What is Form 1221 — additional personal particulars?
Form 1221 is a supplementary form the Department of Home Affairs uses to support a visa application. When it's requested, every applicant aged 16 or over completes their own copy, in English. It goes well beyond the main application: a full record of your names, addresses, contact details, passport, identity documents, previous visas and any refusals, your travel plans and who's paying for them.
It also asks for your entire employment history including gaps, any military service, post-secondary qualifications, recent training and publications, and your contacts in Australia. Depending on the visa — visitor, business, migration, or study and research — there are extra questions about courses, conferences, equipment purchases, intended work and how you'll use what you learn.
FileIt fills the current Form 1221 (design date 03/21) in the Department's own PDF. It shows only the visa part that applies to you, prints names and addresses with accents correctly, wraps longer answers onto the form's ruled lines, and keeps the completed form in your FileIt vault.
- Who completes it
- Each visa applicant aged 16 or over, when the Department asks
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 10, in Parts A–P
- Visa parts
- J visitor, K business, L migration, M student, academic or researcher
- Signature
- The applicant
- Edition
- Design date 03/21
Who needs to fill out Form 1221 — additional personal particulars?
- Visa applicants aged 16 or over who've been asked for additional personal particulars.
- Visitor, business, migration and student visa applicants, as well as academics, researchers and fellows.
- Family members aged 16 or over in the same application — each fills in their own form.
When to use Form 1221 — additional personal particulars
- When the Department requests Form 1221 for your visa application, or the visa's requirements list it.
- Alongside the main visa application it supports — it isn't an application by itself.
- When your details have changed and the Department asks for an updated version.
What you need before you start
- Your passport, any national identity documents and details of previous Australian visas.
- Your current address, any proposed address in Australia, phone numbers and every email address you use.
- Travel plans: dates, flights, stopovers, onward destinations, and who is funding the trip.
- Your employment history month by month, including internships, self-employment and periods without work.
- Military service dates, units, ranks and duties, if any, and your post-secondary qualifications.
- Details of your contacts in Australia, and for your visa type, the course, conference, business activity or research involved.
What’s on Form 1221 — additional personal particulars
The 2021 edition has 10 pages. FileIt asks for it in 15 parts, and it is signed by Applicant:
- Part A — Your details (questions 1–9)Applicant
- Part A — Addresses and contact details (questions 10–12)Applicant
- Part B — Passport, identity documents and visa history (questions 13–16)Applicant
- Part B — Your trip (questions 17–22)Applicant
- Part C — Travelling family member 1 (question 23)Applicant
- Part C — Travelling family member 2 (question 23)Applicant
- Part D — Current employment (question 24)Applicant
- Part E — Employment history (question 25)Applicant
- Part F — Military service (question 26)Applicant
- Part G — Education and trade qualifications (questions 27–29)Applicant
- Part H — Your contact in Australia (questions 30–33)Applicant
- Part I — Your visa (question 34) and Parts J–MApplicant
- Part N — Additional information (questions 47–48)Applicant
- Part O — Additional details (question 49)Applicant
- Part P — Declaration (question 50)Applicant
How to fill out Form 1221 — additional personal particulars, step by step
1 Part A: about you
Names (including in your own script and Chinese Commercial Code numbers if applicable), date and place of birth, sex, relationship status, citizenships, addresses, phone numbers and emails.
2 Part B: passport, history and trip
Passport details, identity documents, any refused or cancelled visas, previous Australian visas, the purpose of your trip, arrival and departure dates, stopovers, onward travel and funding.
3 Parts C–F: family, work and service
Family members travelling with you, your current job (or how you support yourself), your entire employment history and any military service.
4 Parts G–H: qualifications and contacts
Post-secondary qualifications, training and conferences in the last two years, published papers, and your contacts in Australia with their address, phone and employment.
5 Parts I–N: your visa type
Choose visitor, business, migration or student/academic/researcher, and FileIt shows that part's questions, plus how you'll use your skills afterwards and anything else to consider.
6 Parts O–P: extra details and declaration
Add anything that didn't fit with its question number, then sign and date the declaration.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving gaps in the employment history — the form asks for periods of unemployment too.
- Using abbreviations for employers' names and addresses — the form asks you not to.
- Giving a post office box or an agent's address as your residential address.
- Not listing every email address you use, or every identity document you've held.
- Answering the questions for a visa type that doesn't apply — only your part needs completing.
After you fill it out
Sign and date the declaration on page 10. Print from FileIt and sign by hand, or send the PDF for e-signature.
Provide the form with your visa application, or by the way the Department's request asks. FileIt doesn't lodge it.
Keep a copy in your FileIt vault — it's a useful record of your history for later applications.
Fill out Form 1221 — additional personal particulars online with FileIt
- Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
- Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 601 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
- Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Department of Home Affairs form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
- Generate the official PDF. FileIt prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it in that person’s folder in your vault. Sign it, or send it for e-signature.
FileIt fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.
Start Form 1221 — additional personal particulars now — it’s freeForm 1221 — additional personal particulars: frequently asked questions
Who has to complete Form 1221?
The form says it's to be completed in English by all applicants who are 16 years of age or over, as a supplement to the visa application.
Do I answer every part?
Parts A to H and N to P apply to everyone. In Part I you choose your visa type, and only the matching part — J, K, L or M — needs answering. FileIt hides the others.
What counts as employment history?
All of it: jobs, internships, work experience, self-employment and periods of unemployment, with the months they started and ended.
What if I run out of room?
Use Part O — give the question number and the extra information on each line. FileIt offers 12 lines there; attach a sheet if you need more.
My name is in a non-Latin script. Will it print?
Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters print. For scripts such as Chinese or Arabic, leave question 3 blank in FileIt and write it on the printed form by hand.
Official sources
- Blank form (PDF), published by Department of Home Affairs: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1221.pdf
- Official instructions and guidance: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1221.pdf
- Edition shown on this page: Design date 03/21 (checked 2026-10-19).
FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Department of Home Affairs or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-10-19.