ART deadline in immigration detention

If you are in immigration detention on the day you are notified of a reviewable visa decision, the time to apply to the ART is 14 days, not 28. Older sources that say 7 days are out of date.

For most migration and protection decisions, the time limit to apply to the ART is 14 days if you are in immigration detention on the day you are notified. Otherwise it is 28 days. This comes from section 347(3) of the Migration Act 1958: the application must be made "within 14 days after the day the applicant is notified of the decision" if the applicant is "in immigration detention on the day the applicant is notified".

The ART cannot extend this time limit for these decisions. Whether you are reading for yourself or someone else, the decision letter states the time limit that applies, and a registered migration agent, Australian lawyer or free service can talk it through.

The test is detention on the notification day

The Act ties the shorter period to where you are on the day you are notified. It does not say anything about where you are on later days. The wording is the same in the ART's practice direction, which sets out 14 days for a person in immigration detention and 28 days otherwise.

How you are taken to be notified depends on how the document was given; see how the 28 days is counted. Which period applies to a particular person is a question for the decision letter and an adviser.

The old 7-day figure

Some older sources say seven days. That was the detention period in section 347(3)(a) before an amendment. The Administrative Review Tribunal (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2025, Schedule 2 item 115, replaced "7 days" with "14 days", and the Act's commencement table gives 21 February 2025 for that Schedule. We did not separately read the Act as it stood before that date, so the earlier figure is taken from the amendment's wording.

Before 14 October 2024, review was run by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), with different periods set out in the Regulations at the time. Those rules were replaced when the ART started on 14 October 2024. See old AAT rules versus the ART.

Applying from detention

The ART has a separate form for people in immigration detention, the M2 form. The M1 form is for people who are not in detention. The ART says the easiest and safest way to apply is online, but other ways exist; see how to apply to the ART.

The ART says it will automatically expedite a review where possible, without a request, if you are in immigration detention, if you have applied for review of a visa cancellation, or if your case has been remitted or returned from a court.

Fees and character reviews

The fee for most migration reviews is A$3,727, due before the deadline. A review of a bridging visa decision that resulted in a person being placed in immigration detention has no fee. See ART application fee explained.

Character-related reviews (section 501) have different time limits again: 9 days for expedited reviews, which the ART cannot extend. See character refusal and cancellation under section 501.

Getting help while detained

The ART says only a registered migration agent or Australian lawyer who holds a practising certificate can charge a fee for representing you; you may also represent yourself, or be represented by close family or a sponsor. Free options are covered in free and low-cost help after a visa refusal.

This guide is general information, not legal advice or immigration assistance, and it cannot say which time limit applies to a particular person. That is in the decision letter.