AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Changes in Australia visa appeal system for refugees

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

A recent High Court ruling has encouraged thousands of asylum seekers who have had their Australian Visa applications rejected to appeal the decision. This has forced the Government of Australia to make changes to the appeal system.

In one case last November, the High Court decided that two Tamil asylum seekers were denied procedural fairness after their applications for Australian visas were rejected.

After the High Court ruled that Australia's existing refugee processing procedures were unfair, there was an increase in the number of appeals from asylum seekers. In response to this, the government has made plans to improve the Australian visa appeal system.

The government is now working on a three-pronged overhaul, according to Australia Immigration Minister Chris Bowen. "Firstly, to ensure a robust and fair refugee assessment process to ensure that procedural fairness is built into the process and the chance of successful judicial appeal is minimised... Secondly, that the refugee process is as efficient and speedy as possible and thirdly to make endeavours to ensure the process of judicial review itself is as speedy and efficient as possible." The new process will come into effect on March 1.

If you are interested in Australian Visas, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Australia.