Partner Visa Refused? The 28-Day ART Deadline Explained (2026)

If a subclass 820 or 309 partner visa is refused, there's a strict deadline to seek a review at the Administrative Review Tribunal. This covers when that clock actually starts, what evidence matters most on review, and when a fresh application makes more sense. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 Partner visa refused?
  2. 0:13 The clock starts
  3. 0:24 Miss the deadline,
  4. 0:37 Three refusal categories —
  5. 0:50 Four areas weighed:
  6. 1:04 Bridging visa A:
  7. 1:16 ART fee: $3,727 —
  8. 1:30 Sometimes a fresh application
  9. 1:42 Schedule 3 criteria
  10. 1:58 The Department's file
  11. 2:08 The one mistake

Transcript

If your partner visa was refused, the deadline to ask for a review is 28 days from when you're notified — 14 days if you're in immigration detention.

That clock doesn't start on the date printed on the letter. Under section 494C, an email or ImmiAccount decision counts as received at the end of the day it's sent.

Section 347(5) removes the Tribunal's power to extend that deadline. Miss the 28 days — or 14 in detention — and your right to review ends permanently.

Refusals fall into three categories: insufficient relationship evidence, genuineness concerns, and other criteria like Schedule 3 or sponsor issues. Your refusal letter names which one applies.

On evidence-based refusals, the review weighs four areas: financial, social, household, and commitment. New evidence, not in your original application, can be added at this stage.

If you're on the bridging visa A from your application, it generally ends 35 days after refusal — but a valid ART application keeps it running until 35 days after the Tribunal decides.

The ART application fee is $3,727 from 1 July 2026. Half is refunded if the review succeeds, and the Principal Registrar can halve it for financial hardship.

Sometimes a fresh application beats an ART review — for example, if the refusal was a fixable procedural error, or your circumstances have genuinely changed since you lodged.

Onshore applicants who lodged without a substantive visa may need to meet Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004 — under clause 820.211(2)(d) — unless compelling reasons excuse it.

Section 352 requires the Department to give the Tribunal a statement and the documents behind its decision — your new evidence is added to that same material.

The single most permanent mistake is missing the 28-day window — the Tribunal has no power to extend it, no matter how strong your case is.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.

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