Section 501 Cancellation

Section 501 Cancellation - Cancellation on character grounds.

If your visa has been cancelled because you have failed the character test – also known as section 501 cancellation – then you can still appeal the decision, but you cannot be granted another visa unless and until your appeal is successful.
Under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) a non-citizen’s visa may be refused or cancelled if they do not pass the character test.

What is the character test?

The character test is defined under section 501(6) and a person will fail it if they:

have a substantial criminal record
have been convicted of escaping from immigration detention.
have committed offences whilst in immigration detention
have been a member of, or had associations with, an organisation involved in criminal conduct.
is reasonably suspected of being involved with people smuggling, people trafficking, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity
have convictions for one or more sexually based offences involving a child
are the subject of an adverse assessment by ASIO
an Interpol notice has been issued from which it would be reasonable to conclude that they present a risk to the Australian community.

The most common cause of failure of the character test is having a substantial criminal record.

What is a ‘substantial criminal record’?

Under section 501(7) a person has a substantial criminal record if they have been:

sentenced to a term of imprisonment for 12 months or more.
sentenced to death
sentenced to life imprisonment
acquitted of an offence on the grounds of mental illness and, as a result, detained in a facility or institution
found by a court not fit to plead and the court has nonetheless made a finding of guilt on the evidence available and they have been detained in a facility or institution