Changing your 887 application after lodgement in 2026: Form 1023, new baby, new passport

Which changes to a lodged subclass 887 application you must report, and whether Form 1023 or a change-in-situation notice applies.

Published: 9 October 2026

Yes, you must tell the Department of Home Affairs — and the channel depends on what changed. According to the Department of Home Affairs Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887) official page as at July 2026, an answer that was wrong when you lodged is corrected with Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, attached in ImmiAccount, while a change in your situation after lodgement — phone number, email, address, passport, marital or de facto status, or the birth of a child — is reported through the Department's change-in-situation process. A child born after you lodge is the only family member you can still add.

What has to be reported after you lodge a subclass 887 application?

What changed	What the Department requires	Where it goes
An answer in your form was incorrect	Tell us as soon as possible; complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers	Attach in ImmiAccount
Phone number, email, address or passport	Tell us	Change-in-situation notification
Marital or de facto status	Tell us	Change-in-situation notification
A child is born after lodgement and before decision	Tell us as soon as possible	Department's "had a baby" process
You no longer want the visa	Formally withdraw	Formal notification (not ImmiAccount removal)
You change or remove an authorised recipient or adviser	Notify us	Form 956A or Form 956 in ImmiAccount
You travel outside Australia	No need to tell us	—
You forgot to attach a document	Attach it as soon as you can	ImmiAccount

When is Form 1023 the right form?

Use Form 1023 when the problem is an answer you gave at lodgement that was wrong at the time. The Department's instruction is to tell it as soon as possible, complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, and attach it in ImmiAccount. Typical examples are a date, a name spelling or a period of employment or residence recorded incorrectly against the work and residence evidence you supplied.

A change that happens after lodgement is not an incorrect answer, so it does not go on Form 1023. Moving house, renewing a passport and marrying are all true facts that simply became true later; they belong to the change-in-situation notification instead. The dividing line is whether the answer was wrong when you gave it, or whether life moved on afterwards.

How do you notify a change of situation?

The subclass 887 page directs applicants to the Department's change-in-situation pages, which set out the notification channels and any supporting evidence required. The obligation itself sits with you, not with your ImmiAccount record: lodging the application starts a duty to keep the Department informed, and that duty continues until a decision is made.

One category is often missed. If you appoint, change or remove someone to receive your correspondence, use Form 956A Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient; if the person is giving immigration assistance, use Form 956 Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person. Both are uploaded to ImmiAccount.

Your baby is born after you lodge — what then?

A newborn is the single exception to the rule that you cannot add family members after submitting. If your child is born after you submit but before the Department decides, you must tell it as soon as possible, using the process on the Department's "had a baby" page.

The position is different if the birth happened earlier. If your child was born in or outside Australia since your current visa was granted, you must tell the Department about the child before you lodge the 887 application, and if the child's current visa has not been linked to their passport you will not be able to lodge their application online. A child added to the application still needs to meet the health and character requirements that apply to family members.

New passport, new address, new phone number

Passport, address and contact details are expressly listed as things to report. The passport point matters more than it looks: the Department digitally links your visa to your passport and does not issue a label, so a replacement passport has to be brought into the Department's records before any grant can line up with the document you actually travel on.

Travel is the opposite case. You do not have to tell the Department if you want to travel outside Australia while it processes your application, because you can be outside Australia when the decision is made. Make sure you hold a valid visa to return — check your current visa details and conditions through VEVO before you book.

Relationship changes, and the family members you cannot add

Changes to marital or de facto status must be reported. But the practical consequence is narrower than many applicants expect: you cannot add family members after you submit, apart from newborn children. A partner you marry while the application is pending cannot be joined to it. Family members who are eligible have to be included at the time you lodge, and each must hold an eligible visa.

How do you withdraw — and why deleting it in ImmiAccount is not enough

Removing your application from ImmiAccount does not withdraw it. Withdrawal has to be communicated formally; the subclass 887 page lists "you want to withdraw your application" as one of the changes you must tell the Department about. Treat any decision to withdraw as irreversible in procedure terms: it ends the assessment rather than pausing it.

What happens if a change goes unreported?

The Department is not obliged to ask you for more information and may make a decision on your application without asking for further documents, so an out-of-date record can be decided on as it stands. The obligation to provide accurate information runs through the whole application, and the Department will not refund the application charge if it refuses the visa. This article describes the published rules only and is general information rather than advice on an individual case; where your own facts are unusual, check the current official pages or speak to a registered migration agent or legal practitioner.

Does reporting a change affect processing time?

The Department does not give updates on applications under assessment; you can check in ImmiAccount whether anything further is needed from you. The published visa processing time guide shows times for recently decided applications as a guide only, and actual times vary with how complete your application was, how quickly you respond to requests, how long checks take, how long external agencies take on health, character and national security, and how many places are available in the migration program. Keeping your details current removes one avoidable reason for delay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I use Form 1023 for a new passport?

No. Form 1023 is for incorrect answers given at lodgement. A passport issued after you lodged is a change in situation, which you report through the Department's change-in-situation process.

Can I add my newborn to a pending subclass 887 application?

Yes, a child born after you submit but before the decision is the one family member you may still add. You must tell the Department as soon as possible after the birth.

If I delete the application from ImmiAccount, have I withdrawn it?

No. The Department states clearly that removing your application from ImmiAccount does not withdraw it. You must give a separate formal notification that you want to withdraw.

Do I have to tell the Department if I travel overseas while my 887 is processing?

No. You can be outside Australia when the decision is made, so travel itself does not have to be reported. You should still hold a valid visa to return and check your conditions through VEVO.

Who do I notify if I change my migration agent or authorised recipient?

Use Form 956A for someone who receives your correspondence, and Form 956 for someone giving immigration assistance. Upload the completed form to ImmiAccount.

Will correcting a mistake slow my decision down?

The Department does not publish a fixed effect; processing varies with how complete the application is and how quickly you respond to requests. Leaving a known error uncorrected carries the worse risk, since a decision can be made without any further request for documents.