Activating the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable 106-06020030

To match the customer to their Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) record, the customer's name, date of birth, gender and country of birth must be recorded. A country of birth is not required to match child records.

Check the Customer Personal Details Summary (CPDS) screen and code all known names or aliases.

If actioning a new claim, the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen will be presented when appropriate. Alternatively, manual requests can be made outside a new claim activity or during a reassessment via the RSIMME screen.

Note: apply this same process for a care receiver, along with the care giver.

For child records, use the Child Immigration Enquiry (CHIMME) screen:

In Process Direct:

• select the child from the icon
• key CHIMME into Super Key
• press [Enter]

In Customer First:

• go to the parent or care giver's record
• go to the Child Selection (CHS) screen
• 'S' the relevant child
• in the Next field, enter CHIMME then [Enter]

All residence and portability screens for dependent children are accessed in the same way. The screens for a child all start with the letters CH.

Note: child legal residence details are only required if the information is needed for the claim or if they have been provided for another reason.

Due to system limitations, some country codes provided by immigration are not recognised by the Centrelink system. As a result, if the customer's country of birth is recorded as one of these countries, the CRN will not be able to be automatically matched with their immigration record. To ensure a successful match attempt can be made, change the country of birth on the RSIMME/CHIMME screen as below.

Change:

• Burma to Myanmar
• Czechoslovakia to Czech Republic or Slovakia
• USSR to the relevant country
• Macedonia to North Macedonia
• Tibet to China
• Yugoslavia to the relevant country - Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina or North Macedonia

Note: to enable a link with immigration, the current country does need to be recorded. However, be aware of cultural sensitivities when discussing country name changes with the customer. There may be other ways to determine the country, such as:

• documents already provided
• the country on a current passport or other identity documents

Coding CRES screen for residence in a country which is not officially recognised by the Australian Government:

• The country name cannot be recorded on the CRES/CHCRES
• Accept the information the customer provides, then record the most appropriate country available. For example, code Palestine as Israel or Jordan, and code Tibet as China
• If, due to cultural sensitivities, a customer strongly disagrees with having the currently recognised name of the country on their record:
• use Unspecified in the Country: field
• use only in exceptional circumstances because it may result in other issues on the customer’s record

For more information about cultural sensitivities, see Multicultural Guide

Explain the reason for the coding in a DOC.

Go to the RSIMME/CHIMME screen:

In Process Direct

• Add the customer's Country of Birth, if required
• In Travel Outside Australia, in Lived or travelled outside Australia since 1 Sept 1994, select Add, answer Yes, No or Uknown
• if the customer has travel documents, record these in Immigration Enquiry. Select Add:
• Travel Document Number
• Type
• Country of Issue
• if a customer’s ImmiCard details are known, select Add:
• Travel Document Number: type the ImmiCard number eg. AMSxxxxxx
• Type: select ‘OP – Overseas Passport’
• Country of Issue: select the customer’s country of nationality, as shown on the front of the ImmiCard

In Customer First

• code the Country of Birth: field with the customer’s country of birth, if required
• code the Lived or travelled outside Australia since 1 Sept 1994: field with ('Y')es, ('N')o or ('U')nknown
• if the customer has travel documents, record on this screen:
• in the Type: field code 'AP', 'OP' or 'DI'
• in the Document Number: field record details of the document
• complete the Country of Issue: field
• if a customer’s ImmiCard details are known, code the
• Type: field with ‘OP’
• Travel Document Number: field with ImmiCard number eg. AMSxxxxxx
• Country of Issue: field with the customer’s country of nationality, as shown on the front of the ImmiCard

On the RSIMME/CHIMME screen, Customer Immigration link status:

• A status of ACTIVE - real time updates will be received through the datalink when a change occurs on the customer’s immigration record, for example: departures and arrivals, grant of a new visa
• A status of INACTIVE - information won’t be automatically received through the link. Staff can refresh the immigration data by:
• In Process Direct (only possible inside a NCL or Change of Circumstance transaction), in Immigration Enquiry, press the Request Immigration Data button, select ‘Yes’
• In Customer First, select ‘Yes’ in the Request Immigration data (Y/N)? field

Request the Immigration data.

If required, complete the Source.

Use the correct date as the DOR. Generally, this must be the:

• date of return if the customer is returning to Australia after a temporary absence
• date of contact (when the customer advised they were returning to Australia or when they advised they had returned) if returning after living overseas or when the return is more than 12 months ago
• date of contact if the date of return is in the future

For customers who have already returned to Australia, use the date of contact as the DOR when:

• the departure was not recorded, or
• payment had already cancelled on return to Australia

Note: after a temporary absence, payment can generally be restored (or increased back to autonomous rate, where applicable) from the date of return to Australia.

Finalise the activity.

Note: The system will automatically update the Customer Immigration Link Status on the RSIMME and Immigration Link Details (RSIML) screens to ACTIVE or INACTIVE as applicable.

Successful link:

• If a customer has travelled since 1 September 1994:
• movement information should display on the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM/CHRSIM) screen
• visas and, in some circumstances, Australian citizenship will display on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG/CHRSLEG) screen with a channel code of IMM
• travel documents, such as passports, will display on the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME/CHIMME) screen with a channel code of IMM
• A customer may have a successful link but no movements if they have a passport but have not travelled since 1 September 1994
• A Manual Follow-up (MFU) is created if:
• a PID (a person's individual Immigration Personal Identification Digit) exists on another record (message will display)
• a match is expected but no link found, or
• when a customer has multiple immigration records

The MFU will be actioned by Centrelink International Services (CIS) staff.

Unsuccessful link - no match found:

• The RSIMME/CHIMME screen will display unchanged
• When a match was expected but no matching immigration record can be found automatically, an MFU will be created. This MFU will automatically transfer to CIS for action

Unsuccessful link - datalink unavailable:

• A message will display at the top of the RSIMME/CHIMME screen indicating 'response not received' or 'datalink has been temporarily disabled'

Was the Immigration Datalink successful?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, see Table 2

When the datalink is successful, immigration data may be automatically populated on the following screens:

• Legal Residence Details (RSLEG/CHRSLEG)
• Australian Citizenship grant date, visa information (including visa qualifier information where applicable), New Zealand residence status
• Check whether Australian citizenship and grant date have been provided by the datalink. If they have and they are correct, no further coding is required
• When the datalink has provided verification of a customer's Australian citizenship, proof of citizenship is satisfied
• Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM/CHRSIM)
• RSIM/CHRSIM will be automatically populated with movement information (departures and arrivals)
• The Immigration Limiting Date (ILD) is on the RSIM/CHRSIM screen. It is set when the Immigration Datalink has been successful
• Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME/CHIMME)
• The datalink will record the details of any Travel Documents, including Australian passport details

When the information has been received via the datalink, there will be a channel code of IMM displayed near the data on the RSLEG/CHRSLEG and RSIMME/CHIMME screens. All information on the RSIM/CHRSIM screen is sourced via the datalink. Immigration data recorded manually by Centrelink International Services (CIS) staff has a channel code of IMC.

Immigration data from the Immigration Limiting Date (ILD) on the RSIM/CHRSIM screen will be used in the customer's assessment.

ILD default date

The ILD defaults automatically when an immigration match is found. It can be manually changed to ensure all relevant movements are taken into account on the customer's record.

The default dates are:

• set to the first date Department of Home Affairs data is available for:
• a claim from a person who has never claimed a Centrelink entitlement and has no partner who has claimed a Centrelink entitlement
• set to the date the claim was lodged for:
• a claim from a person who has previously claimed a Centrelink entitlement
• the partner of a person who has previously claimed a Centrelink entitlement
• set to the system date when a Department of Home Affairs match is made in an activity that is not a claim

Adjust the default date if there is data before the default date which needs to be assessed for a correct outcome. For example, an absence in the past two years which extends the NARWP or a departure from Australia that needs to be assessed.

If a customer's immigration information will not affect qualification, use the default date.

Any customer advised immigration information on the RSCD/CHRSCD and RSLEG/CHRSLEG screens that is:

• dated before the ILD, is used in the assessment
• recorded after the ILD is set and dated after the ILD, is generally not used in the assessment. Only verified immigration data on the RSIM/CHRSIM and RSLEG/CHRSLEG screens is used

Manually moving the Immigration Limiting Date (ILD)

Manually move the Immigration Limiting Date on the RSIM/CHRSIM screen to a date before the default date if:

• all the immigration information needs to be used, or
• the customer's historical immigration information could affect qualification

For example, if the customer has a previous visa or departure from or return to Australia that needs to be assessed, set the ILD to the date of the visa grant as per the RSLEG/CHRSLEG screen or movement as per the RSIM/CHRSIM screen.

Set the ILD to a date based on the individual circumstances of the customer, which may be:

• the date of the earliest immigration data if appropriate for that customer, or
• a date that is sufficient to include all visas and/or movements which impact entitlement (such as period/s of the Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period NARWP)

To manually move the ILD:

When the immigration match is first made, the RSIM/CHRSIM screen will usually display the question - Would you like to use all DIAC data (Y/N)?

• in Process Direct, select ‘Yes’
• in Customer First, code ‘Y’

To change an existing ILD:

• in Process Direct, in Immigration Link, select Edit, then type or select the new ILD date
• in Customer First, in the Immigration Limiting Date (ILD): field, code the new ILD date

Note: investigate and raise, if applicable, any debts created when an ILD is changed to a date in the past.

Has all information updated from the Immigration Datalink?

• Yes: and there is:
• doubt about the accuracy, see Table 2
• no reason to doubt the accuracy, procedure ends here
• No:
• manual coding is needed, see Table 2

Information from the customer (verbal or in the claim) must be recorded on:

• Customer Advised Travel Details (RSCD) screen, (CHRSCD for a child)

Absences can affect a customer's qualification but it is not necessary to code every absence. However code all absences that:

• impact on the Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP)
• are in the past three years for family assistance payments (such as Family Tax Benefit)
• are in at least the past year for all other payments

• The RSLEG/CHRSLEG screen needs to be recorded manually. Note: child legal residence details only need to be coded if they have been requested in a claim, for example when the child is a care receiver for a carer’s claim. If not requested in a claim (such as Parental Leave Pay (PPL) as there are no residence rules for PPL children), they do not need to be obtained from the customer.
• See Recording legal residence details for assistance
• Australian Citizenship must be verified. See Proof of Australian citizenship
• Visa Qualifier Details will need to be updated by CIS (see Referring inconsistencies in overseas departure and arrival information to Centrelink International Services (CIS)) before the claim can be finalised if the customer:
• holds a visa subclass 403, and
• has indicated in their claim that they (or their partner) are a Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme worker who has been approved for Family Accompaniment
• The New Zealand residence status must be manually completed by CIS. An automatic activity will be generated when a claim is finalised. The claim will not be able to be finalised until CIS have updated the status
• Check if customer has a current visa on RSLEG/CHRSLEG. If the most recent visa has been ended, however other historical visas are recorded that may allow eligibility, further investigation into the customer’s residence status may be required to check what visa they currently hold. See Referring inconsistencies in overseas departure and arrival information to Centrelink International Services (CIS)

Contingency processing is invoked when a matching immigration record could not be found in a new claim, or because the datalink is temporarily unavailable.

Contingency processing means:

• No new immigration data is available via the datalink
• The assessment will be made using the visas on the RSLEG/CHRSLEG screen and customer advised movements coded on the RSCD/CHRSCD screen
• When immigration data becomes available, because a matching record is found and/or the link is once again working, contingency processing stops and the immigration data is used in the assessment instead of the customer advised movement data
• The New Zealand residence status will be automatically recorded in most cases for New Zealand customers
• See Recording legal residence details for assistance
• If the customer is an Australian citizen and this has been manually recorded, verification may still be required. See Proof of Australian citizenship

Refer the case to CIS for investigation if the:

• customer wants to dispute the information obtained via the Immigration Datalink, or
• Service Officer feels the immigration data is incomplete or incorrect

See Referring inconsistencies in overseas departure and arrival information to Centrelink International Services (CIS)