Protection visa review fee now payable upfront, and Protection visa applicants can no longer get a Bridging visa B, from 1 November 2026

The Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026 were made on 29 October 2026 and commenced on 1 November 2026. They make three changes.

An upfront fee for review of a protection decision

An application to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of a reviewable protection decision must now be accompanied by the prescribed fee. The fee is 50% of the fee for review of a reviewable migration decision. The explanatory statement gives it as $1,863.50 at commencement, indexed each year.

Before this change the fee was payable only if the review was unsuccessful. The new fee applies to an application for review made on or after 1 November 2026; the earlier rules continue for applications made before that date.

The fee is not payable if the applicant is in immigration detention, or if the application is combined with another application for which the fee is paid. The whole fee must be refunded in these cases:

• the applicant was not entitled to apply, or the decision is not reviewable by the ART;
• the ART varies the decision, sets it aside and substitutes a new decision, or remits the matter for reconsideration;
• the Minister issues a conclusive certificate, or substitutes a more favourable decision under section 351;
• the application is withdrawn because the applicant has died.

No Bridging visa B for Protection visa applicants

A Bridging visa B application must now be made in association with a valid application for a substantive visa other than a Protection visa. A person whose Protection visa application has not been finally determined or withdrawn, including while proceedings about the decision on it have not been completed, cannot make a valid Bridging visa B application or be granted one.

The Department of Home Affairs states that Bridging visa B applications lodged before 1 November 2026 will continue to be processed, and that a person whose Bridging visa B travel facility has expired cannot apply for another one or request further travel.

New conditions on some Bridging visa E grants

The Minister may now impose condition 8564 (must not engage in criminal conduct) and condition 8566 (code of behaviour) on certain Bridging visa E grants.

If this affects you

The ART application deadline still runs from the date the refusal is notified. Provide us with the refusal decision and the notification letter as soon as it arrives. How review works after a refusal is set out in our visa refusal guide.