When a visa is cancelled, the clock starts immediately — and it does not wait for you to be ready.
The most common and costly mistake in cancellation matters isn’t a weak argument. It’s a missed deadline.
The ART, not the AAT
Since 14 October 2024, merits review of most migration decisions is handled by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which replaced the former AAT. For a reviewable cancellation, the ART conducts a fresh review — it steps into the shoes of the original decision-maker, can consider new evidence, and can set the decision aside.
How short is short?
Review deadlines depend on the power used and your circumstances, and many of them cannot be extended:
• Notified in immigration detention on a section 116 cancellation? The window can be as little as seven working days.
• Refused revocation of a mandatory section 501 cancellation while in detention? As little as nine days.
• Many other cancellation decisions carry a window of around 28 days.
Because the figures vary, the deadline stated in your notice is the one that governs. Read it first, and calendar it before anything else.
When merits review isn’t available
If the Minister personally made the cancellation decision, the ART generally cannot review it. The only remaining path is judicial review in the Federal Court — a narrower process that examines whether the decision was lawful, not whether it was the right call on the facts. That distinction matters enormously to how a case is built.
What good preparation looks like
The ART increasingly decides some matters on the documents. That makes your written evidence — statutory declarations, employer letters, evidence of hardship, ties to Australia, and rehabilitation where relevant — do more work than ever. A strong, decision-ready submission lodged within time is worth far more than a perfect argument lodged a day late.
If you’ve been cancelled, treat the notice as time-critical from the hour you receive it.
If you’re facing a cancellation and a looming review deadline, contact us urgently on (02) 8077 2562 or www.toliclawyers.com.au
Disclaimer: General information only, not legal advice. Time limits are strict and often non-extendable — act promptly.
