Visa Appeal & Refusal

We have extensive experience in acting for our clients who are facing visa refusal and cancellations to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. We also assist to contest or review visa cancellations.

What are the common reasons of visa refusals?
  • You did not provide sufficient supporting evidence in your visa applications.
  • You did not check your ImmiAccount or email regularly and did not reply to requests of further information from the Department of Home Affairs.
  • You selected a wrong visa category.
  • There were mistakes in documents such as incomplete application forms or wrong information being provided.
  • You provided fake or forged documents.
  • You failed to meet financial requirements
  • You do not have sufficient ties with your Home Country.
  • You do not meet relevant health or character requirements.
AAT Appeal

What is the AAT Appeal?

If your visa is refused or cancelled, you might be able to appeal this decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

Note: Not all decisions are reviewable by the AAT. For example, if the Minister for Immigration personally decides to refuse or cancel your visa under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958, you cannot apply to have a decision reviewed by the AAT.

 

Administrative Appeals Tribunal

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) conducts independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws.

Within the AAT, specialist offices review specific types government decisions, including Australian Government ministers, departments and agencies and, in limited circumstances, decisions made by state government and non-government bodies.

 

Appeal to the AAT ON TIME

When you receive a refusal or cancellation letter it will state how many days you have to make an appeal for that decision.

In general, you must lodge your appeal within 21 days after refusal, or 7 days after cancellation. However, the timeframe can vary depending on types of decision and methods by which you were notified of the decision.

If you missed the timeframe, you would in general lose your right to review.

 

Merits Review of a Decision by the AAT

After appealing to the AAT, a new decision will be made on the facts of your case. Any relevant facts can be taken into consideration – and you do have the opportunity to present new evidence to the Tribunal.

Importantly, this may be your only opportunity for merits review – i.e. to have the facts of your situation reconsidered for a more favourable outcome. It is possible to appeal to the Federal Court after a negative AAT decision, but a Federal Court appeal would only be successful if there was an error in the way the law was applied in your case (legal error).

AAT Hearings

AAT Hearings

When you appeal to the AAT, you have the right to be present in the hearing. Hearings are generally conducted face-to-face with AAT Member who makes a decision on your appeal.

At the hearing, you have opportunities to give evidence verbally to support your case, and you can also call witnesses to give evidence. The Member will generally take the opportunity to ask questions to clarify the facts in your matters.

The hearing can make all the difference between success and failure to your appeal. It is very important to be thoroughly prepared for the hearing and in particular to anticipate possible questions which may be asked by the Member.

 

Possible Outcomes of AAT Review

The review tribunal will make one of the following decisions:

  • Affirm a decision: This is when the AAT agrees with the department’s decision to cancel or refuse your visa and so the decision that the department has made will stand.
  • Set aside a decision: meaning the AAT has the view that the decision should be changed, and the AAT will replace (substitute) the decision with a new decision.
  • Remit a decision to the decision maker for reconsideration: meaning the AAT has the view that the decision must be reconsidered. The department is required to reconsider the application having regard to the directions made by the AAT.

 

Appeals Post Failing at the AAT

If the outcome of AAT review is ‘Affirm’, then you have 2 options further:

  • Application to Federal Court: This is when you believe there has been a Legal Error in the decision by the department and AAT.
  • Application for Ministerial intervention: You can write a request to the Minister for the Minister’s personal discretion in granting you a visa.
Federal Circuit Court

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia (the Court) can review some decisions made under the Migration Act 1958. These include decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (the Minister), the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA).

 

You may consider appealing to the Federal Court if you think that there is a legal error in the decision by the AAT. This would be the case if the AAT applied the wrong test in determining your eligibility for the visa or did not provide you appropriate procedural fairness in making a decision (e.g. not considering all relevant information). The Federal Court cannot go back into the facts of your case – you must establish that a legal error has been made by the AAT. This is generally quite a difficult argument to make, so making the most of your opportunity for merits review at the AAT is critical.

Ministerial Intervention

The Minister has powers under the Migration Act 1958 to intervene in your case when the Minister thinks it is in the public interest to do so.

 

What is and what is not in the public interest is for the Minister to decide. The Minister is not legally bound to intervene or to consider intervening.

 

When the Minister intervenes to make a more favourable decision, this usually means that the Minister grants a visa. However, only a small number of all requests for ministerial intervention are successful.

What service can we provide in AAT Appeals?

You must take advantage of your opportunity during merits review because it may be the only chance to have the facts assessed favourably in your case.

 

H2 Migration have represented clients successfully at the AAT on many occasions. We are equipped with comprehensive knowledge of relevant law and experiences in cases. We are experts in the processes and procedures of AAT appeals.

 

If you have problems or concerns with your visas, and would like to receive advice and assistance in making an appeal for your visa refusal or cancellation, please book a consultation without hesitation.

 

In your consultation, we will base our advice on your specific situation and provide you with an indication of the overall prospects of success and likely issues in your case, as well as any alternative visa pathways.

 

If you decide to have H2 act on your behalf, we will endeavour to guide you through the appeals process and to assist for achieving a better outcome.

Key Steps in Making an AAT Appeal

Australian Immigration law is complicated and it is hard to predict the outcome if not done properly. Your visa application could be refused if you fail to meet a minor requirement even if you have met the rest of the requirements.

 

After you have had a visa refusal or cancellation, in many cases you are able to appeal the decision to AAT (Administrative Appeals Tribunal). As this may be your last chance to overturn the decision of visa refusal or cancellation, we strongly recommend to consider seeking professional assistance as soon as relevant concerns emerge.

 

Initial Advice

H2 can review your decision record and give you a frank assessment of your likely prospects. During the consultation, we would also typically discuss possible strategies and documents which would be useful.

 

Gather Information

H2 would make this request on your behalf and ensure that we are working on complete information.

 

Submissions

H2 would prepare a legal submission, and also advise you on the best documentation to support your case.

 

AAT Hearing

H2 would assist you in preparing for the AAT hearing and can attend it with you to make any necessary oral submissions.

 

Bridging Visas

H2 can advise you on and make any necessary applications for bridging visas, including no work waiver.

 

Other Visa Options

H2 can assess your situation and plan out appropriate strategies and visa options for you.

Why Choose Us?

Our experienced team of migration experts will be able to assist clients in all migration matters.

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How it Works?

The process of our migration service.

step 1

Talk to our friendly migration experts to explore your visas available

step 2

Our migration experts will help you with your visa application relevance matters​

step 3

Our migration experts will help you lodge your visa application with the Department

Step 4

After lodge your visa our experts liaise with the department until a decision is made

step 5

After visa approval you come to Australia to start your new journal

We Provide Services

I was satisfied with your service, with prompt response and kept me informed on a regular basis during the visa application. Even though the whole process took a little bit longer however the the time for the visa to be granted was quicker than what I thought. From that I could tell the professionalism of H2 Migration's service. I will certainly recommend my friends to use your service. Thanks.

Visa Application Client

Ever since consulting H2 Migration on the Business visa (188B), I have been very grateful for the hard work and effort executed by H2 Group. The State government has since granted its approval and we are now prepared to formally lodge the application to the Department of Immigration. The firm has displayed great professionalism and patience to ensure that my queries are properly addressed.

188B Visa Client

With H2 Migration Group‘s help my cousin has been studying in Perth for one year and we have experienced many problems during this year. But H2 Migration settled the issues effectively and patiently. H2 has achieved a high reputation by their professional service and extensive experience among a large amount of international students and their parents.

Student Visa Client