Section 501 - Character Cancellation

Cancellation of Australian Permanent Residence Visa’s Under Section 501

People holding Australian permanent residence visas that commit criminal offences in Australia can have their visas cancelled. Obtaining permanent residence does not protect you from having your visa cancelled on the grounds that you are a person of bad character.

If you are perceived to be a person who is a risk to the Australian community the government will consider using the power created in section 501 of the Migration act 1958 to cancel your permanent residence visa.

The first stage is to send you a notice warning you that the government is considering cancelling your visa and inviting you to provide a response as to why you say that your visa should not be cancelled.

Your response will then be taken into consideration and a decision will then be made either to cancel your visa or not. A decision to not cancel your visa can be revisited if you then commit a further criminal offence or are otherwise involved  in conduct that engages the section 501 cancellation power.

Conviction for the commission of a single, but more severe, criminal offence alone may be sufficient grounds for the Australian government using the section 501 cancellation power to cancel your visa or repeated convictions for less sever criminal offences  can also lead to the cancellation of your visa.

People in Australian prisons holding temporary or permanent residence visas can have their visas cancelled before serving the full term of their sentence and are usually taken into immigration detention at the end of the sentence to await deportation from Australia unless the cancellation of their visa is challenged in the appropriate Australian Tribunal or Court.

If you have received a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC), or hold an Australian visa and have committed a criminal offence, it is essential that you have expert advice and assistance in dealing with the Australian government in defense of your Australian visa as responding to the notice of intended cancellation is one of the most critical stages of the section 501 cancellation process.

If you have received a NOICC, or hold a visa and have committed a criminal offence, please call Ray Turner or Stewart Coulson immediately for a confidential discussion on +61 (0)2 9264 4654 or email info@tcilawyers.com.au

This article should not be taken as legal advice and cannot be relied upon as a complete or accurate representation of the law. It is meant to be indicative only and should be seen as a general informative guide to Australian immigration law principles.