Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

How to Apply for ART Review of an Australian Visa Refusal in 2026

How ART review of an Australian visa refusal works in 2026: the review right, the fee source, and VEVO checks.

Applying for review starts with one document: your refusal notification letter. That letter tells you whether you have the right to seek review of the department's decision with the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). The rest of the process — how to lodge and what it costs — is published by the ART itself. This follows the Department of Home Affairs' Partner Visa Frequently Asked Questions page and its Review of decisions page, as at the October 2026 official pages.

Where does the ART's power to review a refusal come from?

The ART has jurisdiction to review certain visa decisions made under the Migration Act 1958 (Migration Act 1958). That is the source of the tribunal's authority, and it is also the limit of it: the power covers certain decisions, not every decision Home Affairs makes.

So the first question is never "how do I apply" but "does this decision fall inside the tribunal's jurisdiction". The Act and the terms of the decision itself answer that, and your letter is where the answer is recorded.

How do I check whether my refusal carries a review right?

Read the refusal notification letter before anything else. Home Affairs states plainly that the letter will tell you if you have the right to seek review with the ART.

Look for two things in it:

whether a review right is stated at all
the tribunal named as the review body

If your letter says nothing about review, that is a signal worth taking seriously, because the published process treats the letter as the notice of your rights. For immigration and citizenship matters, the ART publishes its own guidance at its Applying for review: immigration and citizenship page, and that page is the place to confirm what the tribunal accepts.

What are the actual steps to lodge the review?

The following steps follow the process published by the Department of Home Affairs and the ART:

Open your refusal notification letter.
Find the passage about review rights.
Open the ART's immigration and citizenship review page.
Read the tribunal's own instructions for lodging that kind of decision.
Check the fee published on the ART's website.
Collect the decision record, the refusal letter, and the documents you already gave Home Affairs.
Lodge using the method the ART sets out.
Keep checking your visa details and conditions on VEVO while the review is on foot.

Step 5 matters more than it looks. Fees and charges are set by the tribunal, not by Home Affairs, and they are published on the ART's website.

What does the review fee cost?

Home Affairs directs applicants to the ART's website for the relevant fees and charges, and does not restate an amount. The amount is therefore whatever the tribunal currently publishes, and it can change.

Check the current fee on the ART's website before you lodge, and treat that page as the authority.

Is there a time limit for applying?

Confirm the timeframe that applies to your decision on the Administrative Review Tribunal's immigration and citizenship page before you lodge. Treat the question as urgent anyway: a review right is usually only useful if it is exercised inside the limit that applies to your decision.

Your refusal notification letter and the ART's immigration and citizenship page are the starting point for working out the timeframe that applies to your decision. If the two ever appear to say different things, the tribunal's own material governs how it receives an application.

One caution, because it matters here: this is general information about the published process, not advice about your case, and it is not a substitute for checking the official pages or getting advice from a registered migration agent or lawyer about your own situation.

What happens to my visa status while the review is running?

Keep checking. Home Affairs advises that if you have a visa decision under review, you should continue checking your current visa details and conditions using Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO).

A review application is not itself a visa. VEVO is what tells you what you actually hold on a given day, including any conditions attached.

Suppose an applicant held a temporary Partner visa and then had the permanent Partner visa (subclass 801 or 100) refused. The Home Affairs FAQ is explicit: on that refusal, they no longer hold the temporary Partner visa. The advice attached to that scenario is to be aware of your visa status and to check it through VEVO.

What should I prepare before lodging?

The decision-maker's reasons are the spine of any review application. Work from the refusal letter and the decision record, and put your material against the reasons given rather than re-telling the whole history of the relationship or the application.

Documents you have already submitted to Home Affairs still matter, because the review is of the decision made on that material. Anything that answers a reason for refusal is more useful than anything that repeats a point already accepted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every visa refusal come with the right to go to the ART?

No. The ART's jurisdiction covers certain visa decisions made under the Migration Act 1958, not every refusal. Your refusal notification letter is the document that tells you whether your decision carries a review right.

Where do I find the current ART fee?

The fee is published on the ART's website, which is where Home Affairs directs applicants for fees and charges on review of decisions. Because the ART publishes these amounts, the figure on its website at the time you lodge is the one that applies.

Do I still hold a visa while the review is pending?

Not automatically — a review application is not a visa or a bridge to one. Home Affairs advises anyone with a decision under review to keep checking their current visa details and conditions through VEVO.

Can VEVO tell me anything about my review application?

No. VEVO shows visa details and conditions, not the progress of a review. It answers the separate and more urgent question of what you hold while the review is on foot.

What if my permanent Partner visa (subclass 801 or 100) was refused?

Home Affairs states that on refusal of the permanent Partner visa, you no longer hold the temporary Partner visa. Check your visa status through VEVO rather than assuming the earlier visa continues.

Who is allowed to help me with this?

Home Affairs states that only certain people can help you with a Partner visa application, and directs applicants to its Who can help with your application page.