Identifying which DoHA refund is for which visa application can be particularly frustrating. The Department of Home Affairs will send the Application Receipt Number in the refund notification without reference to the application TRN or Department File Number. You can implement internal administrative processes that make matching any future visa application refunds easier, recording the Applicant Receipt Number and the Visa Lodgement date and Department File Number in the Department tab in each client matter.

Let me demonstrate how this will help you. 

Say that we receive an application refund from the Department of Home Affairs with the Application Receipt Number 234561.

If we have recorded the Application Receipt Number for each application, I could run a report to search the MM database for matters with the specific Application Receipt Number 234561.

Once I have run the report in the database, it will appear in the results window if there is a match.

And just like that, you now know which client the refund relates.

Suppose you were looking to update your database with this information retrospectively. In that case, you could run a report to identify matters where the Application Receipt Number is blank and manually update each client matter.

Please let us know if you have any questions or queries.