E-signatures for migration agents, Form 956 included
Send the service agreement, Form 956 and any PDF of your own for signature straight from the matter. Your client signs from an emailed link on their phone, and the signed copy is filed where you will look for it.
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Part of the product, not another subscription
Signing is built into LodgeHQ. There is no separate e-signature account to pay for or to connect. You can send a letter, any PDF on the matter, the service agreement or a file you upload on the spot.
For your own documents you place the fields yourself: signature, initials, date, date of birth, full name, free text and tick boxes, with initials copied to every page in one click when you need them.
What signing is like for your client
The signer receives an email from your practice and opens a guided signing page. There is no account to create and no app to install, and it works as well on a phone as on a desktop.
They can draw their signature, type it, or upload a photo of the one they use on paper, and they confirm that they agree to sign electronically before they finish.
Service agreements and the Consumer Guide
Create the agreement from a built-in template or from your own Word or PDF agreement. Signature, date and per-page initial fields are placed for you, and your saved signature is applied.
The OMARA Consumer Guide is attached and the client's acknowledgement of it is recorded when they sign. When the last signature is in, the agreement is marked signed on the matter and the matter moves to its next stage.
Form 956 and Form 956A
Tick "Also send Form 956" and the agreement and the Form 956 go to the client in one email. Either form can also be filled and sent for signature from the matter's Generate DHA Forms window, and the signed copy is filed under Documents.
Department and tribunal forms are left exactly as issued. LodgeHQ adds no pages to them: the signing record is supplied as a separate certificate.
A record of who signed, and when
Every request keeps an audit trail: who opened it and who signed, at what time, from which IP address and browser. On your own documents the same evidence is printed as a Certificate of Completion on the last page of the signed PDF, with a fingerprint of the document and a reference to the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth).
More than one signer, witnesses, and the follow-up
A document can go to several signers, all at once or one after another in the order you set. Where a signature must be witnessed, the witness confirms their email address with a code and declares that they watched the signing.
A signer who goes quiet is reminded for you: a week after the invitation and then weekly, three times by default, at a pace your administrator can change. Signing links expire after 14 days by default, and a fresh link reopens the same request.
From agreement to signed file
- 1
Create it on the matter
Pick the agreement template or upload your PDF. Tick "Also send Form 956" if you need the appointment form signed too.
- 2
Send for signing
The request goes from your own connected mailbox, so it arrives from an address your client already knows.
- 3
The client signs
From the emailed link, on any device. You can see whether each signer has opened it.
- 4
It files itself
Everyone receives the signed PDF by email and it is stored on the matter. A signed agreement moves the matter forward.
Good to know
The conditions and limits, so you find them here and not after you have signed up.
- Statutory declarations, affidavits and wills still need a wet signature. Keep those on paper.
- Documents are signed as PDFs. Other file types can be attached to a request as read-only.
- Signing emails are sent from the mailbox you connect in Settings.
- Form 956, Form 956A and the tribunal's MR5 are sent for signature in one click. Other Department forms are added to the matter's documents and sent from there.
E-signatures and Form 956: questions agents ask
Do I need a separate e-signature subscription?
No. Signing is part of LodgeHQ and is included in the plan. There is nothing else to buy or to connect.
Can LodgeHQ send Form 956 for electronic signature?
Yes. LodgeHQ fills Form 956 from the matter and your agent profile and sends it to the client for signature by emailed link, on its own or together with the service agreement. The signed form is filed on the matter's Documents tab. Form 956A works the same way.
What evidence is kept of a signature?
An audit trail of who opened and signed the document, when, and from which IP address and browser. On your own documents it is printed as a Certificate of Completion with a fingerprint of the signed file. For Department and tribunal forms, which must stay as issued, the certificate is a separate PDF.
Which documents cannot be signed electronically?
Statutory declarations, affidavits and wills still need wet signatures, so keep those on paper. For anything else, check what the body receiving the document accepts.
What happens if a client ignores the signing email?
LodgeHQ reminds them: a week after the invitation, then weekly, three times by default. You can send a reminder yourself at any point, pause reminders, or issue a new link if the first has expired.
Can two clients sign the same agreement?
Yes. A request can go to several signers. Service agreements go to all of them at once; other documents can go in an order you set.
Works with
All features →Home Affairs forms
Form 956, 956A, 80, 1221 and the rest of the library, filled from the file as the Department's own editable PDFs.
Client portal
One secure place for each client to follow their application, answer your questionnaire, upload documents and message you.
Invoicing and the clients' account
Quotes, invoices, card payments and the clients' account ledger on the matter itself, with statements of service and a monthly reconciliation.
LodgeHQ holds SMB1001:2026 Gold (issued on director attestation), was independently assessed by a Google-authorised CASA lab in July 2026 for the Gmail integration, and is a Microsoft verified publisher. Your records are stored in Australia on AWS Sydney; what leaves, and to whom, is listed in full. How we protect client data →
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