The 28-day deadline to apply to the ART

For most reviewable migration decisions, the Migration Act allows 28 days after the day of notification to apply to the ART, or 14 days for a person in immigration detention on that day. Your decision letter states your own time limit.

For most reviewable migration decisions, an application to the ART must be made within 28 days after the day the applicant is notified. If the applicant was in immigration detention on the day of notification, the period is 14 days. Some character decisions have a shorter limit of 9 days.

The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) cannot extend the migration deadline. That is why the date matters so much, and why this page tells you where to find your own date rather than working it out for you. Your decision letter should state the time limit that applies to you. See check your decision letter for what the letter should say.

Time limits at a glance

General time limits to apply to the ART

Type of decision	General time limit	Can the ART extend it?
Most reviewable visa refusals and cancellations (Part 5 of the Migration Act)	28 days after the day you are notified	No
The same decisions, if you were in immigration detention on the day you were notified	14 days after the day you are notified	No
Some character decisions (section 501 or a refusal to revoke a mandatory cancellation) for a person in Australia	9 days after the day you are notified	No
Character reviews that are not expedited (for example, some offshore applicants)	Usually 28 days	The ART says you can ask for an extension

General rules only. Your decision letter states the time limit that applies to your decision. Checked 16 October 2026.

Where the 28 days comes from

The rule is in section 347(3) of the Migration Act 1958. An application to the ART must be made within 28 days after the day the applicant is notified of the decision. The ART's own practice direction repeats the same periods and says the Tribunal cannot extend the time for filing.

The clock runs from notification, not from the date printed on the letter. Those can be different days, which is covered below.

14 days in immigration detention

Which period applies depends on whether you were in immigration detention on the day you were notified. The Act uses the words "in immigration detention on the day the applicant is notified of the decision". If so, the period is 14 days, not 28.

The detention period used to be shorter. The Administrative Review Tribunal (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2025 replaced "7 days" with "14 days" in section 347(3)(a), and that change took effect on 21 February 2025. We read the amending item rather than the old compilation of the Act, so we describe the old figure as the one the amending text replaced. For detention-specific questions, see the ART deadline in immigration detention.

9 days for some character decisions

A decision under section 501 of the Migration Act (the character test) has its own review stream. If the decision, or a decision not to revoke a mandatory cancellation, relates to a person in the migration zone, the application is due within 9 days after the day the person was notified. The Act says the ART's usual extension powers do not apply, and the ART says it has no power to extend the time for an expedited review.

For other character reviews, the ART says the period is usually 28 days and that you can apply to it for an extension. A mandatory cancellation under section 501(3A) is not reviewable by the ART itself. The route is a request to the Department for revocation, with its own time limit in the notice you are given. See character refusal and cancellation under section 501 and mandatory cancellation under section 501(3A).

The ART cannot extend the migration deadline

For ordinary migration and protection reviews, section 347(5) switches off the ART's general power to extend time. The ART's page says it plainly: "We have no power to extend the time limit to apply for a review." An application that is late cannot be rescued by asking the ART.

For more on this, see can the ART extend the deadline. If you are close to a deadline, speak to a registered migration agent, an Australian lawyer, or a free legal service as soon as you can.

Why some pages still say 21 days

Many older web pages quote 21 days. That figure was out of date from 14 October 2024, when the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was replaced by the ART. Under the old Migration Regulations (regulation 4.10 as it stood on 12 October 2024), the period for most onshore visa refusals ended 21 days after notice was received. Cancellations and detainees had 7 working days, and some sponsor and nomination decisions had 70 days.

Since the ART began, section 347(3) sets one rule for these decisions: 28 days, or (since 21 February 2025) 14 days for a person in detention. If a firm's page or a forum post says 21 days, treat it as old. See old AAT rules versus the ART.

How the days are counted

Because the Act says "within 28 days after the day the applicant is notified", the notification day is not counted. The Acts Interpretation Act gives its own example: if a person has 28 days after the day a decision is made, the 28-day period begins on the next day. For the full counting rules, see how the 28 days is counted.

The Acts Interpretation Act also has a rule that moves a last day falling on a weekend or holiday to the next working day. We did not find any ART statement confirming it applies to migration deadlines, and the ART says its deadlines are very strict. Do not plan around it.

When you are taken to be notified

The Department must notify you of a refusal by one of the methods in section 494B of the Act. These include handing it to you, posting it to the last address you gave, sending it by email or other electronic means to the last address you gave, or making it available in your online account such as ImmiAccount.

Section 494C then says when you are taken to have received it. For post within Australia it is 7 working days after the date of the document. For other post it is 21 days after the date of the document. For email it is the end of the day it was sent, and for an online account it is the end of the day it was made available.

If you told the Department in writing about an authorised recipient, such as a migration agent, documents go to that person and the time runs from when they are taken to receive it.

How to find your own date in your letter

The Act requires a refusal notice to say whether the decision can be reviewed, the time in which an application for review may be made, who can apply, and where. A notice of cancellation must state the same things. You do not need to work the date out from the Act. These steps help you read the letter:

Find the paragraph headed something like review rights or merits review. It should state whether the decision can be reviewed and the time limit.
Note the date on the letter, and separately note how and when it reached you (email, post, hand, or your online account).
Check whether the letter names a different period from the ones in the table above, for example because you were in detention or because the decision is a character decision.
Write down the date the letter gives, and ask a registered migration agent, an Australian lawyer or a free legal service to confirm it for your situation.

If the letter looks wrong, say so to the person you ask for help. The Act says small errors in a notice are tolerated unless they cause substantial prejudice, and its own example shows that a misstated period does not always help a late applicant.

Other deadlines that are not this one

Several other time limits look similar and are easy to mix up. A notice of intention to consider cancellation sets its own response time, which can be much shorter than 28 days. For a section 116 notice the regulation says 5 working days if the holder is in Australia. That is a different clock from the ART application period. See the cancellation article for how these notices work.

If the ART affirms the decision, there is also a court time limit. An application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court (Division 2) must generally be made within 35 days of the date of the migration decision. See judicial review after an ART decision.

What this page cannot tell you

This page is general information, not legal advice or immigration assistance, and it does not say whether your decision can be reviewed or whether you are in time. Your decision letter states your own time limit and review rights. For the wider picture, read what to do after a visa refusal and how the ART review works.