Deportation and Removal from Australia

Under the Migration Act 1958, a person whose visa is cancelled on character grounds by a delegate of the Minister has 9 days after being notified to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, with no power to extend, and a person whose visa is cancelled while serving a prison sentence has 28 days after being given the notice to ask for the cancellation to be revoked.

Checked on 22 October 2026 against the Migration Act 1958 (compilation 172, 8 October 2026), the Migration Regulations 1994 (compilation 289, 2 October 2026), Ministerial Direction no. 110, and the Administrative Review Tribunal's and the Department of Home Affairs' own pages. The notice you were given should state the time limit that applies to you. If it says something different from this page, follow the notice and get advice.

Do this today

1. Find the notice. Note the section of the Migration Act it uses (for example 501, 501(3A), 116 or 109), its date, and how it reached you. The Act treats a notice handed to you as received that day, a notice posted to an address in Australia as received 7 working days after its date, and an email as received at the end of the day it was sent (section 494C).
2. Work out your deadline from the table below, counting from that date, and write it down.
3. Get advice now, not near the deadline. The free services, their numbers and their hours are listed below. In Victoria, if you are in prison, ask the prison officers to book you in with Victoria Legal Aid's prison advice service.
4. Keep everything: the notice, the documents that came with it, the envelope or email, your passport, your visa grant notices, and evidence of your family, work, health, rehabilitation and ties to Australia. An application to the Tribunal about a character decision must include the notice and the set of documents you were given (section 500(6C)).
5. Write in English. A request for revocation must be in writing, in English or with an accurate English translation (regulation 2.52(3)).

The routes out of Australia, and the time to act

Character decisions (the Tribunal's own decision on a character review, or a decision the Minister made personally) go to the Federal Court. Most other migration decisions go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court. Both have a 35-day limit from the date of the decision (sections 477 and 477A); the Federal Circuit and Family Court can extend it only if that is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice. A court generally decides whether the decision was made lawfully; it does not decide the case again on its facts.

The character test

Most removals that follow a criminal conviction run through section 501 of the Migration Act. A person does not pass the character test if, among other things (section 501(6)):

• they have a substantial criminal record: a sentence of death or life imprisonment, a prison term of 12 months or more, or two or more prison terms adding up to 12 months or more (section 501(7)). Concurrent terms are counted in full: two 3-month terms served at the same time count as 6 months (section 501(7A)). Time in a court-ordered residential drug rehabilitation or mental health program counts as imprisonment (section 501(9));
• a court has convicted them of, or found them guilty of, a sexually based offence involving a child, even if they were discharged without a conviction;
• the Minister reasonably suspects they are a member of, or associated with, a group, organisation or person involved in criminal conduct;
• they are not of good character, having regard to their past and present criminal or general conduct;
• there is a risk they would engage in criminal conduct, harass, molest, intimidate or stalk someone, vilify a part of the community, incite discord, or be a danger to the Australian community;
• since 22 January 2026, they have been involved in conduct amounting to a hate crime (whether or not anyone was convicted), are a member of or associated with a terrorist organisation, a state sponsor of terrorism or a prohibited hate group, or have made public statements of superiority over, or hatred of, other people because of their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin (section 501(6A));
• other grounds include offences committed in immigration detention, people smuggling, trafficking and war crimes, an adverse security assessment, and an Interpol notice.

Failing the test does not mean a visa must be cancelled, except in the mandatory case. Decision-makers must follow Ministerial Direction no. 110, in force since 21 June 2024 (section 499(2A)). Its five primary considerations are: the protection of the Australian community from criminal or other serious conduct; whether the conduct was family violence; the strength, nature and duration of the person's ties to Australia; the best interests of minor children in Australia; and the expectations of the Australian community. Protection of the community is generally given greater weight than the others. Other considerations include the legal consequences of the decision, the impediments the person would face if removed, and any impact on Australian business interests.

Detention, removal and deportation

• Detention: an officer who knows or reasonably suspects that a person in Australia is an unlawful non-citizen must detain them (section 189).
• Removal: an officer must remove an unlawful non-citizen as soon as reasonably practicable once they have no valid application for a substantive visa, or once it has been finally determined (section 198). Victoria Legal Aid warns that a person who misses the revocation deadline after a mandatory cancellation can be removed once they finish their prison sentence.
• Ministerial intervention: the Minister can, personally and in the public interest, substitute a more favourable decision for the Tribunal's (section 351) or grant a visa to a person in immigration detention (section 195A), but has no duty to consider doing so. Removal is paused for up to 6 months only if the Minister decides to consider a request (section 197E).
• Deportation: the Minister may order the deportation of a non-citizen convicted in Australia of an offence for which they were sentenced to a year or more, if they had been a permanent resident for less than 10 years in total when they committed it (sections 200 and 201). A deportation order is carried out unless the Minister revokes it (section 206).

The Administrative Review Tribunal

The Administrative Review Tribunal replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024. It reviews a delegate's character decision, a delegate's refusal to revoke a mandatory cancellation, and most other visa cancellations. It cannot review a mandatory cancellation itself, or any decision the Minister made personally.

• 84 days. On a character review, if the Tribunal has not decided within 84 days of the day you were notified of the decision, it is taken to have affirmed it (section 500(6L)).
• Evidence in writing, 2 business days before the hearing. On a character review, the Tribunal cannot consider information given orally, or a document, unless a written statement or a copy was given to the Minister at least 2 business days before the hearing (section 500(6H) and (6J)).
• The reduced fee is available if, for example, you have legal aid, hold a Commonwealth Health Care Card, pensioner concession card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, are under 18, are in prison or detention, or receive certain study payments, or if the full fee would cause you financial hardship. A character review may be dismissed if the fee is not paid within 6 weeks of applying.
• Contact: the Tribunal on 1800 228 333 or reviews@art.gov.au. Interpreters are free; the Translating and Interpreting Service is on 131 450.

Permanent residents, citizens and coming back

• Permanent residents can have their visa cancelled on character grounds, including by mandatory cancellation. The general cancellation power in section 116 cannot be used against a permanent resident who is in Australia and was immigration cleared when they last entered (section 117(2)), but that limit does not apply to the character power.
• Citizens: the detention, removal and deportation powers are written for non-citizens.
• No new visa from inside Australia after a section 501 decision that has not been set aside or revoked, except a protection visa or a visa the regulations allow (section 501E).
• Coming back. A person whose visa was cancelled under section 501 and not revoked, or who left while subject to a deportation order, fails a special return criterion in the Migration Regulations (criterion 5001) unless the Minister later personally grants them a permanent visa. A person removed as an unlawful non-citizen generally must wait 12 months after removal (criterion 5002). Some other cancellations, and leaving as an unlawful non-citizen or on a Bridging C, D or E visa, carry a 3-year wait (criteria 4013 and 4014). Some of these waits can be shortened in compelling or compassionate circumstances.

Free help, and the numbers to call

Numbers and hours checked against each service's own website on 22 October 2026. In other states and territories, contact the legal aid commission in your state.

How Go To Court Lawyers can help

Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and cannot assess a migration decision or work out the deadline on your notice. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. Your request goes to lawyers in our network who practise in your area of law, and the first to accept it contacts you to set a time. The lawyer can read your notice, confirm your deadline, and advise on a revocation request, a Tribunal review or a court challenge. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available, so if your deadline is only days away, also contact one of the free services above. Request a $295 consultation.

General information only, not legal advice. Updated 22 October 2026. Checked against the Migration Act 1958 (compilation 172, 8 October 2026: sections 109, 116, 117, 119, 189, 195A, 197E, 198, 200, 201, 206, 338, 347, 351, 476 to 477A, 494C, 499 and 500 to 501G), the Migration Regulations 1994 (compilation 289, 2 October 2026: regulations 2.44 and 2.52, and Schedules 4 and 5), Ministerial Direction no. 110, the Administrative Review Tribunal's immigration and fees pages, the Department of Home Affairs' character and telephone pages, and the services named above, on 22 October 2026.