Reasons for Australian Visitor Visa Refusal

Why was your visitor visa denied to Australia? 

Main reasons for a visitor visa refusal are:

• Financial requirement

Insufficient evidence to demonstrate that you have enough money for your stay and to leave Australia. Examples of such evidence are personal bank statements, pay slips, audited accounts, tax records or credit card limit.

• No sufficient incentives to return to your country

If you do not have a job in your home country, own a property or have many immediate family members there, you are unlikely to have an incentive to return home. Examples of evidence to support your intention to return home are:

• a letter from your employer stating you plan to return to your job
• proof that you study at a school, college or university in your home country
• proof that you have immediate family members in your home country
• proof that you can return home
• proof that you own a house or other major assets in your home country

• Giving a fraudulent or bogus document

What is a bogus document?

A bogus document is a document that the Minister reasonably suspects is one that:

• purports to have been, but was not, issued in respect of the person, or
• is counterfeit or has been altered by a person who does not have authority to do so, or
• was obtained because of a false or misleading statement, whether or not made knowingly

As a visa applicant, you must prove your identity and provide true information with your application. The Department of Home Affairs may refuse your visa application for failing to satisfy Public Interest Criterion (PIC) 4020 if you, or any of the members of your family unit:

• do not provide sufficient evidence to prove your identity
• provide bogus documents or information that is false and misleading in relation to your current visa application or
• provided bogus documents or information that is false and misleading in relation to a visa that you held in the 12 months before making your current application.

• Failed to respond the Immigration’s requests

After you have submitted your visa application, the Department may send you a Request for Further Information. Generally these are issued with a deadline of 28 days after the request has been issued. If you do not provide the requested information and/or documentation in time, then your visa application may be refused.

Biometrics, Health Examinations & English Test Reports

Often the Department will issue a Request for Further Information if you have not completed or submitted your biometrics, health examination and/or your English test report (if required). If there are delays in your ability to get an appointment or complete these tasks, there is an expectation that you communicate this with your case officer before the 28 days after the issue of the request have elapsed. If you do not communicate delays with the case officer then they are able to reject your visa application.

• Did not meet the health requirements

Health requirements are in place for visa applicants to ensure that:

• the Australian community is protected from public health and safety risks, especially active tuberculosis
• the government can control how much is spent on services like social security benefits, allowances and pensions
• Australian citizens and permanent residents can access health and community services that are in short supply

Most visa applicants must meet the health requirement.

Your family members may also have to meet the health requirement even if they are not migrating to Australia. This will depend on what visa you apply for.

To meet the health requirement you must be free from any disease or condition that is:

• a significant healthcare and community service cost to the Australian community
• likely to limit the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to healthcare and community services that are in short supply by placing demand on those services.

You might have to have health examinations to prove you meet the health requirement. The results of your examinations will be assessed by a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC). If you have a significant medical condition, the MOC will advise the Department of Home Affairs whether the condition is likely to:

• threaten public health
• result in significant healthcare and community service costs
• place a demand on healthcare or community services that are in short supply

The MOC will consider what kind of services a hypothetical person with the same kind and severity of condition would need and advise the Department on that basis.

When the MOC gives the Department advice they can only consider your medical situation, not your other personal circumstances. For example, the MOC cannot take into account whether you will use available public services because you have private health insurance or enough money to pay for treatment.

• Character requirements

​​You must be of good character to visit or live in Australia. This means you must pass the character test, and remain of good character.

The character requirements are set out under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958. They help the Department of Home Affairs decide if you are of good character.

You may not pass the character requirements in some circumstances. These include if:

• you have a substantial criminal record
• you have been convicted of escaping from immigration detention, or convicted for an offence that you committed:
  • while you were in immigration detention
  • during an escape from immigration detention
  • after an escape, but before you were taken into immigration detention again
• you are or have been a member of a group or organisation, or had or have an association with a person, group or organisation that the Minister reasonably suspects of being involved in criminal conduct
• the Minister reasonably suspects that you have been involved in people smuggling, people trafficking, genocide, a war crime, a crime against humanity, a crime involving torture or slavery, or a crime that is of serious international concern, whether or not you have been convicted of such an offence
• your past and present criminal or general conduct shows that you are not of good character
• there is a risk that while you are in Australia you would:
  • engage in criminal conduct
  • harass, molest, intimidate or stalk another person
  • vilify a segment of the Australian community
  • incite discord in the Australian community or in a part of it
  • be a danger to the Australian community or a part of it
• you have been convicted, found guilty or had a charge proven for, one or more sexually based offences involving a child
• you are subject to an adverse security assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
• you are subject to an Interpol notice, from which it is reasonable to infer that you are a direct or indirect risk to the Australian community, or a segment of the Australian community
• you are or have been convicted of a domestic violence offence or have ever been subject to a domestic violence order