicable,” meaning as soon as you become aware of the change and can reasonably prepare the form and documents. Waiting weeks to report a marriage or birth you could have reported within days is the kind of delay that draws scrutiny.

1
Department of Home Affairs. Notification of Changes in Circumstances (Form 1022)
2
Department of Home Affairs. Applying on Paper – Section: Tell Us if Your Situation Changes
3
Department of Home Affairs. Notification of Incorrect Answer(s) (Form 1023)
4
Department of Home Affairs. Your Contact Details Have Changed
5
Department of Home Affairs. Apply and Manage Your Application