Do you have a matter in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal? It’s either in the Migration and Refugee Division or in the General Division. What will happen during the hearing? What should you expect? This article is about the Migration and Refugee Division. Step 1. From lodgement to hearing date The first step is that you…
If your Australian Visa gets cancelled on character grounds, there are some IMMEDIATE as well as LONG TERM consequences. # 1 DETENTION If your visa is cancelled, you no longer hold a visa. This much sounds obvious, but the problem is, now they can keep you in immigration detention. #2 CAN’T APPLY FOR ANOTHER VISA…
Can you satisfy the CHARACTER TEST? If you can’t, you may not be able to get an Australian visa. If you already hold a visa, it may be cancelled. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER TEST? In most cases, it’s about your criminal history. The Immigration Department tries to determine if you will cause trouble in Australia.…
If you do an AAT appeal yourself without help, there are many things to keep in mind and in this article we discuss 4 fundamental issues you need to consider. Your prospects of success The first thing you need to think about is whether you have any realistic prospects of success. You may wish to…
If your visa application was refused or cancelled you are probably doing some research to see how you can turn around your case. You may have realised that one option is to file an application with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (“AAT”) and another option is to lodge an appeal with the Federal Circuit Court. But…
If you choose to handle your AAT appeal yourself (never advisable) there are many things to keep in mind but you should always remember to never lose sight of these two very important points: have a good look at your original visa application to see if there are any issues which you missed but which…
A Bridging Visa E is for people who don’t currently hold any other visa. It comes with very strict conditions and very limited rights. If you are thinking about applying for a Bridging Visa E, there are some key issues you need be aware of. The long term consequences of going on a Bridging Visa…
For those of you thinking of applying for an Australian Partner Visa offshore (subclass 309 visa) – here are 3 tips to keep in mind. Processing time At the time of writing this article, an offshore application is processed quicker than an application filed inside Australia. Offshore 309 applications are currently processed between 13 to…
If you have a substantial criminal record and you are serving a jail sentence, your visa must be cancelled by law. This is called mandatory visa cancellation based on character grounds, under section 501(3A) of the Migration Act. And you can’t simply appeal the decision either. If you know of someone (perhaps a family member)…
UPDATE 10 May 2018: It looks like the Government will reverse the changes which increased the income threshold in respect of assurance of support. This means old rules would be applied again, which is a lot more beneficial to migrants. We will provide more details as they become available. The Government has recently introduced major…
Have you received a letter from the Department of Home Affairs telling you that they are considering cancelling your visa? This is called a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation of visa. Don’t ignore it. It’s important to act quickly. UPDATE: check out Part 2 of the video at the end of this post. Does…
Are you planning to apply for an Australian Partner Visa based on your de facto relationship? If you haven’t been in a de facto relationship for 12 months, then you may need to register your relationship as a civil partnership. Read this article or check out our video to find out more. When you apply…
What does a re-entry ban mean? What is a public interest criteria or PIC? If you have overstayed a Visa in Australia, or if you have provided false documents or information to the Immigration Department, then you may have come across these terms before. So let’s take it one step at a time. UPDATE: Check…
Is it better to apply for a partner visa onshore or offshore? In this article we highlight some of the benefits of applying onshore, while you are still in Australia. To start with the obvious, some people are simply not able to make an application onshore. For example, they may be living and working overseas…
Facebook live broadcast. If you have any questions that you would like us to discuss in our weekly broadcast, email or call us, or leave a comment on our Facebook page. This week’s video is about Partner Visa applications? Check it out for some tips that will hopefully clarify some of the issues surrounding the…
Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation