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Guides · Last checked 29 September 2026

How to organise partner visa evidence for ImmiAccount

ImmiAccount's attachment screen has its own structure: lists per person, evidence types, descriptions, and no undo. This is how it works, and how to keep your files in an order that fits it.

The short version
  • Each applicant has their own list of documents, and a file limit per applicant.
  • Every file is attached under an evidence type, with a description you choose from a list and can add to.
  • The sponsor fills in a separate sponsorship application, linked to the visa application.
  • Attachments can't be deleted once attached, so check each file first.
  • You can keep attaching documents until the application is finalised.

The Attach documents screen

Documents are added through a screen called Attach documents. Home Affairs describes the steps like this:

  1. Select the applicant's name to see their list.
  2. Select the category of document you're attaching.
  3. Choose the best description from the list, and optionally type an extra description.
  4. Select the files. You can pick several at once.
  5. Select Attach.

Home Affairs doesn't send an acknowledgement for each attachment. Once you select Attach, the file is saved to the application.

One list per applicant

Attach documents shows a separate list for each person on the application. Home Affairs says there is a limit on the number of files that can be attached for each applicant. Its current help text doesn't give a number. Reported figures are covered in ImmiAccount upload rules.

The Australian partner (the sponsor) completes a separate application, Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia (form 40SP). Home Affairs' file rules for attachments apply to sponsorship applications too.

Required and Recommended

Items in each list are marked with a status. Home Affairs says every item marked Required must be attached, and to attach Required items first, then any Recommended items you choose to provide.

Once something has been attached to a category, that category moves under a Received heading. You can still add more files to a category that shows as Received.

Evidence types and descriptions

Every file sits under an evidence type (the category) and a description. The Migration Regulations 1994 (regulation 1.15A for spouses, 1.09A for de facto partners) list four aspects of a relationship that are considered: the financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social aspects, and the nature of the persons' commitment to each other.

If a document doesn't fit anything in the list, Home Affairs says to select Other documents and type a description.

Attachments are permanent

A file can't be removed once it's attached. Home Affairs says attachments form part of the application, and asks applicants not to contact the department to have one deleted. A wrong file, a duplicate or an unredacted page stays there, so open each file and check it before attaching.

Before and after you submit

Some application types ask for documents before you can pay and submit. After submitting, you can keep attaching documents until the application is finalised. Home Affairs notes that attaching documents soon after submitting helps processing, and that some applications may be refused if documents weren't attached at lodgement. Your own application shows what's needed and when.

If the department writes asking for more information, there's a control to confirm you've provided it. Home Affairs says to select it once everything requested is attached, so processing staff know the application is ready.

Keeping your files organised

None of this is about what to submit. These are ways to keep the files you already have in the same shape as the portal.

  • Group files the way the portal does. A folder per applicant (and one for the sponsor), and inside each a folder per evidence type. Each folder then matches one list and one evidence type on the Attach documents screen.
  • One document, one file. Home Affairs asks for multi-page documents as a single PDF. A lease is one file, not a file per page.
  • Check the technical rules first. 5 MB per file, accepted types only, no password-protected PDFs, no zip files. A Department tip sheet also says to keep filenames to letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. See ImmiAccount upload rules.
  • Translations go with the document. Documents not in English need an English translation attached with them. Home Affairs sets out who can translate them depending on whether you apply in or outside Australia.
  • Keep your own list of what you attached. Home Affairs sends no acknowledgement per file, and attachments can't be removed. A list of each file, its evidence type and the date you attached it is your own record of what's there.

A quick check before you attach

  1. Is this the right applicant's list?
  2. Is this the right evidence type and description?
  3. Have you opened the file and checked it's the right one?
  4. Is it under 5 MB, an accepted type, and one PDF per document?
  5. Is it on your own list, so you don't attach it twice?

Keep it organised from the start.

In Almost Home, you and your partner add evidence to one shared record as it happens, tag it by the four aspects, and export one PDF per aspect sized for ImmiAccount.

Start your record

This guide explains how ImmiAccount's attachment screen works. It isn't migration advice and doesn't cover what or how much evidence to submit. For that, talk to a registered migration agent or lawyer. The instructions in your own ImmiAccount application are authoritative. See the Home Affairs Attach documents help page.