Limitations on Visa Applications In Australia
THE MIGRATION ACT provides that only valid visa applications can be considered and sets out the requirements for a valid application. The requirements list a number of circumstances which limit the applications that can be made in Australia. This information form provides details of those circumstances.
Visa Refused Or Cancelled
You may only apply for a limited number of visas if you do not hold a substantive visa (any visa other than a Bridging visa or a criminal justice visa), and:
• You were refused a visa, other than a Bridging visa, on or after 1 September 1994 and since last entering Australia; or
• You were refused an entry permit and became an illegal entrant before 1 September 1994 and have not subsequently left Australia; or
• You have a visa that was cancelled on or after 1 September 1994.
In This Circumstance, The Following Visas For Which You Can Apply Are:
– Special Eligibility (residence)
– Child (residence)
– Partner (temporary)1
– Partner (residence)1
– Protection (see next column)
– Medical treatment (visitor)2
– Territorial asylum (residence)
– Border (temporary)3
– Special category (temporary)4
– Bridging A
– Bridging B
– Bridging C
– Bridging D
– Bridging E
Note: While you can apply for a visa in these circumstances, you cannot be granted the visa unless you satisfy the relevant criteria set out in the Migration Regulations.
1 If, since last entering Australia, any visa you have had refused was a visa other than a Partner (residence) category visa.
2 If you have turned 50, and have been refused a residence visa application in Australia on health grounds (or are a member of the family unit of such a person).
3 The Border (temporary) visa can generally only be applied for by non- citizens in immigration clearance (that is, before leaving the airport or seaport on arrival in Australia).
4 This visa is for New Zealand citizens only.
Previous Protection Visa Refusal
If, since you last entered Australia, you have applied for a protection visa (or prior to 1 September 1994 refugee status and/or a related entry permit) and have been refused, you cannot make a further application for a protection visa while in Australia. An exception to this is where the Minister decides it is in the public interest to allow you to lodge a further application.
Non-Citizens In Immigration Detention
If you are in immigration detention, time limits apply for making applications for visas other than protection or Bridging visas. They are:
• within 2 working days of your having been told the consequences of your detention; or
• if you have told the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the department) in writing within those 2 days that you intend to apply for a visa, you may apply within the next 5 working days after those 2 working days.
Bridging visas:
You must tell the department’s detention review officer for the State or Territory in which you are detained, of the application. You will be able to make a valid application only for a Bridging visa E.
Note: Information on limitations on applications for non-citizens in immigration detention is also provided in a notice given to non-citizens who are taken into immigration detention.
Visa Refused Or Cancelled On Character Grounds
If you have had a visa refused or cancelled on character grounds since you last arrived in Australia, you will be prevented from making any further visa applications, except for a Protection visa.
Conditions Imposed On Australian Visas
The Migration Act allows for some visas to be granted with a condition that, despite anything else in the Act, ‘the holder of the visa will not, after entering Australia, be entitled to be granted a substantive visa (other than a Protection visa) while they remain in Australia’.
If, at any time since you last entered Australia, you held a visa subject to this condition, you cannot apply for any other visa other than a protection or Bridging visa. This restriction can be removed only if there are compassionate and compelling reasons.
Criminal justice entry visas
If you hold a Criminal Justice Entry visa, or have stayed in Australia after your Criminal Justice Entry visa was cancelled, you can only apply for a Protection visa.