Refusals, cancellations & appeals
Administrative Review Tribunal applications, natural justice responses, s.48 issues and Ministerial intervention requests.
A refusal is a legal problem, not a paperwork problem
When an application is refused, the useful question is not "what did we get wrong on the form" but "which criterion was found not to be met, on what evidence, and is that finding open to challenge". The answer determines whether the next step is review, a fresh application, a waiver request, or nothing at all.
Much of this work comes to us after a first attempt elsewhere. That is workable, but it narrows the options — a poorly framed review application or an unconsidered response to a natural justice letter becomes part of the record.
What we act in
- Administrative Review Tribunal. Applications for review of visa refusals, nomination refusals, sponsorship decisions and cancellations, including written submissions and preparation for hearing.
- Natural justice and s.57 responses. Where the Department puts adverse information to you before deciding, the response is often the last real opportunity to affect the outcome. It should be drafted as a submission, not an email.
- Section 48 bar. Where a previous application has been refused or a visa cancelled onshore, further applications are barred except in limited classes. We advise on what remains available and on the options for lifting or working around the bar.
- Schedule 3 criteria. Arguments for waiver on compelling grounds where an applicant does not hold a substantive visa.
- PIC 4020. Responses to findings of false or misleading information, including submissions on compelling and compassionate circumstances.
- Sponsorship bars and cancellations. Responses for employers facing adverse findings or proposed bars following monitoring.
- Ministerial intervention. Requests under s.351 and s.417 where review rights are exhausted and the circumstances are genuinely exceptional.
How we assess a refusal
- Read the decision record properly. The reasons, the criterion applied, the evidence the delegate relied on, and what was and was not before them.
- Identify the reviewable error or the evidentiary gap. These are different problems with different solutions.
- Check every deadline and bar. Review period, s.48, sponsorship limitations, any exclusion period.
- Give you a candid assessment. Including when review has poor prospects and your money is better spent on a different pathway.
Common questions
The period is set by regulation and varies with the decision type and whether you are in Australia or offshore. It is short, it runs from the day you are taken to have received the decision, and the Tribunal generally has no power to extend it. If you are unsure, treat the deadline as the earliest date it could be and contact us straight away.
In most onshore cases a bridging visa is available while review is on foot, but the conditions attaching to it — particularly work rights — depend on your status when you applied. This needs to be confirmed for your circumstances rather than assumed.
Not necessarily. Depending on the decision, there may be grounds for judicial review in the Federal Circuit and Family Court on questions of law, or a Ministerial intervention request where the circumstances are genuinely exceptional. Both are narrow. We will tell you honestly which, if either, applies.
Yes, and a substantial part of our work arrives this way. We start by reading the full decision record and the file as lodged, because the reasons for refusal often reflect what was put to the delegate rather than the underlying facts.
Yes. These carry short response windows and the response becomes part of the record. It should be prepared as a submission with evidence attached, not answered informally.
Send us the decision record.
We will read the reasons, check every deadline and bar, and give you a candid assessment of what is actually available.