How it works

Assurer and assuree

The assurer is someone who gives an Assurance of Support to a visa applicant.

An assurer can be an individual or organisation.

An individual assurer must be:

• at least 18 years of age
• an Australian resident
• able to give proof of income for the current and last financial year.

An individual assurer can provide an Assurance of Support:

• of up to 2 adults under the Assurance of Support stream
• of up to 4 adults under the Community Support Program stream
• for dependent children under 18 years of age at the Assurance of Support application lodgement date.

An organisational assurer must:

• have an Australian address
• meet the financial capacity test.

An organisational assurer can provide an Assurance of Support:

• of up to 2 adults under the Assurance of Support stream
• of up to 15 adults under the Community Support Program stream
• for dependent children under 18 years of age at the Assurance of Support application lodgement date.

An assurer promises to:

• support your assuree financially without them needing any income support from us for the entire Assurance of Support period
• pay us back for any income support we give your assuree within the Assurance of Support period.

The assuree is the visa applicant you support.

Who needs an assurer

After someone applies for a visa, the Department of Home Affairs will:

• decide if they’re in a visa category that needs an Assurance of Support
• issue a Request for Assurance of Support letter if they need one.

How you become an assurer

You need to apply. After we get your application, we’ll contact you to discuss:

• what you need to do as an assurer
• if you can meet these obligations.

Bank guarantee and term deposit

As an assurer, you may need to give us a bank guarantee and term deposit through the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. This will depend on the visa subclass the assuree has applied for.

If your assuree gets a payment from us, the bank guarantee will cover the part or full amount received by the assuree.

If you want to cancel

You can’t cancel an Assurance of Support once the Department of Home Affairs grants the visa to your assuree. You’ll need to wait until the Assurance of Support expires. This is the rule even if any of the following occurs:

• your assuree becomes an Australian citizen
• the visa that was granted to your assuree by the Department of Home Affairs changes
• your relationship breaks down
• you’re in financial hardship.

We may cancel the agreement if the sole assurer or assuree dies.