The Most Decisive Stage of the Application
The Protection Visa Interview
A delegate of the Department questions you in detail about your identity, your history and your claims. It is where most protection applications are decided. The great majority of refusals are credibility findings, and credibility is assessed largely on how you answer at this interview.
Reviewed by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer Last updated 30 July 2026
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The purpose of the interview is to let you give further information about your application, to clarify anything unclear, and to let the delegate test whether what you have written is accurate. They are deciding whether you meet the refugee definition or should be granted complementary protection.
The interview is audio recorded. You can bring a lawyer and a support person. You are entitled to an interpreter, and how the interpreting goes matters more than most people realise.
The interview is audio recorded. You can bring a lawyer and a support person. You are entitled to an interpreter, and how the interpreting goes matters more than most people realise.
Delegates look for differences between the written application and the spoken answers, and that comparison is where applications are won or lost.
On the Day
What Happens at a Protection Visa Interview
Short answer
The delegate introduces themselves and the interpreter, explains that the interview is being recorded, and asks you to promise to tell the truth. They verify your identity, explain the process and the refugee definition, and then question you in detail about your claims for as long as it takes.
The delegate introduces themselves and the interpreter, explains that the interview is being recorded, and asks you to promise to tell the truth. They verify your identity, explain the process and the refugee definition, and then question you in detail about your claims for as long as it takes.
Interviews are held at a Departmental office or by video or telephone. There is no fixed length. Two hours is common and considerably longer is not unusual. The delegate is assessing you against section 36 of the Migration Act 1958, so they are working through the refugee criterion and complementary protection as they go.
Expect it to be repetitive by design. The same event will be asked about more than once, from different angles, at different points in the interview. That is a consistency test, not an accusation and not a sign the delegate disbelieves you. Answering carefully matters far more than answering quickly.
Expect it to be repetitive by design. The same event will be asked about more than once, from different angles, at different points in the interview. That is a consistency test, not an accusation and not a sign the delegate disbelieves you. Answering carefully matters far more than answering quickly.
Eligibility at a Glance
Your request to attend interview letter
All original identity documents
A copy of your own application and statement of claims
Any document you have obtained since lodging
Your lawyer, if you have engaged one
A support person, if you want one
The dialect and interpreter preference already notified to the Department
Water, and time. Do not book anything else that day
The Sequence of the Interview
Interviews follow a broadly consistent structure. Knowing the order removes some of the fear, and it tells you when the part that matters is coming.
How a protection visa interview usually runs
Stage
What happens
1
Introductions, the interpreter is introduced, and you are told the interview is being audio recorded
2
You are asked to promise to tell the truth, sometimes on a religious text if you prefer
3
Identity verification against your documents and your application
4
The delegate explains the process and the legal definitions being applied
5
Background questions: family, education, work, where you lived and when
6
Your claims in detail, tested from several directions across the interview
7
Any inconsistency the delegate has noticed is put to you for comment
8
You or your lawyer are given an opportunity to add anything further
Stage 7 is the one that decides the application. If the delegate puts an apparent inconsistency to you, that is your opportunity to explain it. An answer given there carries far more weight than the same explanation offered in writing after a refusal.
Interview scheduled? Preparation is what separates a good interview from a bad one, and it takes more than a few days.
The Interpreter
Your Rights About the Interpreter
Short answer
This is the part applicants know least about and it causes more damage than any other single factor. A great many credibility findings originate in interpreting problems rather than in anything the applicant actually said. You have real rights here and they are worth understanding before you walk in.
This is the part applicants know least about and it causes more damage than any other single factor. A great many credibility findings originate in interpreting problems rather than in anything the applicant actually said. You have real rights here and they are worth understanding before you walk in.
Ask for Your Dialect, Not Just Your Language
Tell the Department your specific dialect before the interview, not on the day. An interpreter who speaks the national language but not your regional variety will produce answers that sound evasive or inconsistent when they are neither. If you would prefer a male or female interpreter, say so in advance as well. The Department can generally accommodate both requests if it knows.
Say Something Immediately if the Interpreting Is Wrong
If the interpreter mistranslates, misses something, or you cannot follow them, tell the delegate at that moment. Do not wait until the end and do not stay quiet to avoid embarrassing anyone. The delegate can ask them to slow down, repeat, or be replaced, and the interview can be adjourned and rescheduled with a different interpreter. An interview that proceeds on bad interpreting produces a record that will be used against you.
You Control How the Interpreter Is Used
You can choose how and when to use them. If you are comfortable answering some questions in English and want the interpreter for others, that is permitted. Many applicants find that useful for straightforward questions about dates and addresses, while keeping the interpreter for the parts that matter. Do not feel obliged to attempt English on the hard questions to seem cooperative.
Confidentiality and Community Concerns
Interpreters are bound by confidentiality and cannot disclose anything they hear. If you are concerned that an interpreter may come from your own community, or may know people connected to those you fear, raise it with the Department before the interview rather than on the day. That concern is legitimate and it is better dealt with in advance. See Protection Visa LGBTI.
Interpreting problems are fixable at the interview and almost unfixable afterwards. Speak up at the time.
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What They Test
What Is the Delegate Actually Testing
Short answer
Six things, and only one of them is whether your account is true. Understanding what a delegate is checking makes the questions far less bewildering, stops you giving short answers to questions that carry real weight, and explains why the same event is returned to several times across the interview.
Six things, and only one of them is whether your account is true. Understanding what a delegate is checking makes the questions far less bewildering, stops you giving short answers to questions that carry real weight, and explains why the same event is returned to several times across the interview.
Consistency
Whether your spoken answers match your written statement, your visa application, and your entry documents.
Detail and Plausibility
Whether you can give specifics a person who lived through the events would know: dates, places, names, sequence.
Country Knowledge
Whether what you describe fits what the Department knows about conditions in that place at that time.
Identity
Whether you are who you say you are, and whether the documents support it. Unresolved identity sinks applications.
Relocation and State Protection
Whether you could live safely elsewhere in your country, and whether the authorities could protect you.
Delay and Conduct Since Arrival
Why you did not apply sooner, whether you have returned home, and what you told the Department previously.
Say You Do Not Know Rather Than Guessing
Delegates do not expect perfect recall of events years ago under stress. They do notice when an applicant invents a detail to fill a gap, because invented details do not survive being asked about twice. If you cannot remember a date, say you cannot remember. If you did not personally witness something, say who told you. A truthful gap is survivable. A guess that later contradicts itself is not.
How Long It Stays Valid
Delay is asked about in almost every interview and it is almost always answerable. Not knowing protection existed, being told by others to wait, holding a valid visa at the time, fear of the consequences, or circumstances that only changed later are all legitimate explanations. What causes damage is an unexplained delay, not a delay.
The delegate is testing six things at once. Knowing which one a question belongs to changes how you answer it.
The Questions
What Questions Are Asked at the Interview
Short answer
Questions fall into four groups: identity and background, your claims in detail, the risk you face on return, and your conduct since arriving in Australia. The delegate moves between the groups and returns to earlier answers rather than working through them in order, and that is deliberate rather than disorganised.
Questions fall into four groups: identity and background, your claims in detail, the risk you face on return, and your conduct since arriving in Australia. The delegate moves between the groups and returns to earlier answers rather than working through them in order, and that is deliberate rather than disorganised.
Typical length
2
+hours
There is no fixed length. Longer interviews are common and are not a bad sign.
Audio recorded
Yes
You are told at the start. The recording becomes part of the file.
Who can attend with you
$
2
A lawyer and a support person. Both are permitted.
The four groups of interview questions
Group
Examples of what is asked
Identity and background
Your full name and any other names used, date and place of birth, nationality, family members, education, work history, and every address you have lived at
Your claims
What happened, when, where, who was responsible, whether you reported it, what the authorities did, and why you were targeted
The risk on return
What you believe would happen, who would do it, whether you could live elsewhere in the country, and whether the authorities could protect you
The risk on return
What you believe would happen, who would do it, whether you could live elsewhere in the country, and whether the authorities could protect you
Since arriving in Australia
How and when you entered, what visa you held, why you did not apply sooner, whether you have travelled home, and any contact with your country's authorities
There is no published list of questions and no two interviews are identical. What is predictable is the structure and the areas of focus. A delegate who has read your file will have identified the parts that concern them before you arrive, and those are the parts they will spend the most time on.
Preparation is not memorising answers. Delegates recognise rehearsed accounts immediately and they damage credibility. Preparation is rereading your own statement so you are not contradicting it, identifying the gaps a delegate will notice, and deciding in advance how to explain them truthfully.
The Department applies a 1.4% surcharge to online card payments, which adds approximately $164 to an $11,710 charge.
Department charges are set by the Department of Home Affairs and typically increase on 1 July each year. Use the Department's visa pricing estimator or the current visa pricing table to confirm the exact charge for your circumstances.
Preparation is not memorising answers. Delegates recognise rehearsed accounts immediately and they damage credibility. Preparation is rereading your own statement so you are not contradicting it, identifying the gaps a delegate will notice, and deciding in advance how to explain them truthfully.
The Department applies a 1.4% surcharge to online card payments, which adds approximately $164 to an $11,710 charge.
Department charges are set by the Department of Home Affairs and typically increase on 1 July each year. Use the Department's visa pricing estimator or the current visa pricing table to confirm the exact charge for your circumstances.
Get a written quote for professional fees before you commit to anything.
Preparing
How to Prepare for a Protection Visa Interview
Short answer
Reread your own statement of claims until you know it. Almost every damaging inconsistency is between what an applicant wrote months earlier and what they say on the day, not between their account and the truth. You cannot contradict a document you have reread.
Reread your own statement of claims until you know it. Almost every damaging inconsistency is between what an applicant wrote months earlier and what they say on the day, not between their account and the truth. You cannot contradict a document you have reread.
Preparing for the interview
Do
Do not
Reread your statement of claims
Memorise it word for word
Identify the gaps a delegate will notice
Hope they will not be raised
Say you do not remember when you do not
Guess to fill a gap
Tell the delegate at once if the interpreting is wrong
Stay quiet to avoid embarrassment
Bring your original identity documents
Arrive with only photocopies
Clear the whole day
Schedule work or an appointment afterwards
Identify the weak points yourself before the delegate does. Every file has them: a date that does not quite fit, a document you could not obtain, a period you cannot account for, a trip home. Work out the truthful explanation in advance so you are not constructing one under pressure.
Do not memorise and do not rehearse a script. A delegate who suspects an account has been learnt will probe around the edges of it, and rehearsed accounts break there. What you are preparing is accuracy and confidence, not performance.
Sleep, eat, and arrange the day so nothing else is scheduled. Interviews run long, they are exhausting, and tiredness produces exactly the vague and inconsistent answers that damage credibility.
Do not memorise and do not rehearse a script. A delegate who suspects an account has been learnt will probe around the edges of it, and rehearsed accounts break there. What you are preparing is accuracy and confidence, not performance.
Sleep, eat, and arrange the day so nothing else is scheduled. Interviews run long, they are exhausting, and tiredness produces exactly the vague and inconsistent answers that damage credibility.
Preparation is accuracy, not performance. We can take you through your own file before you go in.
Languages
Interviews in Every Language and Dialect
Short answer
We prepare and attend interviews for applicants from every region. Nationality does not establish a claim and it never has, but knowing how interviews run for a particular country and language makes a real difference to how an applicant is prepared.
Dialect is the recurring problem. Dari and Hazaragi, Farsi and Dari, Arabic across a dozen varieties, Rohingya, Tamil, Hakha Chin, Tigrinya, Oromo, Amharic, Hazara. Requesting the right one in advance avoids the single most common cause of a bad interview record.
We prepare and attend interviews for applicants from every region. Nationality does not establish a claim and it never has, but knowing how interviews run for a particular country and language makes a real difference to how an applicant is prepared.
Dialect is the recurring problem. Dari and Hazaragi, Farsi and Dari, Arabic across a dozen varieties, Rohingya, Tamil, Hakha Chin, Tigrinya, Oromo, Amharic, Hazara. Requesting the right one in advance avoids the single most common cause of a bad interview record.
Bangladesh
Cambodia
China
Colombia
Egypt
Fiji
India
Indonesia
Iran
Lebanon
Malaysia
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Russia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Vietnam
Not listed? It makes no difference. Nationality is not a criterion, and there is no country list that qualifies or disqualifies a claim.
Request the dialect before the interview, not on the day. It is the cheapest thing you can do to protect the record.
What to Bring
What to Bring to the Interview
Short answer
Bring more than the letter tells you to. The interview is often the last practical opportunity to put documents in front of a delegate before they decide, and material handed over on the day is considered rather than turned away. Arriving with only what was asked for wastes that opportunity.
Bring more than the letter tells you to. The interview is often the last practical opportunity to put documents in front of a delegate before they decide, and material handed over on the day is considered rather than turned away. Arriving with only what was asked for wastes that opportunity.
Your Own Application File
A copy of the statement of claims you lodged, your application form, and any submission filed with it. You will be questioned against these documents, and having them with you means you can check rather than guess.
Original Identity Documents
Passport, national identity card, birth certificate, and anything else establishing who you are. Originals, not photocopies. Identity is verified at the start of the interview and unresolved identity is one of the largest causes of refusal.
Anything Obtained Since Lodging
Documents that have arrived since you applied: a police report, a court summons, a medical record, a threatening message, a news article about the group or incident. These carry weight precisely because they are recent and unprompted.
The Interview Letter
Information
The request to attend interview letter, if the interview is at a Departmental office. It carries the reference details and it is what gets you through the door.
Documents Commonly Required
The request to attend interview letter
All original identity documents, not photocopies
A copy of your statement of claims as lodged
A copy of your application form and any submission filed with it
Any document obtained since you lodged
Translations of any document not in English
A written note of anything you want to correct or add to your statement
The contact details of your lawyer, if they are not attending with you
Water, and nothing else scheduled for that day
If something in your statement is wrong, correct it at the interview rather than leaving it to be discovered.
What Goes Wrong
What Goes Wrong at Protection Visa Interviews
Short answer
Rarely a single catastrophic answer. What causes damage is a pattern: small inconsistencies, vague answers where a delegate expected detail, and gaps that were never explained. Each of those is survivable on its own. Together they produce an adverse credibility finding, and the refusal is then built on it.
Rarely a single catastrophic answer. What causes damage is a pattern: small inconsistencies, vague answers where a delegate expected detail, and gaps that were never explained. Each of those is survivable on its own. Together they produce an adverse credibility finding, and the refusal is then built on it.
Common Refusal Grounds
Answers that contradict the written statement, usually because it was never reread
Interpreting problems left unraised until after the interview finished
Guessing at dates or details instead of saying they cannot be remembered
An account that sounds rehearsed, which delegates probe around and break
Vague answers where a person who lived through the events would have detail
Delay in applying left unexplained, when it was entirely explainable
A return trip home not disclosed, then discovered from travel records
An inconsistency put to the applicant and answered defensively rather than explained
Arriving without original identity documents
Exhaustion, because the interview ran four hours and nothing was cleared from the day
If the Interview Went Badly
If the interview went badly, it is not necessarily over. The Administrative Review Tribunal reconsiders the claim afresh and holds its own hearing, so an adverse credibility finding made by a delegate is not binding on it. Time limits are strict. See Protection Visa Refusal
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The Process
How to Handle the Interview Itself
Short answer
None of this is about performing well or impressing anyone. It is about making sure the record the delegate creates is an accurate one, because that record is what the decision is based on, what any later review starts from, and the one thing you cannot go back and change afterwards.
None of this is about performing well or impressing anyone. It is about making sure the record the delegate creates is an accurate one, because that record is what the decision is based on, what any later review starts from, and the one thing you cannot go back and change afterwards.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
01
Arrive Early and Bring Everything
Originals, your own file, the interview letter. Arriving flustered and short of documents starts the interview badly for no reason.
02
Check the Interpreter Before You Start
Confirm you understand each other in the first minute. If the dialect is wrong, say so before the substantive questions begin, not an hour in.
03
Listen to the Whole Question
Delegates ask precise questions. Answering a question you assumed was coming, rather than the one asked, creates inconsistencies that look like evasion.
04
Answer What Was Asked, Then Stop
Volunteering unprompted detail opens areas you have not prepared and lengthens the interview. Answer fully, then wait for the next question.
05
Say You Do Not Remember When You Do Not
Delegates do not expect perfect recall of events years ago. They do notice invented detail, because it does not survive being asked about twice.
06
Correct Anything That Is Wrong
If something in your statement is inaccurate, say so at the interview. A correction you volunteer is credible. One discovered later is not.
07
Take the Chance to Explain
When an inconsistency is put to you, that is the opportunity to deal with it. An answer given there carries far more weight than one filed after a refusal.
08
Add Anything Left Out at the End
You will usually be asked whether there is anything further. Use it, and have your lawyer make any submission that needs making.
The interview is not a test you pass or fail on performance. It is a record being created. See Protection Visa (866) for the application itself.
We prepare you against your own file, then attend with you. Book before the interview date, not the week of it.
Afterwards
What Happens After the Interview
Short answer
You are not usually told the outcome on the day. The delegate considers the interview record alongside your written material and the country information, then decides. That can take weeks or considerably longer, there is no published timeframe, and further material can still be filed until the decision is made.
Sometimes the delegate writes afterwards putting adverse information to you for comment, or asking for a document discussed at the interview. Those letters carry deadlines and they matter. A late or thin response is often the last thing on the file before a refusal.
If you realise afterwards that something you said was wrong or incomplete, you can write to the Department. Doing so promptly, in your own words, with any document that supports the correction, is far better than leaving it. The interview is recorded, so the discrepancy will be visible either way.
A written submission after the interview is often worth filing, particularly where the delegate raised a concern you want to address properly with evidence. Nothing prevents you putting further material before the Department until the decision is made.
You are not usually told the outcome on the day. The delegate considers the interview record alongside your written material and the country information, then decides. That can take weeks or considerably longer, there is no published timeframe, and further material can still be filed until the decision is made.
Sometimes the delegate writes afterwards putting adverse information to you for comment, or asking for a document discussed at the interview. Those letters carry deadlines and they matter. A late or thin response is often the last thing on the file before a refusal.
If you realise afterwards that something you said was wrong or incomplete, you can write to the Department. Doing so promptly, in your own words, with any document that supports the correction, is far better than leaving it. The interview is recorded, so the discrepancy will be visible either way.
A written submission after the interview is often worth filing, particularly where the delegate raised a concern you want to address properly with evidence. Nothing prevents you putting further material before the Department until the decision is made.
Received a letter after your interview? Those deadlines are short and the response usually matters.
How We Help
How My Migration Lawyers Assists With the Interview
Short Answer
We prepare you against your own file, deal with the interpreter and dialect arrangements in advance, attend the interview with you, raise interpreting and procedural problems at the time rather than afterwards, and file whatever submissions or corrections are needed once it is over.
We prepare you against your own file, deal with the interpreter and dialect arrangements in advance, attend the interview with you, raise interpreting and procedural problems at the time rather than afterwards, and file whatever submissions or corrections are needed once it is over.
1
Reviewing Your File Before the Interview
We read your statement, your application and everything on the file as a delegate would, and identify the areas they will spend their time on. That is the starting point for everything else.
2
Identifying the Weak Points First
Every file has them: a date that does not fit, a document never obtained, a period unaccounted for, a trip home. We find them before the delegate does and work out the truthful explanation with you.
3
Preparation Sessions
We take you through the questions likely to be asked and how to answer them accurately. Not a script, because rehearsed accounts are recognised and damage credibility, but familiarity with your own file under questioning.
4
Interpreter Arrangements
We notify the Department of your dialect and any preference for a male or female interpreter well before the interview, rather than raising it on the day when it cannot be fixed.
5
Advice on Community Concerns
Where you are worried an interpreter may know people connected to those you fear, we raise it with the Department in advance so it can be addressed properly.
6
Attending the Interview With You
We attend in person or by video. You are not answering questions about the worst period of your life alone, and there is someone in the room whose job is to protect the record.
7
Raising Interpreting Problems at the Time
If the interpreting is wrong we say so immediately and ask for it to be corrected or the interview adjourned. This is almost unfixable after the event.
8
Protecting the Record
Where a question is unclear, unfair or based on a misreading of the file, we raise it during the interview so that it appears on the recording rather than in a complaint afterwards.
9
Making Submissions at the End
Delegates usually ask whether there is anything further. We use that opportunity properly, addressing whatever concerns emerged during the questioning.
10
Post-Interview Submissions
Where the delegate raised a concern that deserves a documented answer, we file a written submission and the supporting evidence before the decision is made.
11
Responding to Adverse Information
Where the Department writes afterwards putting information to you for comment, we respond within the deadline and in the form required. These responses often decide the outcome.
12
Correcting the Record
If something said at the interview was wrong or incomplete, we write to the Department promptly with the correction and any document supporting it, rather than leaving it to be discovered.
13
Advice Where There Is No Interview
Not every applicant is interviewed. Where none is scheduled, the written application carries the whole case, and we make sure it is complete rather than waiting for an opportunity that may not come.
14
Review If the Application Is Refused
An adverse credibility finding by a delegate does not bind the Tribunal, which reconsiders the claim afresh and holds its own hearing. We assess the merits and lodge within the time limit.
What Working With Us Looks Like
Lawyers, not agents
Your matter is handled by Australian lawyers, and everything you tell us is covered by legal professional privilege.
Nothing is reported
We do not report to the Department, and nothing you tell us reaches your home country or your embassy.
Fees quoted in writing
You know the professional fee before you engage us, including whether attendance at the interview is included.
One firm from start to finish
The same team runs the assessment, the statement, the lodgement, the interview and any review. Nothing is handed off midway.
Interview date received? Book now rather than the week of it. Preparation takes time.
No Interview
What if You Are Not Invited to an Interview
Short answer
Not every applicant is interviewed. Where the written material is complete and the claim is clearly made out, a delegate can decide without one. An interview is not required by law and its absence is not a signal either way.
What it does mean is that the written application carries everything. If there is no interview, there is no opportunity to explain a gap, correct an error or answer a concern. That is the strongest argument for making the application complete at lodgement rather than intending to fill it out later. See Protection Visa (866).
Not every applicant is interviewed. Where the written material is complete and the claim is clearly made out, a delegate can decide without one. An interview is not required by law and its absence is not a signal either way.
What it does mean is that the written application carries everything. If there is no interview, there is no opportunity to explain a gap, correct an error or answer a concern. That is the strongest argument for making the application complete at lodgement rather than intending to fill it out later. See Protection Visa (866).
No interview means the written application is the whole case. Make it complete the first time.
Questions
Protection Visa Interview Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions Indonesians applicants ask most often. See also our 30 protection visa FAQs and 30 LGBT protection visa FAQs.
What Happens at a Protection Visa Interview
A delegate introduces themselves and the interpreter, tells you the interview is being audio recorded, asks you to promise to tell the truth, verifies your identity, then questions you in detail about your claims. Two hours is common and longer is not unusual.
Can I Bring a Lawyer to the Interview
Yes. You can bring a lawyer and you can also bring a support person such as a friend or family member. Both are permitted. Having a lawyer present means interpreting problems and unfair questions are raised at the time rather than after the decision.
Will There Be an Interpreter
Yes, if you ask for one. Tell the Department your specific dialect and any preference for a male or female interpreter before the interview rather than on the day. You can also choose to answer some questions in English and use the interpreter for others.
What if the Interpreter Makes a Mistake
Tell the delegate immediately, during the interview. They can ask the interpreter to slow down or repeat, or arrange a different interpreter, and the interview can be adjourned and rescheduled. Do not stay quiet to avoid embarrassing anyone. Interpreting problems are almost unfixable afterwards.
Is the Interview Recorded
Yes. Protection visa interviews are audio recorded and you are told this at the start. The recording forms part of the file, which is why what is said at the interview matters so much and why any correction should be made promptly.
How Long Does the Interview Take
There is no fixed length. Two hours is common and considerably longer happens regularly. Clear the whole day and schedule nothing afterwards. Exhaustion produces vague and inconsistent answers, which is exactly what damages credibility.
What Questions Are Asked
They fall into four groups: identity and background, your claims in detail, the risk on return, and your conduct since arriving in Australia. The delegate moves between them and returns to earlier answers deliberately, to test consistency.
What Should I Do if I Cannot Remember Something
Say you cannot remember. Delegates do not expect perfect recall of events years ago under stress, and a truthful gap is survivable. What is not survivable is a guess invented to fill the gap, because it will not survive being asked about a second time.
Should I Memorise My Statement
No. Reread it until you know it, but do not memorise it word for word. Delegates recognise rehearsed accounts and probe around the edges of them, where they break. What you are preparing is accuracy and familiarity, not performance.
What if Something in My Statement Is Wrong
Correct it at the interview. A correction you volunteer is credible. The same error discovered by the delegate is not. If you realise afterwards, write to the Department promptly with the correction and any document supporting it.
What Happens After the Interview
You are not usually told the outcome on the day. The delegate considers the interview record alongside your written material and the country information, then decides. Sometimes they write afterwards putting adverse information to you for comment, and those letters carry deadlines.
What if I Am Not Invited to an Interview
Not every applicant is interviewed. Where the written material is complete and the claim is clearly made out, a delegate can decide without one. It means the written application carries the whole case, with no opportunity to explain a gap or correct an error.
About the Reviewer
Who Reviewed This Page
Weiwei Zhang is an Australian lawyer practising exclusively in Australian migration law and is the Principal Lawyer at My Migration Lawyers. She reviews the firm's published legal guidance for accuracy.
Weiwei Zhang
Managing Director and Principal Lawyer, My Migration Lawyers
Weiwei Zhang
Principal Lawyer
Weiwei Zhang is an Australian lawyer practising exclusively in Australian migration law and is the Principal Lawyer at My Migration Lawyers. She reviews the firm's published legal guidance for accuracy.
Last Reviewed
16 September 2026
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