A Carer visa appeal goes to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which must receive the application within 28 days after you are notified of the refusal, with a fee of A$3,727 (section 347(3) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and the ART's immigration page). The carer applies for an 836 refusal and must be in Australia to do it; for a 116 refusal the Australian sponsor applies (s 347A).
Can you appeal a Carer visa refusal?
You can appeal a Carer visa refusal to the ART, because both an 836 refusal and a sponsored 116 refusal are "reviewable migration decisions" under section 338 of the Migration Act.
Section 338(2) covers a visa that can be granted in Australia and was applied for in Australia, which is the 836. Section 338(5) covers a visa that cannot be granted in Australia where the applicant was sponsored by an Australian citizen, a permanent resident or a New Zealand citizen holding a special category visa, which is the 116. The refusal letter must say that the decision can be reviewed, the time limit, who can apply and where (s 66(2)(d)).
Two exceptions apply. A decision covered by a conclusive certificate is not reviewable (s 339), and a character refusal under section 501 goes to the ART under section 500 instead, within 9 days for a person in the migration zone (s 500(6B)). The ART replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024.
Who applies to the ART: the carer or the sponsor?
For an 836 refusal the carer applies to the ART, and for a 116 refusal the sponsor applies, because section 347A gives the review right to different people.
| Subclass | Review right | Who lodges | Where they must be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 836 (in Australia) | s 338(2) | The refused applicant (s 347A(1)(a)) | Physically in the migration zone when applying (s 347A(2)) |
| 116 (outside Australia) | s 338(5) | The sponsor (s 347A(1)(b)) | No location rule in s 347A |
Family members who applied together combine their reviews and pay one fee (regs 4.12 and 4.13(3) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth)).
How long do you have to appeal a Carer visa refusal?
You have 28 days after the day you are notified of the refusal to appeal a Carer visa refusal, or 14 days if you are in immigration detention, and the ART cannot extend it (s 347(3) and (5)).
The day you are notified depends on how the letter was sent (s 494C). An email counts at the end of the day it was sent, a letter posted within Australia 7 working days after its date, and any other posted letter 21 days after its date. The ART's page says to check the decision letter for the time limit, and that it has "no power to extend the time limit". Pages written before 2025 often quote other periods.
How much is the ART fee for a Carer visa appeal?
The ART fee for a Carer visa appeal is A$3,727 for most migration reviews where the fee is paid on or after 1 July 2026, according to the ART's fee increase notice.
- The base. Regulation 4.13(1) sets a base of A$3,496, increased by the consumer price index each 1 July (regs 4.13A and 4.13B), so the next change is 1 July 2027.
- Hardship. If the ART Principal Registrar finds, on your income, expenses, liabilities and assets, that the fee would cause financial hardship, the fee is 50% of the full amount (reg 4.13(4)).
- Combined reviews. Family members' combined applications pay one fee (reg 4.13(3)).
- Refunds. Under regulation 4.14, half the fee is refunded if the refusal is set aside, varied or remitted, all of it if the decision was not reviewable, and all of it on withdrawal after the death of the visa applicant, a member of their family unit or the review applicant.
Should you get your Carer visa file under FOI first?
You should get your Carer visa file under FOI first only if it will arrive inside the 28 days, so the safe order is to lodge the appeal and then ask for the file.
- Lodge the appeal. The 28-day limit does not wait for any file request.
- Ask for the review file. Once the ART application is pending, the Department's client merits review file request gives "a copy of the information that the Department of Home Affairs gives to the ART", including the decision record, the application form and supporting documents. People listed in the application and the sponsor are eligible, the request needs the Tribunal Reference Number and identity evidence, and requests with a hearing date are prioritised. It leaves out information protected under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
- Use Form 424A for anything else. Form 424A asks for documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) or personal information under the Privacy Act. Name the documents, state that the request is made under the FOI Act, attach certified photo identification, and send it to foi@homeaffairs.gov.au or to the Freedom of Information Section, Department of Home Affairs, GPO Box 241, Melbourne VIC 3001. There is no charge to access your own documents.
- Get consent for other people's information. The carer assessment certificate is the relative's medical information, and the sponsor's documents are the sponsor's, so Part D of Form 424A carries their written consent and identification.
- Note the clock. Under section 15(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) the Department must acknowledge the request within 14 days and decide it within 30 days. That can be extended by 30 days for consultation (s 15(6)), by up to 30 days with your written agreement (s 15AA), or by the Information Commissioner (s 15AB). No decision in time counts as a refusal (s 15AC). If you disagree with a decision, you have 30 days to seek internal review (s 54B) or 60 days to ask the Information Commissioner to review it (s 54S).
The file matters most when adverse information was used against the application. If a section 57 natural justice letter came before the refusal, the file shows the information that letter relied on.
What can the Tribunal decide on a Carer visa?
The Tribunal can make three kinds of decision on a Carer visa refusal: affirm it, set it aside and substitute a new decision, or set it aside and send the application back to the Department with directions.
- Affirm. The refusal stands (section 105(a) of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (Cth)).
- Vary, or set aside and substitute. The Tribunal makes the decision itself (s 105(b) and (c)(i)).
- Remit. Under section 349(2) of the Migration Act and regulation 4.15, the Tribunal sends the application back to the Department with orders, for example that the applicant is taken to meet a specified criterion. The ART Act's general power to remit does not apply to migration decisions (s 349(1)).
A remitted Carer application goes back to the Department, where the yearly cap on Other Family visas still limits when it can be granted (s 86).
What can't the Tribunal re-decide?
The Tribunal cannot re-decide the medical questions in the carer assessment certificate or the Medical Officer's health opinion, because the Regulations make each opinion binding on the decision-maker and the Tribunal exercises the decision-maker's powers.
Regulation 1.15AA(3) makes the certificate's opinion correct on the medical condition, the impairment, the rating and the 2-year need. Regulation 2.25A(3) does the same for the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth on the health requirement. Section 54 of the ART Act gives the Tribunal "all the powers and discretions" of the original decision-maker. This guide reads those provisions together as binding the Tribunal too.
What goes into the certificate starts with the relative's Statement of Assistance and the treating doctor's report, so the evidence that shapes the rating is gathered before the assessment, not at the Tribunal. A disputed rating is challenged through the specified provider's review of its own opinion (reg 1.15AA(2)(b)).
The Tribunal still re-decides everything else: whether care is reasonably available from other relatives or services, whether the carer is a relative who is willing and able to give the care, and the sponsor criteria.
Who can represent you at the Tribunal?
Four kinds of people can represent you at the Tribunal, according to the ART's immigration page.
- A registered migration agent.
- An Australian lawyer who holds a practising certificate.
- A close family member: your spouse, child, parent, brother or sister.
- The person sponsoring you.
You can also represent yourself. Only a registered migration agent or a lawyer with a practising certificate can ask you to pay a fee for representing you.
How long does a Carer visa appeal take?
A Carer visa appeal has no fixed length, because the ART publishes no time standard for migration reviews, but an 836 carer's Bridging visa A lasts until 35 days after the Tribunal decides (cl 010.511(1)(b)(iii)).
The ART publishes lodgement and finalisation figures by migration subclass on its statistics page. It expedites a review where you can now show, with documents, that you meet the criterion that failed, or where the case is urgent for exceptional reasons. One of its examples is where "a long delay in the review process would result in the review applicant no longer being eligible for the visa applied for". For a Carer visa, that describes a relative whose need could change while the review waits.
Medicare enrolment based on the application can continue while an appeal is on foot, according to Services Australia.
What if the Tribunal affirms the refusal?
If the Tribunal affirms the refusal, the family has 35 days from the date of the Tribunal's decision to seek judicial review for legal error in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), and can also ask the Minister to intervene (Migration Act ss 476 and 477).
What the court can and cannot do
The court looks only for a "jurisdictional error", meaning a decision not made according to law, such as one that did not follow the required procedure or applied the law wrongly, according to the court's migration review brochure. If it finds one, it sends the case back to the Tribunal and stops the Minister acting on the decision. It cannot reconsider the facts, take in new facts except on the question of error, or grant a visa. A disagreement with how the Tribunal weighed the care evidence is a merits point, not a legal error. The person who applies is the applicant in the ART review (s 478), so the 836 carer or the 116 sponsor.
The 35 days
The 35 days run from the date of the Tribunal's decision, which is when its written statement is made or when the decision is given orally, not when you read it (ss 368(6)–(7) and 477(3)). The court can extend the period if a written application shows the extension is "necessary in the interests of the administration of justice" (s 477(2)), and no appeal lies to the Federal Court from an order on the extension (s 476A(3)(a)).
Court fees and costs
From 1 July 2026, filing a migration application costs A$4,180, or A$2,090 on a reduced fee, and setting the case down for hearing costs A$1,035 for an individual, according to the court's migration fees page. Concession-card holders and people in financial hardship can seek an exemption. "Generally the unsuccessful party has to pay the legal costs of the successful party", and the court's migration costs page sets the Minister's usual costs at A$1,821.21 if a case ends at or before the first court date, A$4,553.02 after that or at an interlocutory hearing, and A$9,097.93 at a final hearing, including GST.
| Compared | ART review | Judicial review |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Is the refusal right on the merits? | Was the decision made according to law? |
| New facts | Yes | Only on the question of legal error |
| Time limit | 28 days, not extendable | 35 days, extendable |
| Fee | A$3,727 | A$4,180 plus A$1,035 to set down |
| Costs risk | None | The Minister's costs if you lose |
Staying in Australia during the court case
An 836 carer who held a Bridging visa A and files for judicial review within time can be granted a new Bridging visa A, which lasts until 28 days after the court proceedings end (cl 010.211(3) and 010.513).
Asking the Minister
A request for ministerial intervention after the Tribunal is the other route once the ART has decided. It is not referred while a matter a court has sent back is still being decided.
Who should prepare a Carer visa appeal?
A Carer visa appeal can be prepared by the carer or the sponsor alone, but only a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner may charge for preparing it, because sections 280 and 281 of the Migration Act restrict paid help.
The Act lets a close family member or the sponsor help without being registered (s 280(5A) and (5C)). The rules on who may give immigration assistance, and what to check before paying anyone, are in the guide to agents and lawyers. The refusal grounds behind the appeal, and the order of every remaining option, are on the page on common grounds and your next step. The rest of the guide is at Carer Visa Australia.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner makes a successful Carer visa appeal more likely, because the review must be lodged by the right person within 28 days and the Tribunal cannot re-score the carer assessment certificate. They focus the case on what the Tribunal can re-decide, such as whether care is reasonably available, and they know the 35-day court deadline that follows if the Tribunal affirms the refusal.
Ask about your caseRead next
Carer visa refusal: why Carer visas are refused and what comes nextEach refusal names a failed criterion, and the ART clock starts at notification.
Ministerial intervention after the Tribunal: requests for a Carer visaOne referral criterion is written for carers, and it starts at 30.
Section 57 natural justice letters: what one means for your Carer visaThe letter lists adverse information and gives a fixed date to answer.
Carer visa medical assessment: how the carer assessment works, step by stepSeven steps turn a doctor's report into the certificate the visa depends on.