Visa After Refusal: What to Do Next
If you’ve recently had an Australian visa refused, you might be uncertain about your next steps. Can you submit a new application for another visa or a different type? Is appealing the refusal an option? Does your location—inside Australia or overseas—affect your choices? Do you need a sponsor to appeal?
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of what you can do after the Department of Home Affairs denies your visa.
Refusal Is Different To Cancellation
If your visa application is not approved and you don’t withdraw it, it will be considered “refused.” Visa refusal is different from visa cancellation. If you’ve been granted a visa and that permission is then taken away from you, that is a “cancellation. In such cases, the Department of Home Affairs will notify you that your visa is “canceled”.
Who Can Cancel My Visa?
Your employer or partner cannot cancel your Visa. Only the Department of Home Affairs has the authority to effect visa cancellations. While the Department can use information provided by your employer or partner, it is incorrect for them to claim they can cancel your visa themselves. Only the Department has this power
Reasons Your Visa Is Refused Or Cancelled
When a decision is made to refuse or cancel a visa, the notification of the decision to refuse or cancel is usually accompanied by another document. This other document will detail the reasons why your visa has been refused or cancelled. It’s important to understand what these reasons are.
Whether you can reapply depends on your specific circumstances. Your application might be denied for various reasons, but they generally fall into two main categories:
Non-Character-Related Refusal or Cancellation
This type of visa refusal and cancellation is the most common. For instance, if you unintentionally provided false information on your application, it could be denied. Similarly, failing to meet the criteria for a specific visa may lead to refusal.
Generally, this type of refusal or cancellation will not prevent you from submitting future applications, although there are notable exceptions.
Character-Related Refusal or Cancellation
This cancellation occurs if you fail the “character test,” which is a serious issue. The government can cancel or deny your visa for failing the character test. This situation typically affects individuals with extensive criminal records, those who have committed offenses, broken Australian migration laws, or engaged in serious criminal conduct.
The Toughest Cases
It is difficult to appeal a refusal or cancellation based on character-related grounds. It is difficult but not necessarily impossible.
A character-based visa denial or visa cancellation can result in a permanent exclusion from Australia.
You can expect to be detained and you will have difficulty in getting a bridging visa (to exit detention) while any appeal is pending.
Can You Appeal?
Depending on the circumstances of your case, including the basis of the refusal or cancellation, and how recent it was, you may be able to appeal. In some limited cases, you may be able to make a new visa application.
The opportunities for appealing an adverse decision or applying for a different visa will vary, depending on your case.
Don’t Hide Refusal And Cancellation Decisions
If you have had a visa application refused or been subject to a visa cancellation in the past, you must declare this when applying for future visas with the Department of Home Affairs. The previous adverse decision will likely impact your eligibility for future visas.
Avoid omitting past visa refusals or cancellations. Immigration authorities will discover if you fail to disclose this information. Be honest, as misleading the Department about your immigration history can lead to serious consequences.
Take Action Immediately
Re-Apply Or File An Appeal
Your next step depends on the reasons for your visa refusal or cancellation, and the type of permission that has been denied or cancelled.
In some situations, you may just need to complete a new or different visa application, which could lead to approval.
Alternatively, you might need to appeal the adverse decision. Most onshore visa applications allow you to appeal to the Department of Immigration. Additionally, some offshore visa applications with a sponsor may also have appeal rights.
Revocation of Cancelled Visas
Revocation typically involves Visa cancellations under section 501 of the Migration Act or cancellations when the visa holder is abroad. If this applies to you, you need to apply for revocation within a specified period. Additionally, ensure that your submission addresses all required points to be considered.
In certain situations, you must file for revocation of a cancellation decision within the designated timeframe. Furthermore, your submission must cover specific points to qualify for consideration.
Your next step!
To find out which option is right for you, get in touch with Nilesh Nandan at MyVisa Immigration Advisory for a case review and discussion about your options. Together, we can determine the best path forward if you have been subjected to visa cancellation or refusal in Australia. Contact us online now to get started.
663 Responses
Hello sir..I had a tourist visa rejection in 2018 or 2019. And now I want to apply as a dependent with my husband who is applying for his student visa..will my previous refusal affect my current application?
Hello sir,
My case is that I am holding a student visa in Australia now, but before applying for the student visa, I applied for the tourist visa on last November as I am not sure if the border will open to tourists first. If the border opens to tourists first, I then have a chance to travel before deciding my study journey here. While later it turns out that border opens to students first, so I applied for the student visa and came to Australia to study now. But I forgot to withdraw my visitor visa application and I received the refusal of my visitor visa this month, 9 months after I submitted the application form, saying that I don’t work in my previous company any more and they are suspicious if I will return to my home country or not after the travel. But the reason I resigned from my previous company is that I decided to study in Australia. When I applied for the tourist visa, I did provide all correct information.
So my enquiry here is that how can I withdraw my visitor visa application as I don’t want to have this refusal record in my profile. I googled around, such refusal record will impact my applications towards other countries.
Please help to advise what can I do with this case, do I need an appeal process?
Thank you in advance.
Regards,
Dora
Hi Sir, I applied for a Visitor (Sub 600) visa in June month. But I get a refusal letter 3 days before the reason as follows.
“” The applicant’s claims
The applicant has applied for the grant of a Visitor visa (subclass 600) to visit Australia for a
temporary stay.
Information and evidence considered
I am a delegated decision maker under section 65 of the Migration Act 1958. In reaching my
decision, I have considered the following:
● relevant legislation contained in the Migration Act and Migration Regulations 1994
● information contained in the Department’s Procedural Instructions
● documents and information provided by the applicant(s)
● relevant information held on Departmental files.””
So I want to know if can I apply again for a Visitor visa this year or if can I apply for a student visa.
Hello Sir, I am very depressed and asking this question. I got married to an Australian Citizen in Feb’22 and applied for tourist visa 600 family stram in March’22 but got refused in May’22 and after waiting for more than 2 months my husband again applied tourist visa subclass 600(family stream) from australia in Mid July’22 and side by side applied spouse visa 309 application but this time also my tourist visa got refused yesterday..I just want to know should I apply for tourist visa again which give result within 48hrs or what else I can do. The main reason mentioned in both refusal was that my economic circumstances does not satisfy them that I will return to India. Please tell me what I can do now…should I try to re-apply one last time or not ???
Hi sir
On 17th of August 2022
I got a visa refusal to my offshore subclass 485 post study work visa application
And they stated reason behind as;
As my application was lodged on or after 21 September 2021 will need to demonstrate having
completed an eligible qualification in the period of 6 months immediately before the day
the application was made.
Applications lodged on or after 21 September 2021 cannot be
considered eligible for qualifications completed 12 months immediately before the day the
application was made as they were not prevented from lodging their application within 6
months of completing their course. The applicant was not eligible to satisfy the Australian Study requirement in the period of 12 months immediately before the day the application was
made.
Review rights
There is no right of merits review for this decision.
Im trying 😪 explain every consultancy about my visa refusal
Actually no one is caring about me and no one is helping
Please try to understand my problem
Let me know if there is anything i can do.
Thank you sir
Hlo Sir I went australia in 2018 for 3 months and came back to my home country and now I applied for vistor visa in 2022 and i got rejected recently and now i am thinking to apply for student visa postgraduate no gap what are the chances?
Thank you very much for your question. Here are the first three (3) things that come to my mind in relation to your post. There may also be other important issues which arise from your particular circumstances and you should seek specific immigration law advice before taking any further steps. It could be that I misunderstood you.
1. This is an absolutely impossible question to answer. No one can say With any certainty the chances given the information you have provided. Every case is different.
2. First you applied for a visitor Visa and now you’re applying for a student Visa. This is not as preferable as you having applied for a student Visa from the very outset?
3. When you do apply for a student Visa you will need to prove that you are in fact a genuine student as well as being a genuine temporary entrant meaning that you are only intending to come to Australia for a finite and temporary period of residence. Be careful because this is the most common basis on which an application for a student Visa is refused.
*In the interest of speed, my communications are transcribed and transmitted using voice-to-text software – please ignore any unintended typographical or interpretation errors. Please also see the standard Notes and Disclosures which apply to my communications. These are located at the footer of my work emails.
Regards
Nilesh Nandan
BBus(Accy) LLB(QUT) MBA(IntBus)
Immigration Lawyer | Special Counsel
MyVisa® Immigration Law Advisory
myvisa.com.au/about/
1300558472
Hi sir,
I recently faced refusal from australia on 11june 2022 (visa subclass 500.212) and now i want to reapply again for australia. Is it possible to reapply for australia.
*In the interest of speed, my communications are transcribed and transmitted using voice-to-text software – please ignore any unintended typographical or interpretation errors. Please also see the standard Notes and Disclosures which apply to my communications. These are located at the footer of my work emails.
Thank you very much for your question. Here are the first three (3) things that come to my mind in relation to your post. There may also be other important issues which arise from your particular circumstances and you should seek specific immigration law advice before taking any further steps. It could be that I misunderstood you.
1. Yes you can reply.
2. As you have a refusal you need to be extra careful to make sure you cover the role of an criteria for the grant of the next Visa you wish to apply for.
3. I cannot determine where you are from or what visit you hold if any but you should be aware a different risk profiles apply just different nationalities. Whilst there is real little evidence of this all knowledge meant of this I believe that there must be some protocol by which nationals of certain countries are particularly advantaged or disadvantaged by the Australian government in order to bring them about a migration outcome.