Tribunal and court matters
If your visa has been refused or cancelled, Amity Lawyers can advocate on your behalf at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to contest the negative decision. We also have considerable experience and a high success rate in representing clients to achieve a successful outcome at the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) stage. Furthermore, in the case of an unsuccessful appeal, we can assist you at the Federal Circuit Court, Federal Court, or High Court of Australia.Our registered migration lawyers have the expertise and experience to represent you to the follow government entities:
Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and its Migration and Refugee Division, conducts independent merits review of visa refusal decisions made by the Department of Home Affairs in matters related to almost all types of migration visas; including character-related visa decisions, refugee visas or Australian citizenship refusals.
ATT review process varies from case to case as each case is different. A typical case review may follow these steps:
- You will receive an acknowledgement letter to confirm that the application has been received. The department will be informed of your application in order to gather all relevant documents about your case.
- The case is allocated to a Member.
- The Member will review all the documents provided by the DHA and support documents or evidence submitted by you to the AAT.
- You will be invited to attend a hearing. During the hearing, the member of the AAT has the power to:
- Affirm a decision: which means the initial decision from the Department of Home Affairs does not change and you will need to appeal the decision to court, apply for another visa or leave the country.
- Vary a decision: which means the AAT changed the initial decision in some way.
- Set aside a decision and substitute a new decision, or
- Remit a decision: which means you won the appealing process and the AAT will send your case back to the Department of Home Affairs with recommendations for them to take a new decision.
In most cases a decision will not be made at the end of the hearing and when the Member have had taken a decision, you and the department will receive a written statement of the final decision and its reasons.
Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and its Migration and Refugee Division, conducts independent merits review of visa refusal decisions made by the Department of Home Affairs in matters related to almost all types of migration visas; including character-related visa decisions, refugee visas or Australian citizenship refusals.
ATT review process varies from case to case as each case is different. A typical case review may follow these steps:
- You will receive an acknowledgement letter to confirm that the application has been received. The department will be informed of your application in order to gather all relevant documents about your case.
- The case is allocated to a Member.
- The Member will review all the documents provided by the DHA and support documents or evidence submitted by you to the AAT.
- You will be invited to attend a hearing. During the hearing, the member of the AAT has the power to:
- Affirm a decision: which means the initial decision from the Department of Home Affairs does not change and you will need to appeal the decision to court, apply for another visa or leave the country.
- Vary a decision: which means the AAT changed the initial decision in some way.
- Set aside a decision and substitute a new decision, or
- Remit a decision: which means you won the appealing process and the AAT will send your case back to the Department of Home Affairs with recommendations for them to take a new decision.
In most cases a decision will not be made at the end of the hearing and when the Member have had taken a decision, you and the department will receive a written statement of the final decision and its reasons.
Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA)
If you have done an application for a Temporary Protection Visas subclass 795 (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas subclass 790 (SHEV) under the Fast-Track visa program, and your visa has been refused by the Department of Home Affairs; The Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) has the power to review those decisions and decided whether or not the application should be granted or refused.
Generally, applicants will be referred automatically to the IAA but, in some circumstances fast track applicants are not entitled to a review of their decision by the IAA. The Department will advise fast track applicants whether the decision to refuse to grant a protection visa is excluded from review by the IAA.
If you receive a notification to appeal to IAA, you will have 21 days from the day you were notified to provide all the information related to your case; the IAA also will review all the documents you have submitted to the Department of Home Affairs in order to make a final decision. We strongly recommend to contact our specialist migration lawyers as soon you receive the IAA notification in order to prepare a successful application.
Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA)
If you have done an application for a Temporary Protection Visas subclass 795 (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas subclass 790 (SHEV) under the Fast-Track visa program, and your visa has been refused by the Department of Home Affairs; The Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) has the power to review those decisions and decided whether or not the application should be granted or refused.
Generally, applicants will be referred automatically to the IAA but, in some circumstances fast track applicants are not entitled to a review of their decision by the IAA. The Department will advise fast track applicants whether the decision to refuse to grant a protection visa is excluded from review by the IAA.
If you receive a notification to appeal to IAA, you will have 21 days from the day you were notified to provide all the information related to your case; the IAA also will review all the documents you have submitted to the Department of Home Affairs in order to make a final decision. We strongly recommend to contact our specialist migration lawyers as soon you receive the IAA notification in order to prepare a successful application.
Federal Circuit and Federal Circuit Court
If your appeal process to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and The Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) has received a negative decision; you might have the opportunity to appeal it to the Federal Circuit Court. In this instance, the Federal Circuit Court will assess the previous decisions taken from your application and appeal processes and determine is there has been a legal error while processing your case. Please be aware that the court cannot grant you a visa.
If you intend to apply for a judicial review, we highly recommend you to contact our migration lawyers to arrange a merit assessment with a Barrister in order to know your possibilities of success at the court and give you an expert legal support in every stage of your appeal process.
In limited circumstances a visa refusal could be appealed directly to the High Court of Australia; Depending of your circumstances we will let you know is you are required to apply for this appeal.
Federal Circuit and Federal Circuit Court
If your appeal process to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and The Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) has received a negative decision; you might have the opportunity to appeal it to the Federal Circuit Court. In this instance, the Federal Circuit Court will assess the previous decisions taken from your application and appeal processes and determine is there has been a legal error while processing your case. Please be aware that the court cannot grant you a visa.
If you intend to apply for a judicial review, we highly recommend you to contact our migration lawyers to arrange a merit assessment with a Barrister in order to know your possibilities of success at the court and give you an expert legal support in every stage of your appeal process.
In limited circumstances a visa refusal could be appealed directly to the High Court of Australia; Depending of your circumstances we will let you know is you are required to apply for this appeal.
Ministerial intervention
A ministerial intervention take effect when all the appeal instances have been exhausted and you comply with the guidelines needed to request this intervention. You might be able to make a request for ministerial intervention if you have received a decision by a merits review tribunal. This means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and, for review decisions made before 1 July 2015, the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal.
Your request will process only if:
- You hold a current bridging or other visa, or have applied for a Bridging visa C, Bridging visa D or Bridging visa E.
- You satisfy character grounds
- You comply with ministerial guidelines, which means you have Strong and compassionate circumstances that can have a significant impact in you, your family and your community if you left the country.
- Or unique and exceptional benefits to Australia, in terms of economic, scientific, cultural or other benefit that would result from you being permitted to remain in Australia.
Ministerial intervention
A ministerial intervention take effect when all the appeal instances have been exhausted and you comply with the guidelines needed to request this intervention. You might be able to make a request for ministerial intervention if you have received a decision by a merits review tribunal. This means the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and, for review decisions made before 1 July 2015, the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal.
Your request will process only if:
- You hold a current bridging or other visa, or have applied for a Bridging visa C, Bridging visa D or Bridging visa E.
- You satisfy character grounds
- You comply with ministerial guidelines, which means you have Strong and compassionate circumstances that can have a significant impact in you, your family and your community if you left the country.
- Or unique and exceptional benefits to Australia, in terms of economic, scientific, cultural or other benefit that would result from you being permitted to remain in Australia.
If you have any questions about court matters, Book a consultation with one of our experienced immigration lawyers to discuss about your personal options and processes.