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What do I need to know?

To locate a Sponsor-Applicant Schedule, you will need to know the migrant number of the nominee, also known as the "VF", "VA", or "VIR" number.

To locate an Air Flight or Shipping Nominal Roll, a date of travel is needed.

How do I search?

Migrant numbers and dates of travel can all be located via two card indexes: depending on whether your starting point is the nominee (immigrant) or the sponsor, you will need to order records from the Card Index to Migrants Record Series Number (VPRS 5982) or Central Card Index to Sponsors of Migrants Record Series Number (VPRS 5981) for viewing in PROV's North Melbourne Reading Room. The records are arranged alphabetically by surname.

About these records

Sponsor-Applicant Schedules (VPRS 5978), Shipping Nominal Rolls (VPRS 5979) and Air Flight Nominal Rolls (VPRS 5980) were kept by various immigration regulation bodies between 1947 and 1979. The schedules were used to track the approval of nominations by Victorian immigration authorities, and the nominal rolls provide evidence that successful nominees arrived in Victoria.

Nominees were British residents, and were eligible for subsidy or full payment of the cost of their travel to Victoria. Sponsors were often friends or family of nominees, or employers seeking skilled workers. For records of immigration which are not part of this sponsorship program, contact the National Archives of Australia.

Next Steps

What are in these records?

Sponsor-Applicant Schedules generally include the following information about each “nominee” (migrant):

  • name and address
  • marital status
  • relationship to nominator
  • present occupation
  • employment and accommodation arrangements upon arrival in Australia

 

and the following information about each “nominator” (sponsor):

  • name and address
  • present occupation.

 

The Air and Ship Nominal Rolls repeat many of these details, but may also include:

  • dates of travel
  • names of ship / number of flight
  • reports by government
  • records of State Immigration Office boarding-officer’s pre-voyage checking of migrants personal details, landing arrangements, and any problems attended to or complaints noted
  • records relating to accommodation arrangements, reception upon arrival, luggage handling, transport on arrival.

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