Appealing an 820 Refusal at the ART

If your 820 application has been refused and the letter says there is a right of review, that review is at the Administrative Review Tribunal, and the deadline in the letter cannot be extended. The Tribunal decides the case again for itself on the evidence before it, which is why a refusal is not the end of most partner visa applications.

What the ART is

The Administrative Review Tribunal replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in October 2024 and now hears migration and refugee reviews, among many other kinds of Commonwealth decisions. Decisions, practice directions and forms sit on the Administrative Review Tribunal website. Cases that were on foot at the changeover moved across, so older letters and older guidance still refer to the AAT; the process for partner visas is the successor to the same jurisdiction. See the move from the AAT to the ART.

Who can apply for review of a partner visa refusal

For an onshore refusal — a decision to refuse a visa that could be granted while the applicant is in Australia, where the application was made in Australia — the Migration Act 1958 provides that the application for review may only be made by the non-citizen who is the subject of the decision. That is the visa applicant, not the sponsor. The Act also requires that person to be physically present in Australia when the review application is made.

The sponsor's role at review is as a witness. In practice the sponsor's evidence is central, because the Tribunal is testing a relationship, and a sponsor who does not attend leaves a hole in the case that nothing else fills.

The time limit

This is the part people lose cases on. Section 347 of the Migration Act 1958 requires the review application to be made:

• within 14 days after the day you are notified of the decision, if you were in immigration detention on that day; or
• within 28 days after the day you are notified of the decision, in any other case.

The Act then says that the Tribunal's general power to extend the period to apply does not apply to migration decisions. There is no discretion and no good-reason exception. The refusal letter states the date by which you must apply, and that date governs.

Two practical consequences. First, count from notification, not from the day you opened the email or the day someone translated the letter for you. Second, do not wait until you have assembled your evidence — lodging the review application in time is a separate step from putting the case on, and the evidence can follow.

The application fee

An application for review is accompanied by a prescribed fee. The Migration Regulations 1994 set a base amount and increase it each 1 July in line with the Consumer Price Index, so the figure in the regulations is not the figure you pay. As at 23 September 2026, check the current amount published by the Tribunal before you lodge, and do not rely on a fee quoted on any page that is not dated.

Relief is available in defined circumstances:

• if the Tribunal's Principal Registrar considers, having regard to your income, expenses, liabilities and assets, that paying the fee would cause or has caused financial hardship, the prescribed fee is 50 per cent of the full amount;
• 50 per cent is refunded if the decision is set aside or varied, or if the application is remitted to the Department for reconsideration;
• the whole fee is refunded where you were not entitled to apply, or the decision was not reviewable;
• no fee is payable on certain applications by a person who was refused as a secondary applicant where the Department accepted that they experienced family violence committed by the primary applicant.

More detail sits on ART deadlines and fees.

What the Tribunal actually does

The Tribunal conducts a fresh merits review. It is not confined to the material the Department had, and it decides the case as at the date of its own decision. For a partner visa that is the central advantage: evidence about the relationship covering the months since the refusal is directly relevant, and so is anything that has changed — a child, a joint mortgage, a change in circumstances bearing on the Schedule 3 criteria.

There is usually a hearing. The applicant gives evidence and answers questions, and the sponsor ordinarily gives evidence as well, often separately. The questioning goes to the day-to-day texture of the relationship rather than to documents, so the preparation that matters is different from the preparation that goes into relationship evidence for the Department.

The possible outcomes

The Tribunal can:

• affirm the decision, leaving the refusal standing;
• vary the decision;
• set aside the decision and substitute a new one; or
• set aside the decision and remit the application to the Department for reconsideration, with an order that the applicant is taken to satisfy a specified criterion.

Remittal is the outcome most partner visa applicants are aiming at: the Tribunal resolves the criterion in dispute, and the Department then completes health, character and the remaining checks and decides again. The regulations also deal with the case where a subclass 820 visa ceased on refusal of the permanent visa — after a remittal, the permanent visa can still be granted despite the person no longer holding the 820.

Your status while review is on foot

A bridging visa held in association with the application generally continues while a review lodged in time is on foot. A Bridging visa A granted with a substantive visa application permits the holder to remain until 35 days after the Tribunal makes its decision, unless the matter is remitted, in which case it runs through the reconsideration. Work rights and travel rights depend on the bridging visa you hold, not on the review itself.

After an unsuccessful review

If the Tribunal affirms the refusal, merits review is over. What remains is:

• judicial review in the courts. An application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) must be made within 35 days of the date of the migration decision, and the court may extend that period only if satisfied it is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice. The court cannot substitute a better decision; it can only decide whether the Tribunal made a legal error, and send the matter back if it did;
• ministerial intervention, a personal and non-compellable power of the Minister to substitute a more favourable decision where it is in the public interest;
• in some cases, reapplying after a refusal, if you are not barred from making a further application onshore.

Why representation matters most at this stage

More than at any other point in a partner visa, this is where professional help changes results. The deadline is unextendable, the case has to be rebuilt around the specific criterion the Department was not satisfied of, the hearing is adversarial in feel even though the Tribunal is not, and the sponsor has to be prepared to give evidence. Reviews run by an immigration lawyer are more likely to succeed. No one can promise an outcome, and anyone who does should not be retained.

What to do next: confirm the deadline on your letter today, then read why 820 visas are refused to identify the exact ground you have to answer, and working with a migration lawyer if you intend to be represented.

Keep reading

ART Deadlines and Fees for Partner Visa Reviews

The time limit for applying to the ART after a partner visa refusal, how notification is counted, the review fee, the hardship reduction and the refunds.

Read the guide →

Ministerial Intervention After a Partner Visa Refusal

How ministerial intervention works after a partner visa refusal is affirmed by the ART: section 351, why the power is personal, non-compellable and rarely used.

Read the guide →

Reapplying After an 820 Refusal

Whether you can lodge a second 820 after a refusal, how the section 48 bar works, what a PIC 4020 refusal blocks, and when the offshore 309 is the better path.

Read the guide →