Legal help: An Australian migration lawyer with Australian Migration Lawyers can check whether a ministerial intervention request is available after a tribunal decision before you lodge or reply.
The Minister has no duty to consider a request, and under the Ministerial Instructions of September 2025 the Department refers a request only if it meets at least one section 13 criterion, none of which is about a partner relationship. A request is made in writing through the Minister’s online contact form or by post, naming the power, the tribunal decision and the criterion relied on.
For a partner visa case, the starting question is therefore not simply whether the relationship is genuine. It is whether intervention is available after the tribunal decision, whether a listed criterion applies and whether the Instructions prevent referral.
Eligibility card
| Check | What it means |
|---|---|
| Tribunal decision made? | A request is possible only after an ART (or former AAT) decision (para 4). |
| Section 13 criterion met? | At least one of the listed criteria, for example being the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident child who was a minor when the request is made (para 13.1.1). |
| Any bar in paragraph 12? | Including: review or visa application still pending; outside Australia; unlawful without applying for a bridging visa; condition 8503 without a waiver request in the 3 months before (para 12.1.4). |
| Result | Referable to the Minister, who may still decline to consider it. |
Source: Ministerial Instructions (s 351 and s 501J), 4 and 17 September 2025; Home Affairs, read 3 October 2026. The checks work together: meeting a section 13 criterion does not remove a paragraph 12 bar or oblige the Minister to consider the request.
What is ministerial intervention?
Ministerial intervention is a discretionary power to substitute a more favourable decision after a tribunal decision. Under section 351 of the Migration Act 1958, the Minister may intervene if the Minister thinks doing so is in the public interest. The power is personal, and the Minister is not bound by the Migration Regulations when exercising it.
Section 351(7) of the Migration Act states that the Minister has no duty to consider whether to exercise the power. That is what “non-compellable” means: asking does not create an entitlement to consideration or intervention.
Home Affairs’ ministerial intervention page explains that requests do not form part of the statutory visa application process. A request is not a fresh visa application or another tribunal appeal.
The Migration Act’s section 417 was repealed on 14 October 2024; section 351 remains relevant to ART and eligible former AAT decisions, while section 501J covers protection decisions. The ART replaced the AAT on that same date, so older references to the AAT need to be read in that context.
When can you ask for ministerial intervention?
You can ask only after a tribunal decision exists. Paragraph 4 of the Ministerial Instructions also excludes cases where a Minister has already intervened, a court has quashed the tribunal decision, or the matter was remitted and re-decided.
Under paragraph 12.1 of the Ministerial Instructions, a request is inappropriate to refer in circumstances including:
- an ART review or substantive visa application is still pending;
- the person is outside Australia, including after departure;
- an unlawful non-citizen could apply for a bridging visa but has not applied;
- the person holds a Bridging visa E (BVE) with condition 8512;
- another intervention request is already pending;
- a remitted matter is still being considered; or
- the person is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Paragraph 11 of the Ministerial Instructions treats a new request as a repeat request if the Department notified a Minister’s personal decision to decline an earlier request less than two years before receiving the new one. Such requests are not referred, subject to the exception for class decisions inviting new requests.
A request does not itself stop removal: paragraph 1.5 of the Ministerial Instructions and section 197E of the Migration Act address that limit. Do not treat the request as permission to remain or as a substitute for checking your current visa status.
The Ministerial Instructions, the section 13 criteria and partner visa cases
The current Ministerial Instructions—requests for use of the Minister’s intervention powers under sections 351 and 501J were issued on 4 September 2025 and amended on 17 September 2025. They replaced the Minister’s Guidelines of 11 March 2016. The former “unique or exceptional circumstances” test is not the current referral test.
Section 13 of the Ministerial Instructions lists the referral criteria. In short form, they concern:
- 13.1.1 — Parent of a child: evidence that the requester is the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident child who was a minor when the request was made.
- 13.1.2 — Skilled work: current work in an occupation on the MLTSSL, STSOL, ROL or CSOL, with the skills assessment or qualification, work evidence and any employer support required by section 14.
- 13.1.3 — Former subclass 188 holder: now meeting the subclass 888 residence-time criterion.
- 13.1.4 — Carer of an Australian citizen: a Carer Visa Assessment Certificate with a minimum impairment rating of 30, plus evidence that the person needing care has no specified family member permanently resident in Australia and cannot access other care because providers have denied it.
- 13.1.5 — Protection finding: exclusion from a protection visa grant, or cancellation or refusal of one on character grounds, with a protection finding under section 197C of the Migration Act 1958.
- 13.1.6 — Immediate family of a child: the specified immediate family member of a child found to engage Australia’s non-refoulement obligations who holds or held a protection or humanitarian visa.
- 13.1.7 — Child in care: a requester under 18 in the care of a relevant state or territory welfare authority.
- 13.1.8 — Subclass 102 adoption: the person would meet clause 102.211(2) but for subparagraph (b)(ii) and was refused a visa for that reason.
- 13.1.9 — Long residence after childhood entry: first entry as a minor and residence in Australia for at least half the requester’s life, plus the specified Commonwealth medical assessment and no family in any country where the requester has a right to reside.
- 13.1.10 — Inability to return: authorities in every country of citizenship or usual residence refuse to cooperate to allow the requester’s voluntary return.
These are summaries, not the full eligibility wording. Read the relevant paragraph and its evidence requirements before relying on it; several criteria have conditions that a short description cannot capture.
There is no partner-relationship criterion in section 13. For a couple with children, paragraph 13.1.1 is the relevant criterion to examine if the requester is the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident child who was a minor when the request was made. Having an Australian partner alone does not meet that criterion.
Home Affairs’ ministerial intervention page also explains the treatment of older requests. Requests made before 12 April 2023 that were not already being considered were finalised by the Personal Procedural Decisions of 4 September 2025. Requests made from 12 April 2023 to the signing date were not considered further unless they fell within a referred class. A new request may be made.
Condition 8503 and intervention requests
Paragraph 12.1.4 is the Ministerial Instructions’ partner-specific rule. A request is inappropriate to refer if the person could apply for a partner visa in Australia but has condition 8503 and has not sought, or had decided, an 8503 waiver within the three months before the intervention request.
The three-month check concerns the waiver request or decision—not the date the relationship began. If your visa carries this no further stay condition, check the waiver history and dates before preparing an intervention request.
The waiver has its own legal test. Regulation 2.05(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires compelling and compassionate circumstances that developed since the visa grant, were beyond the person’s control and caused a major change in their circumstances. Home Affairs’ no further stay waiver page says marrying or beginning a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident is not a reason for a waiver.
Seeking a waiver for the intervention referral check is not the same as obtaining one. Home Affairs’ subclass 820 page says a waiver must be approved before applying for that visa.
How to request ministerial intervention
Make a written request that connects a qualifying tribunal decision to a documented section 13 criterion. Home Affairs’ ministerial intervention page explains the submission routes and required contents.
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Check the tribunal decision and referral bars. Obtain the decision and reasons, then check paragraphs 4 and 12 of the Ministerial Instructions. Include your current visa status, pending applications and any previous intervention requests in that check.
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Identify the section 13 criterion. Name the paragraph relied on and explain which facts satisfy it. Paragraph 6 of the Ministerial Instructions requires the request to identify the relevant criteria; a general account of hardship is not a substitute.
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Write the request and organise its evidence. Identify section 351, the tribunal decision and the section 13 criterion or criteria relied on. Explain the connection between each requirement and the supporting documents. Home Affairs requires certified copies and NAATI translations for relevant documents.
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Send it through an official route. Home Affairs directs requests to the Minister’s “Contact the Minister” online form, or by post to: Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, PO Box 6022, House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600.
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Keep visa status separate from the request. Check how to remain lawful and apply for a bridging visa where eligible. Paragraph 12.1 of the Ministerial Instructions can prevent referral where an unlawful person could apply for a bridging visa but has not done so. If correspondence asks for further information, check and respond to the deadline stated in it.
Preparing a section 351 request for a fee is immigration assistance under section 276(2A) of the Migration Act; an Australian legal practitioner may provide it in connection with legal practice under section 280(3).
How long intervention takes and how often it succeeds
There is no reliable processing estimate to give from the available government information. Section 351(7) of the Migration Act makes consideration non-compellable. Referral is not a promise that the Minister will consider the request or intervene.
The Department told Senate Estimates in February 2026 that, from 1 July to 30 November 2025, 255 section 351 matters were referred to a Minister and 157 interventions occurred. These figures cover all case types, not only partner cases, and count requests rather than people.
Those numbers are not a success rate. The Department warned that some interventions could relate to earlier referrals, so the counts are not one matched group followed from referral to outcome. Partner-specific outcomes were unavailable in standard departmental reporting.
Where intervention occurs in a family visa case, Ministerial Direction 117, section 8(3)(a), places ministerial intervention cases first within each applicable processing group. That processing order does not provide an intervention-request timeframe.
When an intervention request needs a lawyer
Ask an Australian migration lawyer to check that an ART decision exists, screen the paragraph 12 bars and match any request to a section 13 criterion supported by documents.
For a partner visa matter, useful preparation includes the tribunal decision, current visa details, any condition 8503 waiver correspondence and previous intervention outcomes. A lawyer can check the dates, identify missing evidence and distinguish the relationship history from the separate referral criterion.
If the tribunal review is still running, start with the ART appeal process rather than treating intervention as a parallel request.
What is ministerial intervention in Australia?
Under section 351 of the Migration Act, it is the Minister’s personal public-interest power to replace a tribunal decision with a more favourable one. It is available only after a qualifying tribunal decision, and the Minister need not consider a request.
How can I request ministerial intervention in Australia?
Home Affairs directs you to request it in writing through the Minister’s online contact form or by post. Name the power, tribunal decision and section 13 criterion relied on, with supporting documents.
What are the criteria for a ministerial intervention request?
The Ministerial Instructions require at least one section 13 criterion and no applicable referral bar. None of the section 13 criteria is about a partner relationship.
How long does a ministerial intervention take?
Section 351(7) of the Migration Act does not oblige the Minister to consider a request. The available government information does not establish a dependable processing time for your request.