Activation, cancellation, transfer and expiry of an Assurance of Support (AoS) case 005-03050010

An AoS case can only be activated to current (CUR), cancelled (CAN) or expired (EXP) if the case status is accepted (ACC). See AoS status codes and explanations.

To check if an AoS application has been accepted search the AoS application by:

• the Primary assurer's (Main Partner) Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• AoS Case ID or
• Visa application number

Select Inbox from the Process Direct Landing page:

• In the Work Item Search, select Assurance of Support from the Main Category field
• Key the Primary assurer (Main Partner's) Customer Reference Number (CRN), Case ID or Visa Reference
• Select Go, the AoS Case and status will display in the work item table
• Select the AoS Case
• Select the Status icon. This will show the status history. The most recent status should be Accepted
• Select Parties icon to view the assurer(s) and assuree(s) details

If the Primary assurer (Main Partner) CRN, Case ID, or Visa application number are unknown:

For AoS applications processed after June 2022

In Process Direct:

• Select the Customer Summary tile and locate the secondary assurer or assuree's record
• In the Super Key field: key 'LS' (Link Summary)
• Destination CRN displays all assurer and/or assuree CRN's

For AoS applications processed before June 2022 (not applicable to Organisation)

In Customer First:

• Select the CRN/BP hyperlink
• Cases tab displays Case ID and status
• Select the Assurance of Support Case hyperlink, then Parties Involved tab to view assurer and assuree details
• Take a note of the Case ID and Primary assurer (Main Partner's) CRN

Go to Process Direct:

• Select Inbox from the Landing page
• Main Category: Assurance of Support, search using the Case ID or Primary Assurer CRN

If the AoS case needs to be:

• Current, go to Step 2
• Cancelled, go to Step 5
• Expired, go to Step 9
• Transferred, go to Step 10

AoS start dates are automatically updated on the assuree's record when:

• the assuree arrives in Australia on the AoS visa, or
• the assurees visa is granted if they are already in Australia

To view AoS start dates in Process Direct:

• select the Customer Summary tile
• enter assuree CRN
• in Super Key field, key 'AOAE' (Assuree Arrival Details)

If the AoS start date is not updated within 13 weeks from the date AoS was accepted, Service Officers will need to action a Commencement Review activity created with the status 'For Manual Action'.

Has the AoS start date populated with the correct date?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, and if:
• there is no start date, go to Step 3
• the start date is incorrect, go to Step 4

Manual activation should only be required when the Department of Home Affairs data link has not automatically populated the details. For example, there is no information from the datalink, or the visa details from the datalink is different to the visa details coded in the AoS application.

Enter a start date to activate an AoS, the case status will update to current (CUR). The start date is the later of the date the:

• assuree arrived in Australia on the AoS visa, or
• AoS visa was granted if the assuree is already in Australia

The visa and arrival information are available on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) and Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screens via the Department of Home Affairs datalink or confirmed with Centrelink International Services.

See Activating the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable.

Contact the Data Quality Unit (DQU) if the:

• AOAE screen is locked
• assuree has a multiple record

See Centrelink customer has multiple Customer Reference Numbers (CRN).

AoS duration

The AoS duration is 1, 2, 4 or 10 years depending on the AoS visa subclass and the date the AoS application was lodged.

For assistance to manually calculate the AoS period, see the Resources page in the Processing applications to become an assurer for the AoS eligibility checker.

When an AoS has commenced but the start date has not updated on the assuree record, update the start date by:

• Select Customer Summary from the Process Direct Landing page
• From the Search Customers screen key the assuree’s CRN in the CRN field, select Go
• Select the assuree record from the Search Results field

On the Start screen

• Key 'AOAE' in the Super Key field
• Select Add
• AoS Start date: key the later of:
• the date the assuree arrived into Australia on the permanent visa requiring AoS, or
• the date the permanent visa requiring AoS was granted while the assuree is in Australia
• Expected Expiry date: this date is calculated automatically based on the start date that is entered and the type of visa subclass. If the Expiry Date has not been automatically updated check:
• the visa subclass for the duration of AoS
• if the visa subclass is onshore or offshore.
  If offshore, the initial arrival date of the assuree in Australia on the relevant AoS visa.
  If onshore, the grant date of the visa subclass
• the AoS application lodgement date will also determine the applicable AoS period
• enter the Expected Expiry date manually. See, Examples of offshore and onshore visas or Example of 143 visa (can be granted onshore or offshore)

If there is more than one assuree, code the start date for each assuree on each individual assuree record. By entering this information, the assuree record automatically updates and the case status becomes current (CUR).

Note: a start date must be entered even if the expected expiry date has passed. Once the start date is entered, the case will expire immediately, and the relevant expiry letters will be issued.

• Enter DOR and Channel, and select Assess
• On Entitlement (ELD) screen select Finish
• Record details in Note template and select Finish

Activation letter to assurer

Once the activation to current (CUR) has occurred a letter will be automatically sent to the assurer(s). The letter will contain:

• advice their responsibilities as an assurer have started
• details of the assuree(s) whose support has become active

It may take overnight for the letter to be created. If the letter is not available on the History Summary (HS) screen in Process Direct or in Search Outbound Correspondence in Customer First, check the record again the next day.

Procedure ends here.

The 143 visa can be granted onshore or offshore. For visa 143 holders granted onshore before September 2020, the system incorrectly updates the AoS start date using the arrival date instead of the visa grant date.

If the AoS start date entered on the AOAE screen is incorrect, Service Officers must manually update:

• Select Edit
• AoS Start Date: enter the correct start date
• Expected Expiry Date: enter the expiry date if not automatically populated
• Select Save
• Receipt Date: today’s date
• Channel: Internal
• Select Save then Assess
• Success > Updates applied successfully! will display select OK

Procedure ends here.

Check if the AoS can be cancelled.

If the cancellation is not on the non-discretionary list, Service Officers must make a discretionary determination. See Resources page for examples.

Do not cancel or close an AoS relating to the death of an assurer or assuree, see Death of an assurer or assuree.

• Go to AOBA screen at the case level if cancelling the whole AoS case, or
• Go to the assuree's record in Process Direct via the Customer Summary and update the AOAE screen to cancel the AoS for the particular assuree

Confirm if the AoS case should be cancelled, check:

• evidence provided to confirm the visa application has been withdrawn
• evidence provided to confirm the visa application has been refused by the Department of Home Affairs
• the assuree, other than for a CSP entrant, is subsequently granted a refugee visa after arrival in Australia
• evidence to confirm the deregistration of the organisation providing the AoS

Before actioning the cancellation, the Service Officer must determine if the cancellation applies to the whole AoS case or for a particular assuree only. If:

• not cancelling, DOC the decision and send a Q999 letter detailing reasons the cancellation is not approved, include the right to a review of a decision. Procedure ends here
• cancelling because an organisation has been deregistered, go to Step 6
• cancelling the whole AoS case, go to Step 7
• ending an AoS for one assuree in the multiple assurees case, go to Step 8

Applications to cancel an AoS due to an organisational assurer being deregistered must be escalated to the Level 2 Helpdesk using the request form.

• CSAQuery: Additional Products & Services
• CSAEnquiry: Assurance of Support
• CRN
• Service/Payment Type: Not Specified
• Enquiry Description: AoS cancelling AoS deregistered organisation. Include:
• CRN of organisation
• Name of organisation
• Name of administrator or liquidator
• Date of deregistration
• Evidence provided for deregistration
• Is there a debt - Yes or No
• If yes, amount of debt

Place claim on hold for 5 working days use reason: Referred to Policy/Helpdesk. DOC the record 'Referred to Policy/Helpdesk awaiting response'.

Once response received from Level 2 Helpdesk, if:

• eligible to cancel, go to Step 7
• not eligible to cancel, send the AoS - Early release of term deposit funds - insolvent organisation letter

Select Inbox from Process Direct Landing page

• Main Category: Assurance of Support
• Enter Primary assurer (Main Partner) CRN, Case ID or Visa Reference
• Select Go
• Select the Assurance of Support Case
• Select AOBA - AOS Actions in Task Selector
• Select Next
• Action: CAN - Cancelled
• Reason:
• AAG - Another visa granted before CUR AoS expired
• CLR - Claim withdrawn
• DTH - Death of an Assurer or Assuree
• NLR - No Longer Required
• OTH - Other Reason (No suitable cancellation or rejection reason exists)
• VRJ - Visa withdrawn, cancelled or rejected by the Department of Home Affairs
• XLC - Exceptional Circumstances
• Enter the Effect Date
• Select Next
• Select Assess on the Errors (SWE) screen
• Select Finalise on Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Record details in a Note template, select Finalise

When an AoS case is cancelled, the AoS case and assuree status are updated to Cancelled, and letters are created automatically.

Procedure ends here.

To cancel a current AoS for an assuree and the other assurees remain active in the AoS case:

• Select Customer Summary from the Process Direct Landing page
• From the Search Customers screen, key on the CRN of the assure to be cancelled in the CRN field
• Select Go
• Select the assuree record from the Search Results field
• Key 'AOAE' in the Super Key field
• Select Edit
• Update the Expected Expiry Date and Expiry Reason
• AAG - Another visa granted before current AoS expired
• CNV - Conversion of heritage codes for migration
• DTH - Assurer/Assuree Deceased
• EXP - AoS Period Ended – Assuree Expired
• FSB - Failed To Supply Bank Guarantee
• GAC - Granted Australian Citizenship
• INV - AoS Invalid
• M2E - More than 2 Assurees
• NLR - No Longer Required
• OTH - Any Other Reason
• REF - Refugee Visa Granted
• VCA - Assuree Outside Australian Government
• VIS - Another AoS Visa Granted
• XLC - Exception Circumstances
• Receipt Date: todays date
• Channel: Internal
• Select Save, then Assess
• Success > Updates applied successfully! will display, select OK
• On Entitlement (ELD) screen select Finish
• Record details in Note template and select Finish

Contact Technical Peer Support (TPS) for all other situations.

Procedure ends here.

Make sure the start and end dates for all assurees are updated on Assuree Arrival Details (AOAE) screen.

When the start date is coded on the AOAE screen, the Expected Expiry Date field will automatically calculate the expiry date. If this does not occur, manually calculate and enter the expiry date. For assistance to manually calculate the AoS period, see the Resources page in the Processing applications to become an assurer for the AoS eligibility checker. Once this date is reached, the field automatically becomes the AoS Expiry Date field.

If an AoS period for all assurees in the case has been served in full, the case will expire automatically, and the case status will update to (EXP).

A case may only be expired early if another visa requiring an AoS has been granted. The full length of both AoS periods will not exceed the period for which the first AoS was given.

Expiry Letters

Upon expiry of the AoS and where no recoverable payments were made to the assurees, an expiry letter will automatically generate to advise:

• the AoS period has expired, and
• if a bank guarantee secured by a term deposit was provided, the funds can be released by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

Where recoverable payments were made to the assurees, a debt will be raised against the assurers. The AoS case will be put on hold and an AoS yearly review will occur. See Raising Assurance of Support (AoS) debts.

A letter will automatically be sent to the CBA advising:

• the expiry and confirming that any bank guarantee can be cancelled, and
• any remaining term deposit funds can be released to the account holders

If the letter has not automatically issued, see Assurance of Support (AoS) bank guarantee and term deposit.

Procedure ends here.

After making the determination to transfer an AoS case. Do not cancel the existing AoS case until the new assurer has provided all evidence including the lodgement of bank guarantee. The assurees cannot be linked to the new application, and the new application cannot be finalised until the existing AoS case is cancelled.

Document the AoS transfer in the existing assurer and new assurer records and cross reference.

Making the decision

Consider cancelling the AoS case, see Step 5

Which of the following categories does the transfer request meet?

Non-discretionary:

• a court ordered transfer of an Assurance of Support, refer to Step 5 Cancelling an AoS

Discretionary:

• a long-term injury or illness (individual)
• liquidation of a company (Body)
• if family and domestic violence is substantiated
• any other reason provided by the assurer

Collect evidence to make the discretionary determination. Including verification from the potential new assurer(s) to ensure they meet the requirements to be an assurer.

The Level 2 Helpdesk can be contacted for assistance. The assessor will have the final decision.

See Resources for possible reasons for a discretionary transfer.

Transfer not approved

If the potential new assurer(s) do not meet the requirements, the transfer cannot proceed. DOC the rejection of the request to transfer. Issue a Q999 letter with the reasons the request to transfer was rejected. Include the right to review of a decision paragraph. Procedure ends here.

Transfer approved, cancel the AoS case.

Select Inbox from the Process Direct Landing page

• Main Category: Assurance of Support
• Enter Primary assurer (Main Partner) CRN, Case ID or Visa Reference
• In the AoS case, select Circumstance Data icon
• In Task Selector, select AOBA - AOS Actions
• Select Next
• Action: Can - Cancelled
• Reason: XLC - Exceptional Circumstance
• Enter the Effect Date
• Select Next
• Select Assess on the Errors (SWE) screen
• Select Finalise on Entitlement (ELD) screen
• Record details in a Note template, select Finalise

Once the AoS case is cancelled, re-index the new AoS case. See Processing applications to become an assurer.

Go to Step 11.

In cases involving a bond during a transfer, there are 3 scenarios:

• the court orders the transfer of the bond from the existing assurer to the potential new assurer. Send a copy of the court order to the Level 3 AoS Helpdesk with the request to transfer the name(s) of bond as ordered. (Do not action the transfer until confirmation is received from Level 3 AoS Helpdesk)
• in discretionary cases, the existing assurer(s) approves the existing bond be transferred in name to the potential new assurer(s). Send evidence (usually a statutory declaration from the existing assurer(s)) to Level 3 AoS Helpdesk with the request to transfer the name(s) of bond. (Do not action the transfer until confirmation is received from Level 3 AoS Helpdesk), or
• the existing assurer(s) will request the release of the existing bond. See Assurance of Support (AoS) bank guarantee and term deposit

• When staff reject a case with the same assurer(s) and assuree(s) within 13 weeks, they must:
• use the Re-index AOS case and application functionality to reindex the case
• not create a Social Online application (SOA) shell manually
• follow the process in Table 2, Step 3 in the Rejecting an application to become an assurer
• When processing AoS, staff must make sure the expected outcome shows on the Entitlement (ELD) screen. If the ELD screen does not show the expected outcome, do not finalise the activity
• Staff and Local Peer Support/Technical Support (LPS/TPS) must only close the case if the SOA shell was created in error, or as a duplicate
• If an error occurs, staff must not close the case No Longer Required and re-index a new case. This will:
• stop the creation of multiple cases, and
• help to identify the initial problem. For example, Rejecting, Bonding when a different outcome is expected

For any system issues, raise an incident via Digital Assistant Roxy.

• If an error occurs, staff must seek help from Local Peer Support/Technical Support (LPS/TPS) before raising an incident in Roxy for ICT escalation
• Staff must:
• include the AoS case number
• record the assurer and assuree CRNs and provide all relevant information
• If staff or LPS/TPS have attempted any workarounds, including outside of Process Direct, they must tell ICT exactly what they have done to help with the investigation. ICT can resolve the issue quicker if they have all the details
• Staff must not re-index a new case after they raise an incident, and ICT is investigating
• If the creation of multiple cases causes an error, staff must include all case numbers
• If the error relates to a particular assurer or assuree in multiple cases, staff must also include the assurer and/or assuree's CRN. This helps ICT to investigate
• Staff must attach screen shots of the error in the ICT ticket. See:
• Table 2, Step 9 in the Processing applications to become an assurer, and
• Table 4 in the Reporting ICT issues in Process Direct
• If the customer contacts and:
• the incident is still unresolved, staff must update the incident with any additional information to assist the ICT investigation
• would like to lodge a complaint, use mySupport > search Valid reasons to call the Urgent Escalation Channel. The Resources page contains a link to mySupport

See Table 4 in the Reporting ICT issues in Process Direct.