Visa refused or cancelled... What should I do?

Your Australian visa has been refused or cancelled?

You have lodged a visa application and it’s been refused… or worse, you were granted a visa and now it’s been cancelled.  What options do you have available to you?
 
Firstly, for any refusal or cancellation decision taken by the Department, they will give you a written notification of the reasons.  It is based on this letter that appropriate decisions and steps can be taken.  The Department will likely outline a few of these steps, but not all.  Nor will they tell you what the best choice for your circumstances is.
​
There are many aspects that need to be considered and not all are available to you.  It is highly recommended that for any visa refusal or cancellation, look to a registered migration agent or immigration lawyer to help you navigate this best.
​

---

1. Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)

You will be given a period of time to seek review of the merits of your case through the AAT. The AAT are an independent body from the Department of Home Affairs that take a fresh look at your application again, as if they were a case officer, to see if they too would have come to the same decision or if they would have made a different decision. This is your opportunity to put forward your case personally, rather than just on paper as a visa application or cancellation is so often decided. A win at the AAT does not mean that you will be granted your visa.  What it does mean is that your case will be returned to the Department for further consideration based on the AAT outcome for a new decision. 

2. ​Judicial Review

​This is usually sought after you have had your decision reviewed by the AAT. With this option you are taking the Department of Home Affairs to court. This decision should not be taken lightly. It is highly recommended that you hire an immigration lawyer to review your case and to represent you in court. Failure to do so will most likely lead to your case failing at court, as the Department will definitely have lawyers representing them. It is best to note that the Court system cannot grant you a visa, it can only make judgement on the legality of the decision made by the Department. If there has been no miscarriage of the law, you will fail. And should this be your case, you will incur court fees and have a debt to the Commonwealth. This debt will need to be paid, or at least show payments toward the debt, before any future visa can be considered for grant.

3. ​Ministerial Intervention

​This is your last attempt to have the Department grant your visa – by a personal decision taken by the Minister themselves. As you can imagine, this is very difficult to accomplish and should not be relied upon. You can only seek this process after you have sought review at the AAT. It is imperative that the AAT have made a decision on your case as this is the power that then grants you access to the Minister. Without it, the Minister can’t make a decision on your case even if they wanted to. It is also very important to note that unlike the AAT and Court where you must be given a hearing and receive an outcome, the Minister is not mandated to intervene in your case. The Minister has therefore provided a guideline to describe the types of cases that they are willing to consider, anything not on that list will not be referred to the attention of the Minister. 

4. ​Lodge another visa application

Seems simple enough – just apply again. This, however, also has its restrictions. Whether you can apply again from within Australia or if you will need to depart Australia and lodge overseas will be subject to the type of visa you had refused and when it was refused. If you are holding a substantive visa or a bridging visa at the time of refusal. If your visa was cancelled, subject to why it was cancelled and if you were the primary or secondary visa holder will also determine if you can apply for a visa whilst in Australia or not.

5. ​Depart Australia

The decision to depart Australia shouldn’t be taken lightly. There may be consequences to departing - for example, you must be in Australia to undertake AAT process, so if you leave and do not have a visa to return, you may not be able to undertake the process and therefore close future access to the Minister also. A person who has had their visa cancelled or refused may be subject to exclusion periods and the type of visa you depart on (or failure to hold a visa on departure) could also affect your time period to apply for another visa. It is best to discuss this prior to departure to ensure you understand if and when you can apply for another visa to return to Australia. 

As you have read, the most appropriate route is not always straight-forward and engaging with a Registered Migration Agent is a great start. At Great Australian Migration we can review your situation, give opinion upon the likely success of your case by the AAT or whether you should seek counsel from an immigration lawyer. We can also guide you about any exclusion periods you may be facing plus any additional application processes that may need to be taken if you are able to lodge for another visa, be it in Australia or overseas.  

Book a consultation with our trustworthy and honest Registered Migration Agents today!