Visitor Visa 600 Refused: What to Do Next
Updated: 5 August 2026
Start with the refusal letter. It states whether you have a right to merits review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, and your deadline. If you were in Australia when you were refused, the review window for a subclass 600 is 21 days from notification. If you were offshore, review rights are limited, and reapplying is usually the real option.
Quick Facts: After a Subclass 600 Refusal
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| First action | Find the review-rights paragraph in your refusal letter |
| Review body | Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which replaced the AAT in 2024 |
| Deadline if refused onshore | 21 days from notification |
| If refused offshore | Review rights limited. Check your refusal letter |
| ART fee | Charged at lodgement, reduced on hardship grounds, refunded if you win |
| Can you reapply? | Usually yes, unless a ban applies. Something has to change first |
| Refund of the visa charge | No. Visa application charges are never refunded |
Your refusal letter is the only document that matters this week
Read it twice before you do anything else. It carries three things you need: the criterion the case officer was not satisfied about, whether review is available to you, and the date the clock started running.
Your refusal letter will state whether ART review is available and the deadline for lodging. We repeat that line on every refusal page on this site because nobody, including us, can tell you your review right from the subclass number alone. Two people refused the same visa on the same day can have different answers depending on where they were standing when the decision was notified.
If the letter is short and vague, that is normal. Case officers write to a template. The useful detail sits in the paragraph naming the requirement you did not satisfy. Our step-by-step guide after a visa refusal covers the general sequence for any subclass. This page is about what is different for a 600.
The onshore and offshore split in review rights
Everything below turns on this. Advice written for onshore applicants does not transfer to an offshore refusal, and the two positions are genuinely different.
Refused while you were in Australia
Onshore subclass 600 refusals are reviewable. The window is 21 days from notification for applicants in Australia, set out in the appeal time limits guide. Lodging with the ART while you are onshore typically gets you a Bridging Visa A that runs until the review is decided, which is the practical reason many onshore applicants lodge rather than reapply.
Refused while you were outside Australia
Offshore, the position is harder. Certain offshore visa refusals sit outside ART review altogether. Review rights for offshore visitor refusals are limited, and there may be no merits review at all, though you can reapply once the issues behind the refusal are fixed. Both points are covered in the appeal time limits guide and in the tourist visa guide for Brazilian citizens.
So the working assumption for an offshore refusal is this: you are reapplying, not appealing. Only treat review as available if your own letter says it is. If your letter is ambiguous on the point, do not guess and do not let the deadline run out while you think about it. Check appeal time limits and how to lodge a review and get advice the same week.
One more thing that trips people up. Your refusal letter names who can apply for review and the deadline that applies to them. Read that paragraph rather than assuming it is you.
When the clock actually starts
The deadline runs from notification, not from the date printed on the decision. How you were notified decides the start date.
| How you were notified | When the clock starts |
|---|---|
| In person | The day the decision is handed to you |
| Email or ImmiAccount | The date it is sent, or the next working day |
| Post to an address in Australia | 7 working days after posting |
| Post to an address outside Australia | 21 days after posting |
The review deadline itself runs in calendar days, not business days. Weekends and public holidays count against you. The working-day count in the table above applies only to working out when postal notification is treated as received.
The ART has no general power to extend these limits. A late application is rejected no matter how strong the case behind it is. There are narrow situations where a late lodgement may still be accepted, such as a clear error in the notification process, physical incapacity like hospitalisation, or the Department of Home Affairs giving you incorrect information about your appeal rights. Even then, success is not guaranteed. Do not build a plan around any of them.
If you moved and did not update your address, notification sent to your last registered address still counts. The clock has been running whether you read the email or not.
Work out which criterion actually failed
You cannot fix a refusal you have not diagnosed. Match the wording in your letter to one of these.
The genuine temporary entrant requirement is the most common ground for a 600. The Department looks at your immigration history, your circumstances at home such as employment, family and assets, and your situation in Australia. If the officer suspected the visit was a route to staying long term, that is what the letter will circle around, usually without saying it in those words. Our subclass 600 guide sets out what the requirement covers.
Financial capacity is the next most common. There is no fixed savings figure for a visitor visa. Thin or unexplained bank statements hurt more than a modest balance does, and a large deposit that lands days before lodgement with no history behind it invites the officer to discount it.
Then there is documentation. Missing files, dates that contradict each other across your forms, non-English documents without proper certified translation. Machine translation is not accepted.
Character and health grounds are less common on visitor applications, but they happen. See the character test for Australian visas if your letter points that way.
If the letter does not tell you enough, you can request your own departmental file through a Freedom of Information request. That takes time, so start it while you work on everything else. The full list of grounds sits in our guide to the top 10 reasons Australian visas are refused.
Appeal, reapply, or stop
Not every refusal should be appealed. If the reasons are fundamentally correct and you genuinely did not meet the criteria, a review will cost you money and months and end the same way. Be honest with yourself here.
Lodge a review if you were refused onshore and your letter grants the right. The strongest cases are the ones where the officer already had the evidence and read it wrongly, or where you hold something that was never put in front of them. There is a status reason too: an onshore review usually keeps you lawful while it runs.
Reapply when the refusal came down to documents or evidence you can now produce, when your situation has actually changed, or when the letter tells you review is not available. Offshore, a fresh application is usually the faster road even where some review right exists.
The tribunal fee is charged at lodgement, a reduced fee is available on hardship grounds if you ask at the time you lodge, and the fee is refunded if the ART decides in your favour. We do not print the amount because tribunal fees are indexed and change. Check the ART's current fee schedule. For visa application charges themselves, see the Australian visa fees schedule, and for how long things take, the visa processing times guide.
You can lodge with the minimum, which is the form, a copy of the refusal letter and the fee. Submissions and evidence can follow. Do not miss a deadline because your evidence pack is not finished.
What has to change before a reapplication is worth lodging
There is no mandatory waiting period before you apply again. That is not permission to resubmit the same file. The same evidence produces the same decision, and now with a refusal on record.
Before you lodge again, do all of this:
- Address every reason in the refusal letter, one by one, in writing.
- Add evidence that was not in the first application, not more copies of what was.
- Declare the previous refusal. This is required, and hiding it is itself a ground for refusal.
- Explain what has changed since the first decision.
- Lodge through ImmiAccount or the channel your visa type uses.
A refusal stays on your immigration record permanently and must be declared on every future Australian visa application, anywhere in the world. It does not disqualify you. Concealing it does far more damage than the refusal ever will.
PIC 4020: why a bad document is worse than a weak file
There is a difference between an application that is thin and an application that contains something false. A weak application gets refused. A fraud or bogus document finding under Public Interest Criterion 4020 can result in a 3 year or 10 year ban on being granted most Australian visas.
What counts as misrepresentation includes fake employment letters or references, fabricated bank statements, fraudulent educational certificates, false identity information, using another person's documents, and concealing a spouse, children or other family members. That last one catches honest people who thought a family member was irrelevant to a holiday application.
The Department runs document verification arrangements with foreign governments and matches data across agencies. If an agent offers to "strengthen" your file with a letter from an employer you never worked for, walk away. You will wear the ban, not them.
If you were refused while in Australia
Two extra problems apply to you and not to offshore applicants.
The first is the section 48 bar. If you were in the migration zone, did not hold a substantive visa, and had an application refused, you may only apply for a short list of prescribed visas while you remain in Australia. There is no waiver for section 48 itself and no agent can override it. It only ceases when you leave.
The second is condition 8503. If "no further stay" was attached to a visa you hold, you cannot apply for another visa onshore, and a waiver is granted only in limited circumstances. See how to request a condition 8503 waiver.
And a warning about time. If your visa expires and you stay unlawfully for 28 days or more before you depart, a 3 year exclusion period applies from the date you leave. Read re-entry bans after an overstay before you let any bridging visa lapse.
When to pay for a registered agent
For a straightforward offshore refusal where the letter is clear and you can fix the gap yourself, a second application prepared carefully is often enough.
Pay for a MARA-registered agent or an immigration lawyer if your letter mentions fraud, false documents or character. Same answer if you were refused onshore and the section 48 bar may bite, if you are inside a review deadline and unsure who holds the right to lodge, or if you have now been refused twice for the same reason. Our guide on how to find a migration agent covers checking registration before you pay anyone.
No legitimate agent can override a statutory provision. Be wary of anyone who claims they can get around a bar or a ban for a fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I appeal a subclass 600 refusal if I applied from outside Australia?
Often no. Offshore visitor visa refusals generally carry limited or no merits review rights, and certain offshore refusals sit outside ART review altogether. Your refusal letter is the authority on your own case. Read the review-rights paragraph carefully, and if it grants review, lodge before the stated deadline.
How long do I have to lodge a review after a visitor visa refusal?
If you were in Australia when you were notified, the window is 21 days from notification for a subclass 600. If you were outside Australia, review rights are limited and your letter decides the point. The tribunal cannot generally extend these deadlines, so treat the date as fixed.
How soon can I apply for another visitor visa after a refusal?
Immediately. There is no mandatory waiting period. That said, lodging the same application again wastes the charge, because the same evidence produces the same result. Wait until you can answer every reason in the refusal letter with something new, then apply and declare the previous refusal in full.
Can I just apply for an ETA or eVisitor instead?
Only if your passport qualifies for one. The ETA and eVisitor are restricted by nationality, and many people apply for a subclass 600 precisely because they do not hold an eligible passport or because they need a longer stay than those visas allow. Where you do qualify, you still have to declare the refusal.
Do I have to declare the refusal on my next application?
Yes, absolutely. Failing to disclose a previous refusal is itself grounds for refusal, because it is false or misleading information. Declare every refusal and cancellation, from any country, no matter how long ago it happened. A withdrawn application is not a refusal, but the safer course is to declare and explain it anyway.
My refusal letter does not explain much. What can I do?
Request your departmental file through a Freedom of Information request. It should contain your original application, the documents you lodged, information the Department obtained, and the decision record. If you lodge a review, the tribunal obtains the same file and you are entitled to see it. Start the request early, because it is not fast.
Does a visitor visa refusal ruin my chances forever?
No. A refusal is recorded permanently and must be declared, but it is one factor among many in a later assessment. What actually causes lasting harm is a fraud or bogus document finding, which carries a 3 year or 10 year ban, or an overstay that triggers a 3 year exclusion period on departure.
