ImmiAccount attachments
ImmiAccount, the Department of Home Affairs' online system for visa and citizenship applications, takes supporting documents as attachments. Its per-file limit is commonly quoted as 5 MB, with PDF, JPEG and PNG accepted for most application types and encrypted PDFs refused; these figures come from an Australian embassy guide and migration-agent sites, and we could not read the current Home Affairs page, so check the limit shown in ImmiAccount as you attach. This preset aims under 5 MB for JPEG images of documents and photos.
Documents photographed on a phone
Phone photos of documents are often 3–6 MB each, sometimes over the limit. More importantly, a clean, legible, upright image makes the case officer's job easier. Before compressing:
- Photograph each page flat, in daylight, filling the frame, with the phone parallel to the page.
- Crop to the page edges (resize and crop), so no table or carpet shows.
- Make sure stamps, signatures and certification text are readable at 100%.
One file or many?
ImmiAccount groups attachments by evidence type. A multi-page document (a bank statement, a lease) is usually better as one PDF than as a dozen photos: use JPG to PDF, then compress the PDF under the limit. Single-page items (a birth certificate, an ID card) can go up as JPEGs.
Visa photos are different
The applicant photo has its own rules: size, framing and background. Use the Australian visa photo page for that, not this preset.
File names
Name files so the officer knows what they are, for example Passport-bio-page-Jane-Citizen.jpg. Avoid unusual characters, which some upload systems reject.
Uploading to ImmiAccount, step by step
- Sign in to ImmiAccount and open the application.
- Choose Attach documents and pick the evidence type.
- Attach the compressed file; ImmiAccount shows an error if it is over the limit or a refused type.
- Check the attachment appears in the list with a sensible name, then submit.
Checklist before you upload
- Each document legible at 100% zoom, including stamps and handwriting.
- No encrypted PDFs (remove passwords with the PDF Unlock tool if you know them).
- Translations attached alongside the original-language document where required.
- Certified copies scanned in full, certification included.
If ImmiAccount rejects the file
- Too large: lower the target a little (some systems count 1 KB as 1,000 bytes) and run it again.
- Wrong type: make sure it is a .jpg; some systems refuse WebP or HEIC.
- Too small or blurry: start from the original photo rather than a screenshot or a copy sent through a messaging app, which are already compressed.
- Sideways: the photo relied on an orientation tag; the tool applies orientation, so re-run it from the original if needed.
The limits used by this preset are the commonly quoted ones and are flagged for checking in the sources below; if ImmiAccount states a different figure on its upload screen, change the target above the button to match.
Naming and organising
Officers see attachment names in a list. Use names that describe the document and the person, such as Birth-certificate-Sam-Citizen.jpg, and keep each file to one document. Organised evidence is faster to assess and less likely to prompt a request for more information.
Private by design
The image never leaves your device. It is decoded in your browser, processed in a background worker by open-source codecs compiled to WebAssembly (MozJPEG, libwebp, libavif and OxiPNG, via the jsquash project, plus pica for resizing) and handed back as a download. There is no upload, no account and no server copy to delete. You can confirm it in your browser's developer tools: the Network tab shows the page's own files and the codec files loading, and nothing carrying your image. After the first visit the tools work offline.