Section 56 Request for More Information — How to Respond

MARN 1576536

What a section 56 request is

Section 56 of the Migration Act 1958 lets the Department ask an applicant for further information before deciding a visa application. The letter is usually headed “Request for more information” or “Request for further information”, lists specific documents or questions, and gives a date. It is sent when the file is close to decision but short of satisfying one or more criteria: a missing police certificate, an employer reference that does not describe the duties, a relationship history with gaps, a training plan that reads like employment, or a question raised by something already on the file.

A s56 request is good news in one sense: the Department has engaged with the application rather than refusing it outright, and the letter tells you exactly where the doubt is. It is bad news if it is treated as a formality. The response is, in practice, the last word before the decision.

The response period and extensions

The period runs from the date you are taken to have received the letter, which depends on how it was sent (for email, the day it was sent). The usual period is 28 days; shorter periods appear for simple items. You can ask for more time, in writing, before the date, with a reason: a police certificate ordered but not yet issued, a document in translation, an employer overseas. Extensions are granted at the case officer’s discretion and are not guaranteed, so the request should go in early and the items that are ready should be sent on time regardless.

Reading the request: what the officer is actually testing

Every item in the letter maps to a criterion in the visa regulations. “Provide evidence of your work experience as a Chef from 2021 to 2024” is not a request for any document mentioning that job; it is the officer saying the current evidence does not satisfy the skill or experience criterion for the nominated occupation. “Provide evidence of your financial relationship with your partner” means the relationship evidence on file is thin in one of the four aspects the regulations require. Answering the literal words without answering the criterion behind them is the most common way a s56 response fails.

The letter also tells you what the officer has not raised. Items the Department is already satisfied on do not need re-arguing, and re-opening them with new material can create inconsistencies with what is already on the file.

What to send, and how

• A cover letter that lists each request, says what is attached for it, and briefly explains anything that cannot be provided and what is provided instead.
• Exactly what was asked, in the form asked: certified copies where required, NAATI translations for anything not in English, statutory declarations in the correct form where a statement is needed.
• Evidence consistent with the file. Dates, titles, employers and addresses must match what was lodged. Where something on the file was wrong, say so plainly and correct it; do not let the officer find the inconsistency.
• One organised upload through ImmiAccount against the right application, with each document labelled under the correct document type, and a note in the response that it was uploaded and when.

Mistakes that turn a request into a refusal

• Sending a large volume of documents that do not address the item asked, in the hope that volume reads as strength.
• Writing a long personal explanation where the officer asked for a document, or sending a document where the officer asked for an explanation.
• Introducing new claims that contradict the lodged application: a different start date, a different job title, a relationship that began earlier than previously stated.
• Responding on the last day with items still outstanding and no extension request on record.
• Ignoring an item because it seems minor. Every item in the letter is there because a criterion depends on it.

When to have the response reviewed

If the request concerns genuineness (of a position, a relationship, a training program, a business), skills or experience evidence, character, health, or anything connected to a previous refusal, the response is worth a professional read before it goes in. Those are the items on which refusals are decided and on which a well-constructed response changes the outcome. A request for a single missing document generally does not need it.

I review the letter against the lodged application, tell you what each item is testing and what evidence answers it, draft the cover letter structure, and tell you what not to send. If you are close to the date, say so in the enquiry and I will prioritise it.

Send WIDEN a confidential enquiry

Tell us briefly what you received and the date on the letter. If the deadline is close, say so and we will prioritise it. These matters are handled in the extended consultation; the enquiry form is for sending the documents ahead of it, not for free advice.

General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.