Visa Cancellations

Overview

Any type of visa (permanent or temporary) may be cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs for a number of reasons or you may write to the Department asking to cancel your visa. Any other third party cannot cancel your current visa. You may receive a warning letter from the Department advising you that your visa may be cancelled. This is known as Notice of Intention to consider cancellation (NOICC) and if you receive you may choose to respond. As this notice is already a serious warning it is best you seek legal advice upon first receiving this notice

Common visa cancellation scenarios

Cancellation due to the failure of the character test
Cancellation due to breaching visa conditions
Cancellation on reasonable suspicion that conditions of the visa are being breached
Cancellation due to pending criminal charges
Cancellation due to providing false or misleading information
Student visa holders not meeting the requirements of their course or not being enrolled full time

Character grounds

The Minister has the power to refuse or cancel your visa if you do not pass our character test. The character test is defined in section 501(6) of the Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act).
You will not pass the character test if you:

Have a ‘substantial criminal record’; or
Have an association with an individual, group or organisation which is suspected of being involved in criminal conduct; or
Are not of good character having regard to your past and present criminal or general conduct; or
Are at significant risk of engaging in future, unacceptable conduct.
A person has a substantial criminal record if he or she:
Sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 12 months or more;
Sentenced to a number of shorter periods of imprisonment (at the same time or at different times) that add up to 2 years or more; or
Found not guilty due to mental illness and detained.
Have been convicted of, had a charge proven for or have been found guilty of a sexually-based crime involving a child

You will have 28 days to make representations of why you think the decision to cancel your visa should be revoked.

What happens after visa cancellation

If your visa is cancelled and you are eligible to apply for another visa then you must do so immediately. You must also apply for a bridging visa, which allows you to lawfully remain in Australia until a final decision is made in respect of the pending visa you have applied for after your visa cancellation.

If you are able to lodge an immediate application to appeal a decision that has been made to cancel your visa, then in most cases you will be able to stay in Australia until such time as a decision is made in relation to your appeal application.

If your visa is cancelled you always have the option to depart Australia voluntarily. However, prior to making any decisions, you should seek immigration law advice about your appeal rights and whether you are able to exercise them. If so, your cancellation decisions may be set aside or the decision to cancel your visa may be revoked.

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