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1. Notification letter
   First you will receive a written notification of your visa refusal from DOHA. The letter will outline Immigration’s reasons for its decisions (this is also known as a decision record) and whether the decision is able to be reviewed, in which case the letter will also contain information about how to apply for a review, along with contact details for the ART registry in your state or territory and the time limits for applying. Be careful, as sometimes decision letters are incorrect – we can check this for you and advise you on your true review rights and options.
   
2. Lodging your appeal application
   Next, you’ll need to lodge your application for review. There are time limits and fees that apply, however half of the appeal application fee will be refunded to you if you receive a favourable decision.
   
3. Acknowledgement of visa refusal appeal
   After you lodge your application, you’ll receive an acknowledgement letter confirming if the Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear your appeal. This often takes many days and sometimes weeks to receive. In due course your review will be allocated to a tribunal member and a hearing date will be set. It’s critical to provide supporting evidence and written submissions before a hearing date where possible.
   
4. The Tribunal hearing
   A hearing will not always be needed, as sometimes the ART will make a decision on your case without a hearing, but if a hearing is being held for your review, it presents a chance to present your case and provide oral evidence to support your claims. A tribunal hearing is designed to be an informal process
   
5. The Tribunal’s review and final decision
   Following your hearing or written submission, the Tribunal will review your review application in full. The decision time will vary, depending on a variety of factors, including the visa category you’ve applied for.
   
   The ART publishes average expected wait times for application types on their website. Next, you’ll receive the formal decision from the Tribunal.
   
   They can:

• Affirm the original decision (making no change),
• Vary the original decision
• Set aside the original decision and substitute a new decision
• Return the matter to DOHA to reconsider its decision with specific directions provided by ART
  
  Once they’ve made their decision, you will receive a written outline of the decision and the ART’s reasons.

Ministerial intervention: If the ART does not make a decision in your favour, you might be able to seek a Ministerial Intervention, which is an appeal to the Minister requesting that they personally intervene in your case.

Judicial review: You may also have the option to seek a judicial review, and get your case reviewed in the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The Court can review a Tribunal decision to determine whether a decision has been made according to the law. The Court does not have the power to reconsider the facts and merits of your visa application, instead it will assess whether an error of law has been made that needs to be corrected.

Apply for another visa: You might be able to apply for another visa while you remain in Australia, though be aware that your options may be limited depending on the reasons for your visa refusal and the visa type you can apply for. In some cases there is a ban on applying for a further visa in Australia, however there are exemptions to this.

“If you need representation at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), you can arrange for an Australian lawyer who holds a practising certificate, or a registered migration agent, to represent you,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“Your Administrative Review Tribunal representative will communicate with the ART on your behalf; analyse the law and help you build your case and supporting evidence; provide ART with written evidence and written submissions on your behalf; request access to documents relating to the review; and attend the hearing with you,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“If you appoint a representative in relation to your review, the ART will assume you are authorising that person to receive correspondence or documents on your behalf,” says Mario.

“If you miss the deadline to apply for a review, this generally cannot be extended,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“The Administrative Review Tribunal does not have the power to extend the time limit to apply for a review, and there are strict time limits when applying for a review. It is critical that you check the Department of Home Affairs decision letter to find out what the time limit is for your case,” says Mario.

There are certain circumstances where the ART will automatically accelerate your review where possible (you do not need to request):

• you are in immigration detention and seeking a protection visa
• you have applied for a review of a visa cancellation; or
• your application has been remitted or returned from a court for the ART to reconsider.

The ART may also expedite a review where:

• your visa was refused on the grounds that you did not meet one or more criteria and that criteria is not subject to a qualitative assessment; and
• you can provide evidence that demonstrates the criterion or criteria are now met and there is no element of discretion in the criterion.

You can make a request to the ART to expedite your review in writing, setting out your reasons for the request and attaching evidence to support the request.

The ART may also advance a review depending on the individual circumstances of the applicant. Examples of when the ART may consider it appropriate include situations where:

• expediting the review will result in a child under 18 years of age being reunited with a parent, guardian or carer
• the applicant has been in a serious accident or has a mental or intellectual disability, disorder, disease, illness, or other vulnerability and it would be unreasonable to prolong the review process
• a long delay in the review process would result in the review applicant no longer being eligible for the visa applied for, even if the primary decision were to be set aside; or
• there are other exceptional circumstances.