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What are your review options if your protection visa application
gets rejected?
• If your application for protection is rejected by DIMA,
you have the right to appeal for
full merits review at the Refugee
Review Tribunal (RRT).
• If you are not in immigration detention you have 28 days
from the date of notification to lodge an application for review
to the RRT. If you are in Australia and DIMA sends you the letter
that tells you of their decision by post you are taken to have received
the letter 7 working days after the date on the letter.
• If you are in detention you have 7 working days
from the date of the DIMA letter
that tells you of their decision to lodge an application for review
to the RRT.
• The RRT cannot extend this time. If you lodge your application
for review later than the
prescribed time, your application is invalid and RRT cannot look
into the matter. If RRT finds
that you are not a refugee, you will have to pay $1400 to the Australian
government.
• If you do not lodge an application for review or obtain
a further bridging
visa you could be taken into detention and deported after 28
days from the date of the DIMA letter that tells you of their decision.
• You can obtain
the RRT Application forms here in PDF form. You will need the
Adobe Reader, version 4 or later, on your computer.
For help with using PDF click here.
Remember that these forms can be lodged in person, by mail or by
fax only. The Tribunal
does not accept any forms submitted by email.
• You may supply other documents to support your application
for review. Any documents
that are not in English should be translated into English by a qualified
translator. You should
send both the original documents and the translations.
• If you live in NSW, Queensland, Northern Territory or ACT,
you should send or give your
application to the Sydney
office of the Tribunal. If you live elsewhere in Australia, you
should provide your application to the Melbourne
office of the Tribunal.
• RRT will send you a letter confirming that they received
your application. It is your
responsibility to make sure RRT received your application on time.
What happens at RRT?
• The Tribunal will ask the Department of Immigration to
send them its file.
• Usually, the RRT will invite you to a Hearing. The invitation
will be sent to you in writing,
telling you of the date and place of the Hearing. A form will come
with the letter asking
if you want to bring any witnesses or your advisor to the Hearing,
and if you need an
interpreter. You have to fill in this form and send it back to the
RRT.
• Sometimes, the RRT Member may invite you to comment on written
material, if the applicant
does not comment on these, the RRT may make a decision to refuse
you, on the basis of
‘the papers’, that is the written evidence they have
about your case.
• If you are invited to attend a Hearing, and you don’t
go, the RRT is very likely to reject
your application.
• The Hearing is informal, but you will be sworn in, and you
have to stand up when the
Tribunal Member enters the room.
• The Tribunal Member will ask you questions about your claims
and give you an opportunity
to respond to any material against your claims.
To learn more about the RRT Hearing and what happens during it,
you can read the RRT
“What is a Hearing” pamphlet in PDF form. You will
need the Adobe Reader, version 4
or later, on your computer. For help with using PDF click here.
• If you are found to fit the UN Convention definition, your
file will be returned to
DIMA to process the application.
• If RRT does not find that you fit the Convention definition,
and it confirms the
DIMA decision, you will have to
o Pay a fee of $1400. People granted a protection visa
as a result of an RRT
decision and people on whose behalf the Minister
intervenes in the public
interest do not have to pay the fee.
o Leave Australia within 28 days from the date of the RRT decision.
If you stay longer than 28 days, you may be removed from Australia.
Do I have other review options
if the RRT rejects my application?
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