Is this your situation?
You received a visa refusal and you want to know exactly how long you have to respond. The answer matters because once the deadline passes, your merits review rights are gone permanently.
The time limits
For most migration and protection decisions, you have 28 calendar days from the date you are taken to have received the decision to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). If you are in immigration detention, the period is 14 days. This covers most onshore visa refusals, cancellations under sections 109 and 116, and offshore refusals that carry review rights.
Character decisions are different. If a section 501 decision was made while you were in Australia, you have only 9 days. Offshore character decisions usually allow 28 days, and that period can be extended.
The 28-day and 14-day limits are prescribed by legislation. They are not guidelines. They are hard limits, and the ART cannot extend them, waive them, or make exceptions. Older advice that mentions 21 days, 70 days or 7 working days describes the rules before the ART replaced the AAT on 14 October 2024 and is out of date. Always check the deadline on your refusal letter.
How the “date of receipt” is calculated
The starting date is not when you read the letter. It is when you are “taken to have received” it under the legislation. If the notice was sent by post, you are deemed to have received it 7 working days after the date printed on the letter. If sent electronically through ImmiAccount, the deemed receipt date is the date it appeared in your account.
This calculation catches many people off guard. A letter dated 1 April and sent by post means deemed receipt around 10 April (depending on weekends and public holidays). Your 28-day window runs from 10 April, making your deadline around 8 May. If you do not check your mail until 20 April, you only have about 18 days left, not 28.
What happens if you miss the deadline
The ART will not accept your review application. There is no “good reason” exception. There is no late lodgement provision for most migration reviews. If your agent failed to tell you about the deadline, or if the letter went to the wrong address, or if you were in hospital, the deadline still applies.
After missing the deadline, your remaining options narrow significantly: judicial review (limited to legal error), ministerial intervention (discretionary), or departing and reapplying offshore.
Call now if your deadline is approaching.
Amanpreet Bhangoo (MARN 1573884) can lodge an ART application urgently to preserve your review rights. Call (07) 3519 7009.
FAQ
Q: Can I get the ART to accept a late application?
In most migration cases, no. The ART has no power to extend the prescribed period.
Q: Are there any exceptions to the 28-day rule?
There are different time limits for different circumstances: 14 days if you are in immigration detention, and 9 days for character decisions made while you were in Australia. Within each category, the time limit is fixed. The exact date is on your refusal letter.
Q: What if the ART affirms the refusal?
You may be able to apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court for judicial review within 35 days of the Tribunal decision. That period can be extended if it is in the interests of justice, but judicial review only looks at legal error, not a fresh look at the facts.
For how a review actually runs once it is lodged, see ART appeals, or student visa refusal appeals if a study visa is involved.
