Mandatory cancellation under section 501(3A)

Section 501(3A) requires a visa to be cancelled when a person is serving a full-time prison sentence and fails the character test on certain grounds. The person can ask for the cancellation to be revoked, and the regulations allow 28 days after the notice and particulars are given.

The short answer

Section 501(3A) of the Migration Act 1958 says the Minister must cancel a visa if the person fails the character test on specified grounds and is serving a sentence of imprisonment on a full-time basis in a custodial institution. It is called mandatory cancellation because the decision-maker has no discretion at that first step.

It is one part of the wider character framework described in character refusal and cancellation under section 501.

Who it applies to

The failed-test grounds are a substantial criminal record on the basis of a death sentence, life imprisonment or a term of 12 months or more, or a sexual offence involving a child. The person must also be serving a full-time custodial sentence. Natural justice and the usual notice process do not apply to cancellations under section 501(3) and 501(3A), so there is no prior invitation to respond as there is for other cancellations.

The revocation request

After a mandatory cancellation the person is given a notice with the relevant information and can make representations asking for the cancellation to be revoked under section 501CA. The regulations set the time: within 28 days after the person is given the notice and the particulars of the relevant information. Representations must be in writing, in English or with a translation.

Victoria Legal Aid describes the time as differing depending on how the letter was delivered, with fewer days if handed over and more if posted. This site has not treated that as law. The letter states the date, so read the date on yours.

A shorter period, 7 days under the regulations, applies to representations under section 501C, which follows certain decisions the Minister makes personally.

The test for revocation

The Minister may revoke if satisfied that the person passes the character test, or that there is another reason the original decision should be revoked. If revoked, the cancellation is taken not to have been made. The Minister can later set aside a favourable revocation under section 501BA. Decision-makers apply a Ministerial Direction; the version this site found in force on 16 October 2026 is Direction 110, and a newer direction has been reported but not verified here. See the character guide for detail.

What the ART can review

The ART cannot review the mandatory cancellation itself. The ART says the person must first apply to the department for revocation. If a delegate then refuses to revoke, that refusal can be reviewed by the ART. For a person in the migration zone it is an expedited review, which must be applied for within 9 days of notification, with no power to extend. The ART cannot review a decision the Minister made personally.

See which visa refusals can the ART review and ministerial intervention explained.

Next step

There are two separate clocks here: one for the revocation request and, later, one for any ART application. Each notice states its own date. For help with a specific notice, see hiring a section 501 lawyer and free and low-cost help. Nothing here is legal advice or immigration assistance; it is a general description of how the law is set up.