Visa Cancellation

Your visa may be cancelled if:

• you were non-compliant with visa conditions
• you did not meet our character requirements
• you provided false information on your visa application
• If you are in Australia or immigration clearance we will usually notify you of our intention to consider cancelling your visa and give your the opportunity to put forward reasons why your visa should not be cancelled.

The Minister has the power to refuse or cancel your visa if you do not pass our character test.

The Minister may cancel your visa if you:

• have ever been sentenced to 12 months or more imprisonment (regardless of time actually served), or
• 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 why you think the decision to cancel your visa should be revoked. We will consider all the circumstances of your case before we respond.

In other cases where you appear to fail the character requirements, you will be given an opportunity to put forward reasons why your visa should not be cancelled before we cancel your visa.

Your visa might be cancelled if you are involved in paying for visa sponsorship.

We consider all circumstances before making a decision. This will include:

• if you initiated or were complicit in the paying for sponsorship
• your intent in coming forward (whistle-blower, actively providing us with information)

Your visa may not be cancelled if your payments were due to threats or exploitation (human trafficking or slavery). You should give us all relevant information if that is the case.

You will have a chance to put forward reasons why your visa should not be cancelled. You should include evidence showing:

• the strength of your ties to Australia
• your contribution to the Australian community

We may cancel your student visa if you are no longer enrolled in a registered course.

Your enrolment ends when you complete the course, even if this is earlier than the end date on your Confirmation of Enrolment.

What you must do after you complete your course depends on your enrolment arrangement.

If you complete the course for which your visa was granted, you will have 3 months to depart Australia or apply for another visa.

We may cancel your visa in these situations:

• you complete the course for which we granted your student visa and you do not leave Australia or apply for a new visa within 3 months.
• you have changed courses since we granted your student visa and your new Confirmation of Enrolment for your principal course has an earlier end date and you do not leave Australia or apply for a new visa within 28 days of completing the course.
• you are studying more than one course on your visa (course packaging) and you finish a course early and have a gap between courses of more than 2 months (except if this gap occurs between the end of an academic year and the beginning of a new academic year).

Before we cancel your student visa, we will consider your situation. This includes if:

• you legitimately finished the course early
• you have a good academic record
• it is reasonable to expect you to enrol in another course during the course gap
• We might also cancel your visa if you are non compliant with any other student visa conditions.

The Australian Ministry of home affairs has the power to cancel your visa if you are involved in importing materials which are illegal.

Objectionable goods includes:

• Involvement in criminal activities.
• Promotion of violence.
• Promoting drug misuse.
• Offending an adult.

• You can’t apply for a Protection visa again if, since you last entered Australia, you were refused a Protection visa.
• You can only make an application for another Protection visa if the Minister decides it is in the public interest to let you submit a further application.

• If you hold a temporary visa with more than 6 months validity, you may request visa cancellation of your visa. Requests must only be made by the visa holder or an approved guardian.
• Any requests to cancel visas that have less than 6 months validity will not process.
• When your visa has been cancelled or has expired.

• If we refuse or cancel your visa, you might be able to request a review of our decision. You cannot appeal a decision if it was made by the minister personally.
• The independent Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) is responsible for reviewing departmental decisions including visa cancellation decisions.
• To seek a review by the AAT, you must lodge your application by the date specified in your decision notification letter.
• For decisions that are to be reviewed by the AAT, the AAT cannot extend the time for making a valid review application. You must apply for review within the time period identified in the decision notification letter.