Visa Cancellation

Overview

A visa may be cancelled by the Australian Government for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are as follows:

• you (or a secondary visa holder) did not comply with a visa condition;
• you included bogus or fake or fraudulent documents in your application;
• you provided false or misleading information in your application;
• you have withdrawn from a course or not met course requirements;
• the visa grant was based on facts or circumstances that no longer exist;
• you ask for a visa to be cancelled by consensus;
• the visa grant contravened the law;
• you have become a risk to community public health, safety, or good order;
• you have been sentenced to a 12-month gaol term or are facing pending charges;
• you have been convicted of a sexual offense against a child.

Cancelling visas is at the discretion of the Department of Home Affairs.

A Visitor visa can also be cancelled on the spot at the airport if an immigration official thinks your intentions to visit Australia are not genuine or you have been caught bringing quarantine restricted materials into Australia.

We do not recommend you request cancellation of your visa because you have applied for another better visa. For example, we do not advise you to request that a Student visa is cancelled because you have applied for a Partner visa, because when a visa is cancelled all other visas are cancelled including your bridging visa.

If your visa is cancelled

If the Department cancels your visa, all other visas that you hold including bridging visas and the visas of other family members may be cancelled. Cancellation of your visa might also bar you from making further visa applications or prevent you from being granted certain visas to travel to, enter or stay in Australia.

• If you have had a visa refused or cancelled on character grounds since you last arrived in Australia the only visa you can apply for is a Protection visa.
• If you are removed from Australia on character grounds, you may have difficulty satisfying the character test when applying for another visa to re-enter Australia

Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOIC)

If you are in Australia, the Department will usually notify you of its intention to consider cancelling your visa in writing. The Notice will give you the opportunity to put forward reasons why your visa should not be cancelled. This is known as Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation. If you receive this notice, you have the opportunity to respond and argue why your visa should not be cancelled.

Receiving a NOIC can be very stressful and we advise you to seek legal advice upon first receiving this notice.

If you respond to the NOIC and the Department accepts your response, you will continue to hold a visa. If the Department does not accept your response or you do not respond then a formal Notice of Cancellation notice will be sent to you either by post, email or in person. Your visa will be cancelled and you will be given a certain number of days to depart Australia or will be placed in immigration detention.

If your visa is not cancelled, and you receive a warning, your visa might still be cancelled in the future if you are convicted of other offenses.

If your visa is cancelled you can appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and then the Federal Circuit Court.

For more information visit: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au