What it does
This instrument is a legislative instrument made under subregulation 2.07(5) and items 1401, 1402, 1403 and 1404 of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994. It prescribes the approved forms and methods of lodgement (place and manner) for applications for four visa subclasses: Protection (Class XA), Refugee and Humanitarian (Class XB), Temporary Protection (Class XD) and Safe Haven Enterprise (Class XE). Its practical effect is to centralise application lodgement through a mandatory internet-based system, with paper lodgement permitted only as a discretionary fallback when the Department gives written notice that an online application cannot be made. The instrument specifies the precise form numbers (form 866 for the three protection-type visas; forms 842 and 681 or 1417 for the various categories within Class XB) and the mailing addresses or online portal URLs to be used. It does not create or modify visa criteria, only the procedural arrangements for making a valid application. Compliance with the prescribed form and manner is necessary for an application to be validly made under section 46 of the Migration Act 1958; failure to follow these rules renders the application invalid, meaning the Department is not obliged to consider it. The instrument has been amended six times since its original registration on 12 November 2020. The most notable structural changes were the 2023 amendments that rewrote sections 7, 9 and 10 to remove earlier exceptions for paper lodgement without prior written notice, and the 2025 amendments that expanded internet lodgement for certain Class XB applicants (item 1A of the table in section 8) and repealed former section 5 (which contained saving provisions for pre-commencement applications). The instrument is a compilation as at 29 November 2025, with uncommenced amendments noted but not incorporated. Because it is delegated legislation, it has not been subject to the full parliamentary scrutiny of a Bill; its authority derives from powers already granted in the Migration Regulations.