Reviews and Appeals

Visa rejection and cancellation is not the last option. We can assist genuine rejected applications or visa cancellations for appeals to the Tribunal or Minister. Discuss with us and we will guide you to the next best course of action.

Ministerial Intervention

You can make a request for ministerial intervention if you have received a decision by a review tribunal. This is because the minister’s public interest powers need a review tribunal decision to exist before he can intervene. A ‘review tribunal’ means the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT), the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) or, in certain circumstances, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). However, there are certain limited circumstances where the minister cannot intervene even after a decision by a review tribunal. These include where:

  • Our decision not to grant a visa is not a decision that can be reviewed by the relevant review tribunal
  • the review tribunal has sent your case back to us for further consideration and one of our decision-makers has made a subsequent decision on the visa
  • your review tribunal decision was made before 1 September 1994
  • a finding by the tribunal that our decision is not reviewable by it
  • a finding by the tribunal that the application made to the tribunal was invalid as it was not made within the required timeframe
  • a decision of the AAT that is not in respect of an MRT reviewable decision or a protection visa decision.

The department will advise you if your request cannot be considered under the minister’s public interest powers.