Members of the public have a right to request access their own personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act) or the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) that the department and other Commonwealth agencies hold.
Before making a personal access request
Check you have the right department
We can only provide information or documents that the Department of Home Affairs holds. Check the websites of other departments or agencies to see if they hold the information you need.
Check ImmiAccount or VEVO
You can obtain information about your visa or citizenship applications in
ImmiAccount. You can find information about your current visa status in
VEVO.
Travel records (movement records)
You can obtain specific dates of your or someone else’s (with their consent) travel in and out of Australia (movement records). For more information, see Requesting travel records.
If you want movement records for deceased persons or when you do not have the record holder’s consent, you can submit an Access request form.
Check your own records
Check to see if you or your migration agent already hold the documents or information you need.
Client Merits Review File Request
If you have a pending merits review matter with the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) you may be eligible to
request a copy of the review file.
The review file will contain a copy of the decision record and any other documents relevant to the review. This includes the application form and any applicable supporting documents.
Request non-personal information
If you are seeking non-personal information or documents, see How to request access to non-personal information.
Requests to amend information
If you want to update or amend your personal information, please see the options below:
If you are an Australian citizen seeking to change or correct your personal records, such as your name or date of birth on your citizenship certificate, see
Change a citizenship certificate.
If you have applied for Australian Citizenship, you will need to request the amendment as part of your citizenship application.
This is to ensure that your evidence of Australian citizenship matches Departmental records. If an amendment to information under FOI would result in your evidence of Australian citizenship being different to your records, we would refer this to our citizenship section.
See
Evidence of citizenship and certificates
If you are waiting for a visa application decision, you must tell us about any changes in your circumstances that may affect an answer to questions in your application. See
Changes in your situation.
If these options do not apply, submit an amendment request by completing an
Access request form.
