The AAT can review some, but not all, decisions about visas made under the Migration Act 1958 by the Department of Home Affairs, the Minister for Home Affairs or the Minister for Immigration.

Migration

The Migration part of our website contains information about the review of all visa and visa-related decisions except for:

  • decisions about protection visas, and protection finding decisions made under section 197D of the Migration Act.
  • character-related visa decisions, and
  • decisions to cancel business visas made under section 134 of the Migration Act.

Migration reviews are done in the Migration & Refugee Division of the AAT under Part 5 of the Migration Act.


Refugee

The Refugee part of our website contains information about the review of:

  • decisions to refuse or cancel a protection visa (except for character-related decisions about protection visas), and
  • decisions under section 197D of the Migration Act that a protection finding would no longer be made about a person.

Refugee reviews are done in the Migration & Refugee Division of the AAT under Part 7 of the Migration Act.


Character-related and other visa decisions 

The Character-related and other visa decisions part of our website contains information about the review of the following decisions made under the Migration Act:

  • to refuse or cancel any type of visa, including a protection visa, on character grounds under section 501
  • to not revoke the mandatory cancellation of a visa on character grounds under section 501CA
  • to refuse a protection visa on character grounds relying on section 5H(2), 36(1C), or 36(2C)
  • to cancel a business visa under section 134.

These reviews are done in the General Division of the AAT.

Use our help tool to find the right information about the type of decision you want reviewed.