Since the start of the 2021-22 financial year, processing times for the mainstream visa subclasses everyone’s been watching closely — 189/190/491 — have slowed. This could be linked to the start of the new financial year, or to several major cities moving into lockdown one after another, both of which have affected case scheduling.
However, one area of processing closely tied to visa decisions has sped up noticeably, and that isAAT appeal review!
The AAT is relevant to every visa subclass,its full name is the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. One of the areas it handles involves cases of visa refusal or cancellation.
Refusal —
if a visa applied for onshore is refused, you need to lodge an appeal with the AAT within 21 days of receiving the refusal letter (if you don’tappeal, you’ll need to leave within 35 days).
Cancellation —
but if your visa has been cancelled, the Department generally only gives you 5 or 7 days to lodge an appeal.
There are mainlythree stages: the AAT application stage → hearing preparation stage → hearing stage. While this opportunity exists, however,the difficulty of successfully overturning a decision increases sharply compared to the original visa application, and the three stages are closely interlinked — we strongly recommend engaging an experienced professional right from the start.
189 visa suspected of fraudulent documents + 3-year bar
successful turnaround
We recently had a classic Subclass 189 skilled migration turnaround case!
A common Subclass 189 application including a spouse,but because the applicant prepared the documents independently and they weren’t thorough enough, a phone interview followed, and due to nerves during the call the applicant didn’t answer well, leading the Department to doubt the genuineness of the relationship,at the same time as the refusal,a 4020 3-year restriction was also imposed. After the
refusal, they quickly turned to NewStars for help, andwe prepared close to 30 documents plus a 7-page submission throughout the preparatory stage, and with such thorough documentation the hearing itself lasted less than half an hour,the Member announced our win on the spot! After nearly two and a half years, this PR finally came through — better late than never.
Nearly 100 documents prepared
186 nomination turnaround
a Subclass 186 AAT nomination turnaround with nearly 100 documents prepared,and one that qualified for the high-income IELTS exemption,the Member directly set aside the Department’s original decision, securing a win, and remitted the visa back to the Department!
Complex visa history — partner migration refused
after the turnaround, the Subclass 820 and 801 PR were both granted together
Insufficient partner-relationship documentation is one of the common reasons for visa refusal, and recently we also rescued a complex partner migration refusal. The applicant initially lodged a skilled migration application together with their sponsor, then later switched to partner migration for personal reasons,but because of a fairly complicated past visa history and documentation that wasn’t well targeted, the application was refused.
After reviewing the overall situation, the applicant took our advice and appealed to the AAT.Complete documentation and explanations, combined with the timely birth of a child, successfully persuaded the AAT Member to overturn the decision.Given that this was a partner migration application originally lodged back in late 2017,we did everything we could to push the Department to grant the 801 PR at the same time. In the end, we helped the applicant achieve the outcome they had hoped for!
Refused repeatedly,
fought hard for a turnaround
Another partner migration AAT win — this visa was lodged after the previous one had already been refused, and it didn’t meet Schedule 3. With our help, a submission of more than 20 pages was written explaining why the requirements were in fact met, and through persistent argument the turnaround succeeded!
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Of course, if — like the applicants in the cases above —your relationship is genuine and solid, but a lack of preparation or an unclear understanding of the Department’s requirements led to a refusal,you can contact us to attempt a turnaround — there is a real chance of success!
Besides partner relationships,Subclass 485 and student visas —these two visa types, generally thought to besimple enough to apply for and DIY,are also a “hot spot” for refusals that end up seeking an appeal.We’ve already rescued quite a few of these.
Downgrading study level
Downgrading study level: after studying in Australia for many years, the applicant downgraded from a master’s to apply for a diploma course and was refused. After careful preparation, the Member remitted the application back to the Department on the spot, ruling that the GTE requirement was met — an on-the-spot win!
Student visa turnaround
A student visa refused back in 2019 recently had its AAT appeal heard. With thorough documentation prepared, the Member opened by saying they had received our several hundred pages of supporting documents and materials, and found that we fully met the student visa GTE requirement — ruling in our favour on the spot and remitting the application back to the Department~
485 refused on the grounds that the GD didn’t meet the Australian study requirement
The Subclass 485 application was refused because the Department considered the Graduate Diploma (GD) course couldn’t be used to meet the Australian Study Requirement (ASR). After seeing the submission we’d prepared and hearing our arguments on the day, the Member came out in support of our position, found the requirement met, and remitted the matter back to the Department for reconsideration! This long-delayed 485 finally came through after almost 2 years of waiting.
485 refused over exempted subjects
A Subclass 485 application with a spouse and some subject exemptions was refused because the Department wouldn’t recognise the exempted subjects, finding the Australian Study Requirement (ASR) unmet. NewStars argued the case with carefully prepared submissions citing case law and judicial interpretation, and the AAT accepted our submission outright — remitting the decision back to the Department without even holding a hearing.
Important reminder
Finally, a reminder once again: while there is an opportunity to appeal after a visa refusal or cancellation, and we do have many successful appeal cases,this is a process that costs both time and money — even with the current speed-up, processing has only reached appeals lodged in 2019.
The chart below shows the migration application backlog as at the end of May 2021
the average processing wait time is around 2 years
So whatever visa you’re applying for, preparing thoroughly from the very start, not DIYing it lightly, and taking every stage seriously really matters! If you need help with your visa application, please get in touch!
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Past articles worth reading
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This occupation can apply for migration + sponsorship both onshore and offshore, with a travel exemption available!
A round-up of large-scale occupation invitations across Victoria/WA/Canberra! Parent migration Assurance of Support (AoS) has been raised.
Already past thirty by the time I came to Australia — starting from a refusal letter, I made my way step by step to PR.
Migration information-sharing and Q&A group
Step 1: Press and hold to add our customer service contact
Step 2: After adding, please
A common visa that seems simple but is actually full of “traps”!Click “Original Link”, a round-up of pitfalls to avoid — international students should save this!
