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

Activation of the AoS case occurs when the status updates from accepted (ACC) to current (CUR). This happens when assuree(s):

• arrive in Australia with the relevant visa (offshore visas), or
• the relevant visa is granted while the assuree(s) are in Australia (onshore visas)

The start date for each individual assuree should populate automatically via the Department of Home Affairs datalink.

If the datalink with the Department of Home Affairs has not worked, AoS processing staff can manually update the start date.

The AoS period can be different for separate assurees within the same case as they have started on different dates.

An AoS period can be 12 months, 2, 4 or 10 years depending on the type of visa subclass. To check the AoS period for the relevant visa subclass, see the References page > AoS securities.

The AoS system will calculate the expiry date for each separate assuree once a start date is entered. The AoS system will expire the AoS case once all the assurees expiry dates are reached.

AoS accepted but the AoS affected visa not granted

In the following situations, an AoS case may be cancelled (CAN) after it was accepted if the:

• visa applicant has withdrawn their visa application before the visa was granted by the Department of Home Affairs
• visa application was rejected by the Department of Home Affairs
• assurer(s) requests to withdraw the AoS before the visa application is granted

The assurer(s) will need to provide written confirmation from the Department of Home Affairs that the visa application has:

• not been granted, and/or
• has been cancelled

The Department of Home Affairs will be notified once the AoS application has been cancelled.

When the assurer requests to cancel the AoS before the grant date of the visa application, the visa applicant(s) will need to find another assurer(s). For a visa application to be granted, an AoS must be in place.

If the AoS is cancelled and the assurer(s) has lodged a bank guarantee secured by a term deposit as part of the AoS application process:

• the bank guarantee can be cancelled, and
• the term deposit funds refunded

See Assurance of Support (AoS) bank guarantee and term deposit, cancellation of a bank guarantee.

AoS accepted, and AoS affected visa has been granted

If the visa application has been granted by the Department of Home Affairs, an AoS can only be cancelled in limited special circumstances.

Non-discretionary cancellation reasons, the:

• assuree's visa has been cancelled by Department of Home Affairs
• assuree, other than for a Community Support Programme (CSP) entrant, is subsequently granted a refugee visa after they arrive in Australia
• death of a sole assurer or assuree. This reason will auto expire an AoS case, See Death of an assurer or assuree

Discretionary cancellation reasons require processing staff to gather evidence and decide if:

• the assuree is unable to travel to Australia before the expiration date of their visa due to a deteriorating serious medical condition. This should be supported by:
• a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner, and
• medical evidence outlining the condition will not improve and is likely to deteriorate
• special circumstances exist such as an accident, disability, illness or other circumstance that has critically affected the assurer(s) ability to provide adequate support
• the organisation providing the assurance of support is deregistered

If additional policy advice is required, contact the Level 2 Helpdesk.

Note: financial hardship alone on behalf of the assurer(s) is not considered a special circumstance to cancel the AoS.

AoS legislation does not permit the cancellation of an AoS if an assuree is granted a permanent visa or gains Australian citizenship. The AoS, and the bank guarantee secured by a term deposit when applicable, will remain in force until the expiry of the AoS.

Request for partial release of the AoS security

The assurer can request a partial release of the term deposit funds held as security for cancelled or deceased assuree(s) before the AoS expiry date. An automatic 'Partial Bond Release review' activity in Process Direct is created when an assuree(s) in an AoS case is deceased.

Where an assurer(s) requests the early release of part of the term deposit, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) can be authorised to release part of the term deposit in the following circumstance, provided the assuree has not received an AoS recoverable income support payment:

• There is a single bank guarantee secured by a term deposit in respect of 2 assurees, and one assuree dies, the relevant portion of security can be released.
  For example, a term deposit of $14,000 has been lodged to secure a bank guarantee.
  $10,000 for X, who is the primary applicant for a contributory parent visa, and $4,000 for Y who is the secondary applicant for a contributory parent visa.
  If X, the primary applicant dies, $10,000 of the term deposit lodged for X (who is deceased) can be released.
  A term deposit for $4,000 remains for the rest of the AoS period

If the decision is not to cancel the AoS, the assurer(s) may attempt to find alternate assurer(s). Effectively transferring the AoS responsibilities to another person(s). These responsibilities include:

• taking over the remainder of the AoS period
• lodging a new application and found to be eligible to be an assurer/s
• lodging a bank guarantee secured by a term deposit if required

A transfer:

• would need to must lead to a beneficial outcome for all parties
• may occur in situations where Services Australia considers there is a special circumstance

The new AoS period has the same start and end dates as the replaced AoS.

In the case of a joint AoS, if one of the assurers makes an application to transfer, the remaining assurer(s) and the prospective replacement assurer must all satisfy the requirements for a joint AoS. If both do not meet the requirements, the request to transfer will not be granted.

Special circumstances include:

• Non-discretionary:
• court ordered directions to transfer an AoS
• Discretionary:
• a long-term injury or illness (individual)
• liquidation of a company (Body)
• if family and domestic violence is substantiated

A transfer would only be beneficial to protect government outlays and ensure ongoing support for the assuree(s).

If transferring the AoS, the AoS must not be cancelled until the new assurer has provided all evidence, including the lodgement of bank guarantee. Verbal requests to transfer an AoS case is not permitted.

When a start date is recorded, the end date calculates automatically based on the visa subclass stated in the AoS. A future activity is created and automatically expires the AoS case at the end of the AoS period. Letters advising the AoS case has expired are sent to the assuree(s) and assurer(s) attached to the AoS case.

If a bank guarantee secured by a term deposit has a remaining balance with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), a letter will issue to the bank confirming the amount of funds for release to the account holder(s). An 'AoS Ended Assurer' letter is sent to the assurer.

The AoS Processing team is responsible for completing any expiry activity, as it may involve a debt calculation if an AoS recoverable payment has been paid to the assure(s).

The 143 visas can be granted onshore or offshore.

For visa 143 holders granted onshore before September 2020, the system incorrectly updates the AoS start date using their arrival date, instead of the visa grant date.

If the date is incorrect, Service Officers must manually update the AoS start date.