What happens to your status after a visa cancellation

When a visa is cancelled, a person in Australia becomes an unlawful non-citizen on the cancellation itself, unless they hold another visa. The law then requires detention of unlawful non-citizens.

The short answer

Under section 15 of the Migration Act 1958, if a visa is cancelled, its former holder, if in the migration zone, becomes an unlawful non-citizen on the cancellation, unless immediately afterwards they hold another visa that is in effect. The change happens on the cancellation itself, not at the end of an appeals process.

This is the general rule. Whether another visa is in effect, and what a particular letter says, are matters for the letter and an adviser.

Detention

Section 189(1) says an officer must detain a person in the migration zone who the officer knows or reasonably suspects is an unlawful non-citizen. A Home Affairs form says, in its wording from an older design: 'If your visa is cancelled and you are in Australia, you will become an unlawful non-citizen. Unless you are granted a further visa, you will be detained and removed from Australia.' The same form says cancellation is not automatic and an in-Australia holder will be given an opportunity to comment before a final decision. Home Affairs has also said that only the department or the Minister can cancel a visa.

Detention changes some review time limits. For example, the ART application period for general migration decisions is 14 days instead of 28 if the person is in immigration detention on the day they are notified. See ART deadline in immigration detention.

Bridging visas

A bridging visa can allow a person to stay lawfully while they wait for a decision or make arrangements to leave. Home Affairs describes Bridging visa E (subclasses 050 and 051) in those terms. The detailed wording on who can get one after a cancellation, and with what conditions, could not be retrieved when this page was checked, so it is not set out here. See bridging visas while you seek review.

The ART reviews decisions to cancel a bridging visa where the holder is in immigration detention because of that cancellation, and charges no fee for those applications.

Cancellation outside Australia

The Home Affairs form says a person whose visa was cancelled while they were outside Australia and who later travels will be refused immigration clearance. Home Affairs also lists cancellation for false documents or information, breach of a condition, a conviction in Australia, or no longer meeting the Genuine Student requirement as triggers for a re-entry ban. An exclusion period may last up to 3 years, although some people can be permanently excluded. The department says it will tell the person in writing what exclusion period applies. For temporary visas a person can ask to have the ban waived, with a written explanation of compassionate or compelling circumstances (page last updated 25 September 2026).

Review is a separate step

Applying to the Administrative Review Tribunal is a separate step with its own time limit, usually 28 days for general migration decisions and 9 days for expedited character reviews. The ART says a decision usually continues to operate during a review, and in migration reviews it cannot stay the decision. Status while a review is pending depends on whether the person holds another visa, such as a bridging visa. See visa cancellation explained and which visa refusals can the ART review.

Next step

Status can change on the day a visa is cancelled, so the timing matters. A registered migration agent, an Australian lawyer or a free legal service can look at a cancellation letter; see free and low-cost help. This is a general account of the law, not legal advice or immigration assistance, and the letter itself states any review rights and time limits.