ART Review: What to Expect After Your Visa Is Refused

Review at the Tribunal is not an appeal in the ordinary sense. Nobody argues that the delegate made a mistake. The Tribunal steps into the decision and makes it again, on all the material before it, including material that did not exist on the day you applied.

That single feature is why evidence from the period since the refusal is often the strongest part of a case. The months you spent waiting for the review are months of relationship, employment or country conditions evidence you did not have the first time.

What the Tribunal can and cannot do

The Tribunal cannot grant your visa. Its powers are to affirm the decision, vary it, set it aside and substitute a new decision, or remit the matter to the Department with directions.

On partner visas, remittal is the most common successful outcome. The Tribunal directs that a criterion is met, and the Department then completes health, character and the remaining checks before deciding. A remittal is a win, but it is not a grant, and the file returns to the Department's queue.

The hearing

In most partner visa matters there is a hearing. They are held in person, by video or by phone. You and your witnesses give evidence and answer questions from the Tribunal member. Consistency between the written material and the oral evidence matters a great deal, which is the practical reason to reread your own statement before the day.

Cost

A Tribunal application fee is payable on lodgement, set by regulation and reviewed annually. Published figures have recently been quoted between roughly AUD $3,500 and $3,600 for standard migration reviews, with a partial refund where the review succeeds. A reduced fee may be available in cases of financial hardship.

Staying lawful

If you apply for review within the period, a further bridging visa is generally available to keep you lawful while the Tribunal deals with the matter, with work rights continuing. Confirm the bridging visa has actually been granted and check its conditions rather than assuming.

The deadline is the whole game

For partner visas the period is 28 calendar days for every subclass, running from the date you are taken to have been notified. For most migration decisions the Tribunal cannot extend it, and a late application is invalid rather than weak. There is no discretion to argue for.

Who applies also depends on where the refusal happened. On an offshore refusal, only the Australian sponsor can apply for review. On an onshore refusal the applicant is the review applicant. If the sponsorship itself was refused, that decision carries its own review right and its own deadline.

If the deadline has already passed, the remaining options are a fresh application where one is available, judicial review where there is a legal error, or ministerial intervention. All three are harder than the review you missed, and all three reward speed.