You must pay the fee before your deadline for applying for a review.

You do not have to pay a fee at the time you lodge your application for a review of:

• a decision to refuse or cancel a protection visa, or
• a decision made under section 197D of the Migration Act 1958 that a protection finding would no longer be made about a person.

However, you must pay the fee if the review is not successful.

Regardless of the review outcome, you do not have to pay a fee if the Department of Home Affairs referred your decision to the ART for review (or if the department referred your decision to the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) for review before it closed on 14 October 2024).

You must pay the fee when you apply. We will not start the review until the fee is paid. 

If the fee is not paid within 6 weeks after you lodge an application, it may be dismissed.

We will refund:

• the review fee you paid if we decide that the application is invalid
• 50% of the full review fee if you paid the full fee and we decide you can pay the reduced fee.

If the review is decided in your favour, we will refund:

• 50% of the reduced fee amount you paid; or
• 50% of the full review fee if you paid the full fee.

If you withdraw the application for review a refund of the fee is only paid in very limited circumstances.

If you are entitled to get a refund of all or part of the review fee, a form will be given to you to provide bank account details for receiving the refund through electronic funds transfer (EFT).

Your refund can be paid to another person if you provide a signed request and the other person's bank details (or their name and postal address if you would like us to send a cheque).

We will refund:

• the entire application fee if you were not required to pay it
• the difference between the fee you paid and $100, if you paid an approved reduced fee due to financial hardship
• the difference between the fee you paid and $100 if the review is decided in your favour.

There is no refund if you paid a reduced fee of $100.

Reduced fee due to financial hardship 

If paying the fee would cause or has caused financial hardship, you can request a 50% reduction. 

If you want to pay a reduced fee, you need to make sure you have paid the full or reduced amount and given us a request for fee reduction form with supporting documents before the application deadline.

Providing supporting documents

You should provide copies of documents to support your request for a fee reduction. If you do not provide any supporting documents, the Tribunal may:

• make a decision on your request based on the information provided
• ask you to provide additional information or documents to support your request.

Examples of documents that might be relevant include:

• a current payslip or payment statements from Centrelink
• evidence of any other income received, such as investment income or child support payments
• evidence of rent, board or mortgage payments and utility bills
• bank, credit card and other account statements displaying current balances and transactions over the previous month
• evidence that another organisation has waived, reduced or not imposed a fee that you would have otherwise been required to pay (such as legal aid or pro bono migration assistance).

Important: Please delete or redact your tax file number (TFN) from any documents you provide to us.

How your request is assessed

The Tribunal will make a decision on your request for a fee reduction based on the information you provide. 

In some cases, the Tribunal may refer to other information in its possession such as statements you may have made to the Australian Government about your income and financial situation.

The Tribunal will consider:

• your household’s financial situation, including income, expenses, liabilities and assets
• your capacity to pay the prescribed application fee 
• whether paying the full fee would cause you, or has caused you, financial hardship
• any other relevant circumstances, such as whether your application for review relates to a visa for which you are expected to meet costs associated with travel and stay in Australia.

The Tribunal will notify you of its decision in writing.

If your request is not granted

If your request for a fee reduction is not granted, you must pay the full application fee. If you do not pay the fee, your application for review will not be able to proceed. 

The Tribunal’s decision on your request for a fee reduction is not reviewable. 

However, the Tribunal may reconsider its decision if there has been an error in the decision-making process (for example, if the Tribunal did not consider relevant material that was before it at the time the decision was made).

Eligibility

You may be eligible to pay a reduced fee in certain circumstances, if:

• you have been granted legal aid for your matter
• you hold a Commonwealth health care card, pensioner concession card, or seniors health card
• you are under 18
• you are imprisoned or detained
• you are receiving certain study payments from Centrelink.

If any of these circumstances apply to you, please contact us. You do not need to complete a request for a fee reduction.

Reduced fee due to financial hardship 

You may be eligible to pay a reduced fee for your application to the Tribunal if paying the full fee would cause you, or has caused you, financial hardship.

To request a fee reduction, fill out a request for fee reduction form and attach any supporting documents. 

You can submit a request for a fee reduction:

• at the time you lodge your application for review 
• after you have lodged your application for review, if you submit your request within the time limit for lodging your application and before the Tribunal has made a decision on your application.

If you have already paid the application fee, you will be refunded the appropriate amount if your fee reduction request is granted.

Providing supporting documents

You should provide copies of documents to support your request for a fee reduction. If you do not provide any supporting documents, the Tribunal may:

• make a decision on your request based on the information provided
• ask you to provide additional information or documents to support your request.

Examples of documents that might be relevant include:

• a current payslip or payment statements from Centrelink
• evidence of any other income received, such as investment income or child support payments
• evidence of rent, board or mortgage payments and utility bills
• bank, credit card and other account statements displaying current balances and transactions over the previous month
• evidence that another organisation has waived, reduced or not imposed a fee that you would have otherwise been required to pay (such as legal aid or pro bono migration assistance).

Important: Please delete or redact your tax file number (TFN) from any documents you provide to us.

How your request is assessed

The Tribunal will make a decision on your request for a fee reduction based on the information you provide. 

In some cases, the Tribunal may refer to other information in its possession such as statements you may have made to the Australian Government about your income and financial situation.

The Tribunal will consider:

• your household’s financial situation, including income, expenses, liabilities and assets
• your capacity to pay the prescribed application fee 
• whether paying the full fee would cause you, or has caused you, financial hardship
• any other relevant circumstances, such as whether your application for review relates to a visa for which you are expected to meet costs associated with travel and stay in Australia.

The Tribunal will notify you of its decision in writing.

If your request is not granted

If your request for a fee reduction is not granted, you must pay the full application fee. If you do not pay the fee, your application for review will not be able to proceed. 

The Tribunal’s decision on your request for a fee reduction is not reviewable. 

However, the Tribunal may reconsider its decision if there has been an error in the decision-making process (for example, if the Tribunal did not consider relevant material that was before it at the time the decision was made).
 

If you make more than one application and we decide that they can be dealt with together, we can order that you only have to pay one fee. 

You can ask us about paying a single fee when you lodge the applications.