The Department of Home Affairs has refreshed the auto – reply for the Employer Sponsored Program Division (ESPD) mailbox. The revised response introduces structured subject line requirements to help the Department triage enquiries more efficiently and provides stakeholders with current processing timeframes and guidance on common issues including bridging visas.
To assist the Department in directing enquiries to the right team promptly, all emails to the ESPD mailbox should include three elements in the subject line:
- The relevant program – ENS, RSMS, SID, TSS, or SESR
- A relevant keyword describing the nature of the enquiry, such as “adding newborn”, “BV required”, “extension request”, “F1436 – adding dependent”, “health enquiry”, or “withdrawal”
- A file reference number (if applicable), permission request ID, or TRN
“For example: SID – BV required – BCC2026/XXXXXX”
As of 4 May 2026, the ESPD is working through the following backlogs:
- Newborn addition requests – requests submitted via email or webform from the week of 4 April 2026
- Pre-lodgement penal check letters – requests submitted during the week of 14 April 2026
Bridging visa guidance
The Department is managing a high volume of bridging visa applications. Where urgency is claimed, supporting documentary evidence is required – follow-up requests without documentation will not be actioned. Practitioners should also note that submitting multiple bridging visa applications for the same matter will not accelerate processing.
