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GrokIf your partner visa has been refused, you can usually apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) within 28 days of being notified of the decision, or 14 days if you are in immigration detention. After an onshore Subclass 820 refusal, you apply yourself, while in Australia. After an offshore Subclass 309 refusal, it is the applicant, not the sponsor, who applies, from inside or outside Australia.
A partner visa refusal is not like other refusals. It is about whether you get to build a life in the same country as the person you share it with, and the letter can feel personal even when the reasons are technical. It also starts a clock that nobody can extend, so the first job is to work out which situation you are in and when that clock started.
Status in November 2026: the review time limits are in section 347 of the Migration Act 1958 and the fee rules in regulations 4.13 and 4.14 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The ART’s fee for most migration reviews has been $3,727 since 1 July 2026. The ART fee changes that started on 1 November 2026 apply to protection visa reviews and did not change the fee for a partner visa review.
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Time to apply to the ART | 28 days after notification (14 days in detention), with no extensions |
| Who applies after an 820 refusal | You, while physically in Australia |
| Who applies after a 309 refusal | The applicant, in or outside Australia |
| ART application fee | $3,727, or 50% of that with an approved hardship reduction |
| Bridging visa A during review | Usually continues until 35 days after the ART decides |
| Reapplying onshore | Generally not possible after a partner refusal if you hold no substantive visa |
| Court review of an ART decision | Within 35 days, Federal Circuit and Family Court |
Source: Migration Act 1958, compilation in force from 8 October 2026; Migration Regulations 1994, compilation of 2 October 2026, with the amendments in force from 1 November 2026, which do not change the provisions cited here; ART Immigration and citizenship page, as at November 2026.
Partner visa refused? Check your refusal letter first
Three details on the letter decide almost everything that follows.
Which visa was refused. An onshore refusal (Subclass 820 and 801) and an offshore refusal (Subclass 309 and 100) have different review paths.
When you were notified. The 28 days runs from notification, which is not always the date printed on the letter. Refusals are sent by one of the methods in section 494B of the Migration Act (regulation 2.16(3)), and section 494C then sets when you are taken to receive them. A document sent by email is taken to be received “at the end of the day on which the document is transmitted”, and one made available in an online account at the end of the day it is made available. A letter posted within Australia is taken to arrive 7 working days after its date, and one posted in any other case 21 days after its date.
Whether the decision is reviewable, and by whom. The ART puts it simply: “Your decision letter from the Department of Home Affairs will tell you if we can review the decision and if you are a person who can apply for a review.”
Your options by scenario
| If this happened | Your main options | Time limit | Where the rule is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onshore 820 refused | ART review, lodged by you in Australia | 28 days (14 in detention) | Act s338(2), s347, s347A |
| Offshore 309 refused | ART review lodged by the applicant, or a fresh 309 | 28 days for review | Regs 4.02(4)(saa), 4.02(5)(raa) |
| ART affirmed the refusal | Court review, a ministerial intervention request, or a fresh 309 from outside Australia | 35 days for court review | Act s477, s351 |
| Refused under section 501 (character) | Not a Part 5 review; a separate path applies | Check your letter | Act s338(2), s500(4) |
Source: Migration Act 1958, compilation in force from 8 October 2026; Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 4.02, compilation of 2 October 2026, not changed by the 1 November 2026 amendments.
If your onshore partner visa was refused (Subclass 820)
A refusal of a visa you applied for in Australia, which can be granted in Australia, is a “reviewable migration decision” under section 338(2). There is one condition on who applies. Section 347A(2) says the application “may only be made by a non-citizen who is physically present in the migration zone when the application for review is made.” If you are outside Australia when you lodge, the application is not validly made.
The time limit in section 347(3) is 14 days if you are “in immigration detention on the day the applicant is notified of the decision”, and otherwise “within 28 days after the day the applicant is notified of the decision”. Section 347(5) switches off the ART’s general power to extend time, and the ART itself says: “We have no power to extend the time limit to apply for a review.”
Your status while you wait matters too. If you hold a Bridging visa A granted with your partner application, clause 010.511 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations keeps it in effect until “35 days after the Minister makes the decision” if you don’t seek review. If you do apply to the ART, it runs until “35 days after the ART makes the decision”. Notice the two clocks start differently: the bridging visa counts from the decision, the review deadline from notification.
The ART can affirm the refusal, vary it, set it aside and substitute a new decision, or send it back to the Department to reconsider (section 337 of the Act lists these outcomes). You can add evidence as you go, and the ART says that if you apply online “you can give us documents or information at any time during the review”. Our step-by-step guide to ART visa refusal appeals walks through hearings and preparation.
If your offshore partner visa was refused (Subclass 309)
You may have read that only the Australian sponsor can ask for review of a 309 refusal. That stopped being the rule on 25 November 2023, when the Migration Amendment (Location Requirements for Grant of Visa) Regulations 2023 commenced. A 309 refusal, other than one made under section 501, is now a reviewable decision under regulation 4.02(4)(saa), and regulation 4.02(5)(raa) says the person who may apply is “the applicant”. The explanatory statement says the change gives the applicant “standing to seek merits review of a decision to refuse a Subclass 309 visa in all circumstances”, whether the refusal is made while they are in or outside Australia.
So you lodge the ART application and pay the fee yourself, within the same 28 days of being notified (14 if you are in immigration detention). The rule in section 347A(2) that you must be in Australia to apply covers onshore decisions such as an 820 refusal, not a 309 refusal. Your partner can still help: the ART says “the person nominating or sponsoring you can also represent you.” For a Prospective Marriage (Subclass 300) refusal it is different, because regulation 4.02(5)(r) still gives the review right to the sponsor.
The other route is a fresh Subclass 309 application. The section 48 bar described below applies only to people in Australia, so it doesn’t stop an application made from outside Australia. Three things in the 309 criteria are worth checking first:
- PIC 4020. If the refusal found false or misleading information or a bogus document, public interest criterion 4020(2) can stop a new visa where the new application is made within 3 years of that refusal, unless the waiver in 4020(4) applies. Where the refusal was about identity, the period in 4020(2B) is 10 years. Our guide to the PIC 4020 exclusion periods explains how those periods are counted.
- Removal from Australia. If you were removed under the Migration Act, special return criterion 5002 requires that “the application is made more than 12 months after the removal”, unless compelling or compassionate circumstances justify an earlier grant.
- Unlawful stay exclusions. Public interest criterion 4014, the 3 year exclusion that applies to many visas after leaving Australia as an unlawful non-citizen or on a Bridging visa C, D or E, is not in the list of public interest criteria for the Subclass 309 in clause 309.225.
If the Tribunal affirmed the refusal
This is the hardest point to reach, and the options narrow.
Court review. You can apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2). Section 477(1) requires the application to be made “within 35 days of the date of the migration decision”, and the court may extend that period under section 477(2) if it is “necessary in the interests of the administration of justice”. The court’s migration overview is frank about what this is: “The Judge who is hearing your case does not look at whether you should or should not be granted a visa.” The judge looks for a “jurisdictional error”. The court also warns the date of the migration decision “may be different to the date on the notification letter you received”.
Ministerial intervention. Under section 351, “If the Minister thinks that it is in the public interest to do so, the Minister may substitute for a decision of the ART” a more favourable one. The power “may only be exercised by the Minister personally”, and section 351(7) says “The Minister does not have a duty to consider whether to exercise the power”. It is discretionary and there is no right to it.
Applying again from outside Australia. A fresh Subclass 309, subject to the points in the section above.
Watch your bridging visa too. A Bridging visa A linked to the refused application ends 35 days after the ART decision (clause 010.511), so staying lawfully during court proceedings depends on being granted another bridging visa.
Can you reapply for a partner visa onshore? The section 48 bar
Section 48 of the Migration Act applies to a non-citizen in Australia who “does not hold a substantive visa” and who, after last entering Australia, was refused a visa (other than a bridging visa or a section 501 refusal). That person “may, subject to the regulations, apply for a visa of a class prescribed for the purposes of this section … but not for a visa of any other class.”
Regulation 2.12 prescribes the onshore partner classes, “(a) Partner (Temporary) (Class UK); (b) Partner (Residence) (Class BS)”. That looks like an open door. It isn’t one after a partner refusal, because Schedule 1 item 1124B(3)(e) says a section 48 applicant “must not have been refused any of the following visas since last entering Australia”, and the list includes “a Subclass 820 (Partner) visa”, “a Subclass 801 (Partner) visa” and “a Subclass 309 (Partner (Provisional)) visa”. The 820 has to be lodged together with the 801 (item 1214C(3)(a)), so in practice the limit affects the combined 820 and 801 application.
| Your situation | Onshore partner application? | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Refused a non-partner visa (for example a student visa), no substantive visa now | Possible, with the sponsor form and 2 statutory declarations at lodgement | Reg 2.12; Sch 1 item 1124B(3)(e)(ii), (iii) |
| Refused a partner visa since last entering Australia, no substantive visa now | Not valid during this stay in Australia | Sch 1 item 1124B(3)(e)(i) |
| Refused, but still holding another substantive visa | Section 48 does not apply | Act s48(1)(a) |
Source: Migration Act 1958, section 48, in force from 8 October 2026; Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.12 and Schedule 1 items 1124B and 1214C, compilation of 2 October 2026, not changed by the 1 November 2026 amendments.
Where an onshore application is possible without a substantive visa, the Schedule 3 criteria usually apply as well. Clause 820.211(2)(d)(ii) requires the applicant to satisfy “Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, unless the Minister is satisfied that there are compelling reasons for not applying those criteria.” Our guides to the section 48 bar after a refusal and to Schedule 3 for onshore partner visas go into both in more detail.
Common reasons partner visas are refused, and the criterion behind each
Under section 66(2) of the Act, a refusal notice must specify the criterion that was not met. Knowing where that criterion sits tells you what new evidence, if any, could answer it.
| Refusal ground | The criterion | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship not accepted | Act s5F (spouse), s5CB (de facto); regs 1.15A, 1.09A | Finances, household, social life, commitment |
| De facto less than 12 months | Reg 2.03A(3) | 12 months before applying, unless an exception applies |
| No substantive visa | Cl 820.211(2)(d)(ii) | Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, or compelling reasons |
| Sponsorship not approved | Cl 820.221A; regs 1.20J to 1.20KC | Sponsor limits and sponsor character |
| False or misleading information | PIC 4020 | This application, or a visa held in the 12 months before it |
| Health or character | PICs 4007 and 4001 | Health examination results, police certificates |
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 1.09A, 1.15A, 2.03A, 1.20J to 1.20KC, Schedule 2 Part 820 and Schedule 4, compilation of 2 October 2026, not changed by the 1 November 2026 amendments; Migration Act 1958, sections 5CB and 5F.
For a married couple, section 5F requires a “mutual commitment to a shared life as a married couple to the exclusion of all others” and a relationship that is “genuine and continuing”. Regulations 1.15A and 1.09A tell the decision maker to “consider all of the circumstances of the relationship”, from finances and the household to social life and commitment.
If the refusal was about the sponsor rather than the relationship, the limits and character rules are in our guide to partner visa sponsor requirements. A section 501 (character) refusal is excluded from this kind of review by sections 338(2) and 500(4) and follows a separate path.
What a partner visa review costs
| Item | Amount or rule |
|---|---|
| ART application fee, most migration decisions | $3,727, since 1 July 2026 |
| Financial hardship | 50% reduction, if the ART agrees |
| When the fee is due | Before your deadline to apply |
| Decision set aside, varied or remitted | 50% of the fee paid is refunded |
| Application invalid or decision not reviewable | Fee refunded |
| Review withdrawn | Refund only in very limited circumstances |
| Fresh onshore partner visa application | New visa application charge, $11,710 for the main applicant |
Source: ART Fees page and Immigration and citizenship page, as at November 2026; Annual federal courts and tribunals fee increases from 1 July 2026; Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 4.13 and 4.14 and Schedule 1 item 1124B, compilation of 2 October 2026, not changed by the 1 November 2026 amendments.
A few of these catch people out. The ART says “you must pay the fee before your deadline for applying for a review”, and even with a hardship request you need to have “paid the full fee or 50% of the fee by the application deadline”. If the refusal is overturned, the ART refunds “50% of the fee you paid”, not all of it.
You may also see $3,496 quoted elsewhere. That is the amount printed in regulation 4.13(1), which is indexed every 1 July from 2025 under regulation 4.13A. The ART’s current figure is $3,727.
From 1 November 2026, the Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026 added an upfront fee for protection visa reviews, set at 50% of that amount. They did not change the fee, the hardship reduction or the refund rules for a partner visa review.
When it is worth getting legal advice after a partner visa refusal
Some refusals leave room to think. Others don’t. Advice may be worth getting quickly if your 28 day deadline is already running, if you are in immigration detention (14 days), or if the refusal relied on PIC 4020, since that can follow you into the next application. The same goes if you hold no substantive visa and the section 48 bar now limits what you can lodge, if the relationship has ended or there has been family violence, or if the ART has affirmed the refusal and the 35 day court deadline has started.
In each of these, the order you do things in matters as much as the evidence. Our visa appeals team can review the refusal letter and the deadlines with you.
Frequently asked questions
Can I appeal a partner visa refusal?
In most cases, yes, by applying to the Administrative Review Tribunal. After an onshore 820 refusal you apply yourself while in Australia. After a 309 refusal made on or after 25 November 2023, the applicant applies, from inside or outside Australia. A refusal under section 501 follows a different path.
How long do I have to appeal a partner visa refusal?
28 days after the day you are notified of the decision, or 14 days if you are in immigration detention on that day (section 347(3) of the Migration Act). The ART has no power to extend this.
Can I reapply for a partner visa after a refusal?
From outside Australia, you can generally lodge a new Subclass 309, subject to criteria such as PIC 4020. In Australia, if you hold no substantive visa and were refused a partner visa since you last entered, Schedule 1 item 1124B(3)(e) prevents a valid new onshore partner application.
Can I stay in Australia while the ART reviews my partner visa?
If you hold a Bridging visa A linked to the refused application and you apply to the ART in time, clause 010.511 generally keeps it in effect until 35 days after the ART makes its decision.
Who can apply for review if a 309 partner visa is refused?
The applicant. Since 25 November 2023, regulation 4.02(5)(raa) of the Migration Regulations gives the review right for a Subclass 309 refusal to “the applicant”, not the sponsor. The sponsor can still act as the applicant’s representative at the ART.
A realistic next step
Read the letter for three things: which visa, the notification date and who can apply. Then count the days. If the deadline is close, or the section 48 bar or PIC 4020 is in play, book a consultation with our migration lawyers before the time limit runs out.
About the author: Tina Nematian is the Principal Lawyer at One Planet Migration Law. She is admitted as an Australian Legal Practitioner, and has guided clients through partner, skilled, employer-sponsored, student, and humanitarian visa applications across Australia.
This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa rules change frequently and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Speak with a registered migration lawyer or agent before making any application. Figures were current as of November 2026; always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before lodging.
