Can a student visa refusal be reviewed?

If you have received a student visa refusal notice and are wondering whether you can apply for review then this blog is for you. This blog will take you through the important aspects of determining whether you can review your student visa refusal notice. This blog will discuss:

• Finding the reason for your visa refusal
• Genuine Student test and student visa refusal
• How to verify that you have review rights on your refusal notice?
• How do you review your student visa refusal notice?
• Is there a deadline to review your refusal notice?
• What if you can’t review the decision? What are your alternatives?

There can be many reasons for your Student visa refusal. Student visas usually get refused due to not fulfilling the Genuine Student Criteria. If you want to know the exact reasons for your visa refusal specifically, you can get your notice and check for the reasons. Your visa refusal notice will have a section for “Decision Record”, where the case officer who assessed your visa application has laid down the reasons for the refusal. Below is an example of a "Decision Record" in a visa refusal notice made by the case officer of an applicant.

The Genuine Student Test is used to assess whether a student visa applicant genuinely intends to study in Australia and comply with the conditions of their visa. According to this test the applicants who apply for student visas have to demonstrate that the course that they are undertaking is related to their previous qualifications and has future value. If you fail this test, you will very likely recieve a refusal notice for your student visa application.

There are certain criterias under this test that the department looks into when assessing your student visa application, they are:

• Circumstances in their home country- the department will assess whether the applicant has reasonable reasons for not studying in their home country and the nature of the applicant’s personal ties to their home country.
• Potential circumstances in Australia- The department will assess the study and living arrangements of the applicant and the knowledge of living in Australia. The department will also look into the course and the course provider
• Value of the course to the applicant’s future- The department will look into the course’s consistency with the applicant’s past employment and their current education level. They will also look into employment prospects in the applicant’s home country or another country.

Generally visa applications that are made onshore are eligible for a review. However, its important that you check whether you are eligible to review the decision of the department. You can check this by refering to your refusal notice, where there will be a section called “Review Rights”. This will mention whether you can appeal the decision or not and the time duration within which you can apply for a review.

If you want to review your visa refusal notice, then your review application has to be made to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).

Step 1: Make an application to the ART.

You can either make an online application or a paper application. Online application applications are more preferred and much easier.

Online application- you can either create an account in the ART portal and make an application or make one without an account.

Paper applications: you will have to download the relevant documents and then fill them

Email- You can also apply for an appeal by sending an email to reviews@art.gov.au 

Visit- You can also visit the Tribunal office to make an application

Step 2: Pay the Fee

The application fee for appealing a decision related to migration matters from the Department of Home Affairs is usually $3,580.This fee must be paid before the appeal deadline stated in your refusal notice.

Step 3: Date is set

Once you submit the application and pay the fee, you will receive an email or a letter detailing what happens next including a date and time for your hearing.

Step 4: Hearing

You will have to attend the hearing, whether its online or by visiting the Tribunal. You can arrange a registered migration agent or a lawyer to represent you. Or you can also represent yourself. 

However, following the recent amendments on 5 February 2026, most reviews relating to temporary visas, including Student Visas, are now generally determined on the papers without a hearing.

Step 4: Decision

The tribunal will decide on the matter after the hearing or the written submission to the tribunal. The tribunal has the power to:

• Affirm the orginal decision of the Department of Home Affairs
• Alter the decision by the Department of Home Affairs
• Set aside the decision by the Department of Home Affairs and substiture a new decision
• Send the decision back to the Department of Home affairs for reconsideration.

If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Tribunal you can appeal to a court. Usually to the Federal Circuit Court.

There is a dealine to review the decision of the Department of Home Affairs. Your refusal visa will say how many days you have to review the refusal decision. Generally appellants have 28 days form the date that they recieved the refusal notice.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

If you miss the deadline to review the decision of the Department then you will lose the right to review. The Administrative Review Tribunal is very strict on the deadlines.

If you are on a substantive visa, then you can stay in Australia until the visa expires. And if you are on a Bridging visa and miss the deadline, your bridging visa will expire in 35 days from the date of the refusal notice.

So once the visa is expired, you will have to leave Australia.

You dont have many options if you can’t review the decision. You are going to attract a Section 48 bar that will limit you from applying to many other visas.

However, if your Bridging visa A is still active, then you can lodge a Bridging Visa B for getting travel rights and then travel offshore and lodge a new visa. Offshore applicants do not fall in the ambit of the Section 48 bar. So applicants can go offshore and apply for the releavant visas.