I’ve heard many clients confessing that one of the scariest moments of their lives was finding out their visa or their employer’s nomination was refused/cancelled. The email titled ‘decision to refuse’ and ‘notice of intention to cancel’ have surly caused nightmares to many.
We always advise our clients, the best way to approach any refusal decision or cancellation notifications from the Department is to assess your position, understand your rights and options to then make an informed decision.
This might mean a twist or turn in addition to your original visa plan, but it is definitely not the end of the world.
The Department’s decision is final only at the Department level. Some refusal decisions might not even affect your chances of applying for another subsequent visa. There are many factors to consider when you receive an unfavourable decision form the Department.
Take these steps to ensure that you have the best chance of getting back on track.
1. Take Action fast, Get professional advise!
This is where you probably need to get some professional advise to ensure that you’ve covered your basis. Once the Department refuses or cancels a visa, there’s sometimes an opportunity to review the matter. The review will be made at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the case will be assess on its merits. This is the only chance for merit review, it is therefore important to make sure you use the opportunity well.
If there are options for you to apply for another visa, then it would be good to explore this earlier rather than later to avoid risks of regulation changes.
2. Ensure deadlines are followed
There are strict deadlines for review, re-application opr period of stay in Australia before you are affected by risk factor (which would bar you from applying for three years for certain visas). You could lose the option for review or application all together if you miss the deadline.
Please make sure you know what the timeframe is relevant to your situation.
3. What are the associated timeframes for processing
This would be important when planning out the whole scheme of things. The processing time will be relevant if you need to achieve an outcome by a certain date, otherwise not having the outcome expected from the review or re-application might prevent your next visa step from being fulfilled.
For a plan that works, it’s important to take this into consideration.
4. Have you considered your work rights throughout the process
Work rights are very important for most applicants. This will need to be considered and discussed with each person individually. At each stage of your visa or review process, your visa and associated condition/s might change, you might have different rights moving from substantive visa to a bridging visa A then to a bridging visa B or C.
5. Costs
Planning out your finances are important. You will sometimes need to have large sum of money for the lodgement of applications, otherwise it would not be considered valid. So make sure you understand what the costs are and when they are due and payable.
It would also be worthwhile to understand the cost benefit of each option to choose the most efficient way forward.
Definitely don’t ignore those Department letters, let us assist you with finding a better way forward.
Please talk to us to assist you with exploring all opportunities and potentials.
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