Refused Subclass 838 in 2026: Review Rights, Fee Refunds and Your Options

A refusal of the Aged Dependent Relative visa (Subclass 838) triggers three things at once: the Department of Home Affairs must tell you in writing why it refused you, it must tell you whether the decision can be reviewed, and it will keep your application fee. That much is set out on the department's official Aged Dependent Relative visa (Subclass 838) page (as at the August 2026 official page). The criteria the decision-maker was applying sit in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, published on the Federal Register of Legislation.

This article is general information about how the rules fit together, not advice tailored to your file. Your next step depends on the exact words in your decision record, so check anything you plan to do against the official pages listed at the end or with a professional adviser you choose to consult. Nothing here creates a lawyer–client relationship or promises an outcome.

What does the refusal letter actually have to tell you?

Very little is left to inference. The department states that when it refuses your visa it will write to you and tell you two specific things: why the visa was refused, and whether you have a right to a review of the decision. It also states plainly that the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused.

That letter is therefore the controlling document for everything else. Before thinking about review or re-applying, line up each reason against the eligibility criteria the decision-maker had to be satisfied about — the fit between those two lists is what determines whether there is anything arguable at all.

Which criteria was the decision-maker testing?

The official eligibility page sets the main headline criteria for this visa. In plain terms, at the time you applied you needed to have a sponsor who was an eligible relative or that relative's partner, with the sponsorship itself approved; you needed to be old enough to receive the Age Pension in Australia; you needed to have been dependent on that relative for basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing for at least the last three years (disability that prevents you from working can ground the dependency); and you needed to have no partner.

Two further filters often sit behind a 838 refusal. First, the visa you held must not have carried a "no further stay" condition. Second, an assurance of support is required, and the department's step-by-step guidance explains it will tell you when that assurance is needed. Health and character requirements apply to you and to family members included in the application, and the department says it can also require non-migrating family members to meet the character requirement. Where a debt is owed to the Australian Government, it must be repaid or be subject to an approved repayment arrangement.

The Migration Regulations 1994 set the same structure out as clauses to be satisfied at the time of application and again at the time of decision, including that the sponsorship has been approved and is still in force and that the Minister is satisfied an assurance of support has been accepted by the Secretary of Social Services.

Common reasons a letter gives, and what each one implies

Reading the reason against the criteria usually sorts refusals into a few buckets:

Dependency not made out. The official test is three years of reliance for basic needs, evidenced by things such as bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts.
Not old enough. The benchmark is Age Pension age, set by the social services framework rather than a fixed number in the visa page itself.
Partner or relationship issue. The visa requires that you have no partner.
Sponsor problem. The sponsor must be aged 18 or over, a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and usually resident in Australia, and must have completed Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia.
Health or character. A failure by you, or by a family member assessed as part of your application, can bring the whole application down.
Identity or information problems. The department warns that if you cannot prove your identity it will refuse the application and it may not grant you — or listed family members — another visa for 10 years. Separate guidance covers providing accurate information.

Do you get your money back?

No. The department's position is explicit: it does not refund the application fee if the application is refused. That is true whether or not you think the decision was wrong, and whether or not you go on to seek review.

Fees for this visa are split into instalments, and that structure affects what you are actually out of pocket. The first instalment is paid when you apply, using the payment function in ImmiAccount; paper applications can't be paid for in person. The second instalment is different — the department sends an invoice only after you have met all other requirements for the visa, and it warns that the visa cannot be granted unless it is paid. In practice that means a refusal arriving before that invoice involves no second payment, but nothing already paid comes back.

Option	What it does	Fees	Key constraint from the sources
Seek review (if the letter says you can)	Asks the review body named in your letter to look at the decision again	Additional fee may apply to the review; the refused visa application fee itself is not refunded	Availability depends entirely on what your decision letter says
Re-apply	Starts a fresh application on the same rules	A new application fee applies; previous fee is not carried over	You must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, when you apply and when the decision is made
Do nothing / leave Australia	No further Australian process	Nothing further payable	The official page notes a re-entry ban regime for some refused applicants applying from outside Australia

How do you know whether you have review rights?

You don't work it out from first principles — you read the letter. The department commits to telling you whether you have a right to review, and the review pathway, the body that hears it, and any lodgement deadline come from that material rather than from the visa page generally. Treat the absence of a review-rights statement, or a statement that the decision is not reviewable, as a hard boundary: there is no informal internal appeal route identified in the official guidance for this visa.

Merits review of a Subclass 838 refusal has commonly turned on the dependency evidence, the sponsor's settled status, the additional criteria that apply to applicants without a substantive visa, and health or character issues. Which body hears it, by when, and at what cost is set out in your decision letter.

Can you just start again with a stronger application?

Sometimes, but re-lodging is not a reset button. Several features of this visa make a second attempt structurally different from the first.

The application is a paper application: Form 47OF Application for migration to Australia by other family members, lodged by post or courier to the Parent, Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, together with your sponsor's Form 40. The form must be completed in English, and only certified copies of documents should be sent. Incomplete applications may be treated as invalid and not processed at all, which is a different and less recoverable outcome than a refusal.

Timing matters too. The dependency requirement is measured against the three years before you apply, so a fresh application is judged fresh — complaining that the decision-maker misread old evidence does nothing unless you can put better evidence in front of them. If there were errors in the original application, the department provides Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers for correcting answers already given.

Where an applicant has had a visa cancelled or an application refused earlier, the department says it will consider immigration history, and that in some circumstances you may still apply for a permanent visa — the limitations are set out in its material on limitations on applications in Australia. The Migration Regulations 1994 also require applicants who no longer hold a substantive visa to satisfy additional Schedule 3 criteria, including a criterion requiring the application to be made within 28 days of ceasing to hold that visa, subject to waiver.

Then there is the location rule. You must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, when you apply; you must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, when the decision is made. If you leave while the application is being processed, you need a valid visa to return. The department also points out that applying for this visa granted you a bridging visa which starts if your current visa expires before the decision, and warns against cancelling your current visa — doing so would leave you unlawful and ineligible for a bridging visa.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I get my Subclass 838 application fee back if I'm refused?

No. The Department of Home Affairs states on the Subclass 838 page that it will not refund the application fee if it refuses the application. This applies regardless of the reason for refusal and regardless of whether you seek review.

What if I had already paid the second instalment?

The second instalment is invoiced only after you meet all other requirements for the visa, and the visa cannot be granted unless it is paid. If your application is refused before that invoice is issued, no second instalment will have been requested; whatever has already been paid is not refunded.

How can I tell whether my refusal can be reviewed?

Your decision letter is the authority. The department must tell you in writing whether you have a right to a review of the decision, along with the reasons for refusal. If the letter does not identify review rights, none are being offered through the process described in the official guidance.

Is re-applying the same as appealing?

No. A re-application is a completely new decision on new material and carries a new application fee, while the original fee is not refunded or transferred. You would also need to satisfy the eligibility criteria again at that later date, including the requirement to be in Australia and not in immigration clearance when applying and when decided.

I need to travel home urgently — what happens to my application?

Tell the department if you want to travel outside Australia during processing, because you must be in Australia for the decision. If you leave, make sure you hold a valid visa to return; the guidance also refers to a re-entry ban regime for some applicants refused a visa who later seek to enter Australia.

The refusal mentions identity documents. Is that as serious as it sounds?

Yes. The department warns that if you cannot prove your identity it will refuse the application and it may refuse another visa to you — and to family members listed on the application — for 10 years. Guidance on accurate information applies to the whole application, so correcting errors early using Form 1023 is safer than waiting for a decision.