Ministerial intervention in Australia: requesting it, and holding a Bridging visa E while you wait

Updated 3 October 2026

Ministerial intervention lets the Minister replace a tribunal decision with a more favourable one under section 351 or 501J, but only after an ART or former AAT decision.

You ask in writing, there is no timeframe, and a request does not stop removal unless the Minister decides to consider it (section 197E).

A first request under section 351 can support a Bridging visa E (subclass 050) that lasts until a date the Minister sets (cl 050.212(6), 050.517).

These powers sit in the Migration Act 1958; the visa rules sit in the Migration Regulations 1994. Home Affairs’ Ministerial intervention page explains how requests are lodged and assessed. Before lodging, check your tribunal decision, the referral criteria and your current visa position.

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Ministerial intervention at a glance

• Who can ask: a person with an ART (or former AAT) decision.
• How: in writing, by the online form or by post.
• Timeframe: none; the Minister does not have to consider a request.
• Removal: a request does not stop removal (section 197E).
• Bridging visa E: first request only, ending on a date the Minister sets.

These points reflect the Home Affairs Ministerial intervention page, section 197E of the Migration Act 1958 and clauses 050.212(6) and 050.517 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

Current position

Request timing: Home Affairs sets no time limit for making a request, but section 197E of the Migration Act 1958 does not stop removal unless the Minister decides to consider exercising the power.

Who can ask for Ministerial intervention?

Ministerial intervention is a personal, non-compellable power under sections 351 and 501J of the Migration Act 1958. “Non-compellable” means the Minister does not have to consider or exercise it.

1. A person with a review tribunal decision. Home Affairs’ Ministerial intervention page requires an Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) decision, or a decision from the former AAT (replaced by the ART on 14 October 2024).

2. The person or an authorised representative can request it. Home Affairs says family members can be included only if they also had a tribunal decision.

3. Some decisions cannot support a request. Home Affairs says intervention is unavailable without a tribunal decision, after the Minister has already intervened to grant a visa, if a court quashed the decision, or if the tribunal remitted the matter and a later decision was made.

4. Earlier protection tribunal decisions may still matter. Section 417 of the Migration Act 1958 was repealed on 14 October 2024. Home Affairs says section 351 can still be used where an earlier tribunal decision had enlivened section 417.

Section 48B of the Migration Act 1958 is a separate power allowing a further protection visa application where section 48A otherwise bars it.

What are the criteria in the 2025 Ministerial Instructions?

The Ministerial Instructions under sections 351 and 501J of the Migration Act 1958 were issued on 4 September 2025 and amended on 17 September 2025. They replaced the Minister’s Guidelines of 11 March 2016. As at 3 October 2026, no change has been published since in the primary sources checked.

Section 13 of the Ministerial Instructions sets out these ten referral criteria. They concern whether a request is referred, not an entitlement to intervention.

1. You are the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident child who is a minor.

2. You work in a skilled occupation on the MLTSSL, STSOL, ROL or CSOL occupation lists, with evidence of your skills.

3. You formerly held a subclass 188 visa and meet the relevant subclass 888 time criteria.

4. You care for an Australian citizen with a CVAC impairment rating of 30 or more, and the care is otherwise unavailable.

5. You were excluded from protection or refused on character grounds and have a section 197C protection finding.

6. You are immediate family of a child found to engage non-refoulement obligations who holds or held a protection or humanitarian visa.

7. You are a minor in State or Territory care.

8. You meet clause 102.211(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994 except for paragraph (b)(ii).

9. You entered Australia as a minor, have lived here for at least half your life, would suffer adverse health effects if returned, and have no family abroad.

10. You cannot be returned because the country concerned will not cooperate.

“Non-refoulement” refers to obligations not to return someone to certain kinds of harm. A protection finding is distinct from a visa grant.

The Minister’s personal procedural decisions of 4 September 2025 finalised older requests not already under personal consideration, subject to the specified exceptions and annexures. Home Affairs says affected people can make a new request under the new Instructions.

How do you lodge a request?

The Home Affairs Ministerial intervention page sets out four practical steps:

1. Write the request. Ministerial intervention must be requested in writing.

2. Identify the people and legal basis. Include each person, the power relied on, the tribunal decision, the section 13 criteria relied on and all relevant information.

3. Attach certified copies of supporting documents. Do not send USB drives or other devices.

4. Send it through the “Contact the Minister” online form or by post. Home Affairs gives this postal address: PO Box 6022, House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600.

Check the timing of any BVE application before lodging. The non-referral rules below and the first-request visa rules later on this page both matter; the correct lodging order requires advice on your circumstances.

Which requests are not referred to the Minister?

Sections 11–12 of the 2025 Ministerial Instructions identify requests that are “inappropriate to refer”. These are finalised without referral to the Minister, including the following six groups.

1. A request is already pending, or you repeat a recently declined request. The Instructions cover a repeat of a request personally declined by the Minister where notification occurred less than two years before.

2. You are unlawful in the community and have not made an available bridging visa application. Paragraph 12.1.3 applies if you are not in immigration detention, can make a valid bridging visa application, but have not done so when the intervention request is lodged.

3. You hold a BVE with condition 8512 (leave Australia by the date specified by the Minister). Paragraph 12.1.10 makes this a non-referral ground; Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 sets out the condition.

4. An 8503 waiver could have been sought but was not. Paragraph 12.1.4 addresses not seeking a waiver within the three months before the request. If you had an 8503 visa condition, check the waiver position before relying on intervention.

5. You are outside Australia, or have a pending visa application or tribunal review. The Ministerial Instructions treat these as inappropriate to refer.

6. A notice of intention to remove has issued, or your claims concern only non-refoulement. Paragraph 12.1.9 addresses the removal notice. For claims solely about non-refoulement, the Instructions identify section 48B or a protection visa application as the route.

Items 2 and 3 are the two bridging-visa-related checks to examine closely: whether an available application has been made, and whether an existing BVE carries condition 8512.

How long does Ministerial intervention take?

There is no set number of days, weeks or months. The Home Affairs Ministerial intervention page states: “The minister is not required to consider a request and is not bound by any timeframes.” It also says requests “do not form part of the statutory visa application process”.

Your visa end date is a separate issue. Under clause 050.517 of the Migration Regulations 1994, a BVE held for a pending intervention request ends on a date the Minister specifies—not automatically whenever the request is decided.

Does a request stop removal?

No—not merely because you lodged it. Section 197E of the Migration Act 1958, inserted from 5 December 2024, says a request does not stop removal.

Only if the Minister decides to consider exercising a Ministerial intervention power is removal suspended under section 197E. That suspension lasts six months from the decision, or a later agreed day, and can end earlier if the Minister decides not to intervene or stops considering the matter.

Holding a Bridging visa E while Ministerial intervention is pending

First request only

Under clauses 050.212(6)(c) and 050.212(5B)(c) of the Migration Regulations 1994, the request-based BVE grounds require a first request. You must not previously have sought, or been the subject of, a section 351, repealed section 417 or section 48B request.

Clause 050.212(6) names section 351, not section 501J. A pending section 501J request does not itself meet that particular BVE ground.

At the same time, paragraph 12.1.3 of the Ministerial Instructions treats an unlawful person in the community as inappropriate to refer if they could make a valid bridging visa application but have not done so when lodging the request. The order matters, but these provisions do not establish one lodging sequence for everyone; seek legal advice about the ground available to you and the timing.

Conditions and work

Under clause 050.615 of the Migration Regulations 1994, if you stayed lawful from final determination of your substantive application until the request, condition 8101 (no work) carries over only if it was on your last visa. Condition 8116 (work only in an activity specified by legislative instrument) also carries over if it was on that visa.

If you were unlawful at any time during that period, clause 050.615A requires condition 8101 unless condition 8116 is imposed.

Page 1 of Home Affairs’ Form 1008 says that, for a first intervention request made from 1 July 2009, work is permitted only if your last bridging visa allowed work and you remained lawful during that period.

A different rule applies after intervention where a section 85 visa cap blocks the visa grant. Clause 050.212(6A) of the Migration Regulations 1994 allows a BVE with work rights on a compelling-need-to-work basis in that situation.

The request alone does not establish permission to work. Read the separate guide to Bridging visa E work rights alongside your visa conditions.

The end date the Minister sets

Under clause 050.517 of the Migration Regulations 1994, this BVE ends on the date the Minister specifies. Before that date, assess the next step: whether another BVE ground is available, or arrangements to depart.

Getting help with a Ministerial intervention request and your BVE

1. Before a request, check your decision and visa position. Home Affairs requires a tribunal decision first; if you are earlier in the process, see how to ask the ART to review a refused visa. Keep to every visa condition while you wait, and understand what happens if you breach a Bridging visa E condition. Another ground may be relevant to your circumstances, so compare each Bridging visa E ground.

2. Check the dated rules and seek a review before lodging. The change log for Bridging visa E new rules records the 2025 Instructions and their amendment. An Australian migration lawyer can check your request history, tribunal decision, referral criteria and evidence against those rules.

Can I make a second request if the first is declined?

A second request is not automatically referable. Under the 2025 Ministerial Instructions, a repeat of a request personally declined and notified less than two years before is inappropriate to refer; clauses 050.212(6) and (5B) of the Migration Regulations 1994 also restrict the request-based BVE grounds to first requests.

Can I ask for Ministerial intervention without going to the ART first?

No. Home Affairs’ Ministerial intervention page says these powers apply only after a review tribunal decision: the ART, or the former AAT.

Does the ART fee come back if the Minister intervenes?

Regulation 4.31C(1)(b) of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides for a refund or waiver of the ART fee where the Minister substitutes a decision under section 351 or former section 417.

Are protection decisions covered?

Yes. Section 501J of the Migration Act 1958 covers protection decisions, but the pending-request BVE ground in clause 050.212(6) of the Migration Regulations 1994 names section 351 only.

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Only a first request can support the request-based BVE ground under the Migration Regulations 1994. The Ministerial Instructions also provide for finalisation without referral where a rule is missed—for example, an available bridging visa application has not been made when the request is lodged, or an available 8503 waiver was not sought. A Bridging visa E lawyer, who is an Australian migration lawyer, can check first-request eligibility, the referral rules and supporting documents before lodgement.