ImmiAccount: how to fix documents that won't attach

What ImmiAccount accepts

The Department of Home Affairs sets out the technical rules on its page about attaching documents to an application:

Clear photos of documents are acceptable too, as long as the photo shows all the document's information. That matters, because photographing a page is often the quickest way around the encryption problem.

The encrypted PDF problem

This is the failure that confuses most applicants. The file is a normal-looking PDF, well under 5 MB, and it still won't attach. Home Affairs explains why: ImmiAccount refuses encrypted or secured PDFs, and documents downloaded directly from a website are often secured in exactly that way - bank statements, payslips, tax records and online certificates among them.

You can't always tell by looking. A secured PDF opens and prints like any other; the protection only restricts editing or copying behind the scenes. If a downloaded PDF fails to attach for no visible reason, assume it is secured.

Home Affairs' suggested fix is simple: print the document and scan a new copy, then upload that. The new copy is a fresh file with no protection on it. A phone photo of each printed page works the same way, since clear photos of documents are accepted.

Step by step: a clean PDF under 5 MB

1. If the original is a secured download, print it first. Otherwise start from your scans or photos.
2. Open the ImmiAccount file checker. It is set to make a PDF of 5 MB or less.
3. Add the pages of one document with Take a photo, Choose photos or Add PDF files (unlocked PDFs only).
4. Arrange the pages in order and rotate any that are sideways; keep Look of photos on Document for printed paperwork.
5. Press Create PDF. The result is a new, unencrypted PDF at or under 5 MB.
6. Check the Upload check and the Check these yourself list, then download the PDF.
7. In ImmiAccount, choose the applicant, the reason and the document type, select Browse, pick the PDF and select Attach. A green tick shows the upload worked.

None of your documents passes through SentrueFile's servers. The pages are read and the PDF is written on your own device.

Attaching in ImmiAccount: details worth knowing

• Pick the right reason and type. For proof of address, for instance, Home Affairs gives the example 'Address – Residential, Evidence of'. If a document isn't in the list, use 'Other Documents' under 'Additional documents'.
• Group documents of the same type. You can attach several documents of one type together, such as statements from different bank accounts, selecting 'Attach' once for the group.
• Submit within 30 days. Attached documents are saved for 30 days; if the application isn't submitted in that time they are deleted and have to be attached again.
• Keep your own copies. Once uploaded, you can't open your supporting documents from ImmiAccount, so store the PDFs you made somewhere safe.
• Don't email documents. Home Affairs asks applicants to attach them in ImmiAccount instead.

Facial photos and the document limit

The applicant photo is separate from the documents. Every applicant, children included, needs a facial image, and it must be a JPG. For a visa application it goes under 'Facial image'; for citizenship, under 'Photograph'. Digital photographs have to fall between 70 KB and 3.5 MB.

If your photo is too large, Compress Image can bring it to a target size such as 1 MB, and Resize Image can reduce its dimensions; both run in the browser. Check the photo requirements Home Affairs links from that page as well, since the size rule is only one of them.

The 60-document limit per person (100 on partner visas) is the other reason to combine pages. A ten-page employment contract attached as ten photos uses ten slots; as one PDF it uses one.

Before you select Attach

An attachment that goes through is not automatically a useful one. Home Affairs reads what you send, so a quick review of each PDF saves follow-up requests later:

• Make sure the photo or scan shows every part of the document - Home Affairs accepts photos only when all the information is visible.
• Zoom into dates, names and passport numbers; if any digit is hard to make out, retake that page.
• Check the PDF opens on another device, such as your phone, before you attach it from your computer.
• Confirm you chose the right applicant in the list, especially on family applications where every person has their own documents.
• Write down which file went under which document type, since you won't be able to open the uploads later.

Common mistakes

• Retrying the same downloaded PDF again and again when the problem is encryption, not size.
• Attaching every page of a long document separately and running into the document limit.
• Leaving attachments unsubmitted for more than 30 days.
• Deleting your own copies after uploading, then being unable to open them from ImmiAccount.
• Uploading a shrunk scan without zooming in to check the signatures and stamps.

SentrueFile is an independent tool with no connection to the Australian Government. It helps with file size, format and encryption; your application form decides which documents you need and when to attach them.