Understanding the Australian Visa System
The Australian visa system requires all non-citizens (foreign nationals) who wish to travel to Australia to have a valid visa. Anyone who is not an Australian citizen needs a visa that is in effect to lawfully enter or remain in Australia.
An unlawful non-citizen is anyone in Australia who is:
- Not a citizen; and
- Does not hold a visa that is in effect
By contrast, a lawful non-citizen is anyone in Australia who is:
- Not a citizen; but
- Holds a visa that is in effect
What is a visa?
A visa is permission to travel to, enter or remain in Australia. A visa will either be permanent or temporary. Since 2015, Australia no longer issues visa labels to holders of almost all Australian visas.
There are four broad categories of visas:
- Permanent visas
- Temporary visas (other than bridging visas)
- Bridging visas
- Protection, Refugee and Humanitarian visas
These categories are then broken down further into classes and subclasses.
See list of all Australian visas here.
Visa Eligibility and Visa Validity
‘Visa validity’ is a different concept to ‘visa eligibility’. You will need to satisfy the requirements of both validity and eligibility before being granted a visa.
Visa validity involves meeting the requirements to lodge a valid visa application. If an invalid application is made the Minister will have no legal power to consider the application.
Visa eligibility only becomes relevant after a valid visa application is accepted for consideration and involves satisfying the grant criteria for the particular subclass (for example Visitor visa, Subclass 600).
You must first lodge a valid application for a particular class of visa and then satisfy the eligibility criteria for the particular subclass your are applying for. Eligibility criteria may include the following:
- Additional criteria applicable to unlawful citizens;
- Public interest criteria and related provisions;
- Special return criteria (those who have previously been in Australia, who are offshore and wish to re-enter Australia);
- Evidentiary requirements for student visas;
- Point test for skilled migration visas;
- Business innovation and investment points test;
Withdrawing a Visa Application
You may withdraw a visa application by giving written notice to the Department. A withdrawn visa application is not a visa decision (i.e. grant or refusal). A withdrawn visa application will not therefore prejudice further application. On occasion, when it is clear that a visa application will be refused, a request to withdraw an application can have strategic benefits.
Note: each visa applicant musts given written notice of the withdrawal. A parent or guardian may withdraw on their child/ren’s behalf.
Review of a Visa Decision
If a visa application is refused, then a visa applicant (or perhaps the sponsor) may have a right to merits review (tribunal).
An invalid or withdrawn visa application is not a visa refusal, because effectively no decision by the Minister has been made, so there can be no merits review. For this reason a visa applicant will sometimes not withdraw a visa application they know will be refused to ensure they can access merits review.