Can you apply onshore after a visa refusal? The section 48 bar

If your visa application was refused while you were in Australia and you no longer hold a substantive visa, section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 stops you from lodging most further visa applications while you remain onshore. A limited set of visa classes is carved out, and since 13 November 2021 that set has included three skilled options, one permanent and two provisional. What follows explains when the bar applies, what you can still apply for, and the choices open to you in 2026.

What the section 48 bar is

Section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 applies to a non-citizen who is in the migration zone, does not hold a substantive visa, and who since last entering Australia has either had a visa application refused or held a visa that was cancelled. A person in that position may apply only for a visa of a class prescribed by the regulations. Every other class is barred while they stay onshore.

Two elements do the work. A “substantive visa” is a visa other than a bridging visa, a criminal justice visa or an enforcement visa, so holding a bridging visa does not take you outside the bar. The trigger event must also have happened since you last entered Australia; a refusal before your most recent arrival does not count.

The prescribed classes that escape the bar are set out in regulation 2.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994. That provision defines everything you can lodge onshore, and it needs to be read closely.

Which refusals count, and which do not

The bar is directed at a refusal of a visa application or a cancellation of a visa, with some qualifications.

A refusal on certain narrow grounds does not activate the bar. Broadly, a refusal that turned only on a failure to meet health criteria, or that rested on a specific character-related public interest criterion in defined circumstances, may be excluded from the operation of section 48. These exclusions are technical. Whether a particular refusal falls inside or outside them turns on the precise ground the delegate relied on, so have the decision record checked rather than assuming the refusal is exempt.

Timing is a common point of confusion. The bar operates from the moment the trigger event occurs. If your application is refused and you lodge for merits review at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), the refusal has still happened for section 48 purposes; review does not undo it while it is pending. Review keeps you lawful on a bridging visa and preserves the chance of the decision being set aside. If the ART sets the refusal aside, the position changes. While the refusal stands, the bar remains.

What you can still apply for onshore

Regulation 2.12 prescribes the classes that a section 48 barred person may lodge in Australia. The following are the most frequently relevant.

The partner visa (subclass 820/801) is available onshore to a person who is section 48 barred, which is why it is often the realistic path for someone in a genuine and continuing relationship with an Australian partner. The first instalment of the Commonwealth charge for the partner visa is $11,710 (as at 5 July 2026, Department of Home Affairs), and the relationship and other criteria still have to be satisfied in full.

A protection visa can generally be applied for onshore despite section 48, subject to the separate and stricter bar in section 48A on repeat protection applications. Certain other humanitarian, medical treatment and specific bridging arrangements also sit within the prescribed classes.

Since the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Regulations 2021 (F2021L01483) commenced on 13 November 2021, a section 48 barred person may also apply onshore for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494), prescribed in paragraphs (s), (t) and (u) of regulation 2.12. Before that amendment, these skilled options were available only to applicants who could leave and apply offshore. The Commonwealth charge for a subclass 190 primary applicant is $6,140, and for a subclass 491 primary applicant is $6,140 (both as at 5 July 2026, Department of Home Affairs).

The skilled route carries an important condition. The concession lets you lodge onshore; it does not create the underlying eligibility. A subclass 190 or 491 application requires an invitation to apply following a valid expression of interest, and the 491 requires a state or territory or eligible family nomination. A subclass 494 application requires an approved regional nomination from the employer and satisfaction of the ordinary 494 criteria. Without that invitation or nomination, the ability to lodge onshore is of no use. The section 48 concession removes one obstacle and leaves the ordinary skilled criteria fully in place.

Which employer sponsored routes are barred onshore

Employers often ask whether they can sponsor a section 48 barred worker onshore. The nomination and sponsorship steps are lodged by the business, not the visa applicant, so those can proceed. The difficulty is the visa application itself. The Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) are not among the prescribed classes in regulation 2.12, so a section 48 barred person cannot validly lodge the visa application for those subclasses while onshore. The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) is different: its class is prescribed in paragraph 2.12(u), so a barred applicant with an approved regional nomination can lodge it in Australia.

A section 48 barred applicant being sponsored under the 482 or 186 usually has to depart Australia and lodge the visa application offshore once the nomination is approved, unless the position can properly be nominated under the regional 494 instead. That is a significant logistical and personal decision, and it needs to be planned around the nomination approval and any regional or occupation requirements. Our team can map the sequence before anyone commits to leaving.

Leaving Australia removes the bar

The section 48 bar operates only while you are in the migration zone. If you depart and lodge a visa application from outside Australia, section 48 does not apply to that application. For barred applicants who want a 482, a 186 or another non-prescribed visa, leaving and applying offshore is often the answer.

Departure carries its own risk. Leaving while a bridging visa is your only status can end that status, and re-entry depends on the offshore application and on any exclusion period or condition attaching to your history. A person who has had a visa refused or cancelled may also face a bar on the grant of a further temporary visa for a period, depending on the circumstances. Confirm that the offshore pathway is viable before deciding to leave; departure alone does not solve the problem.

Practical steps if you are section 48 barred

Obtain the exact refusal or cancellation decision and identify the ground it was based on. That determines whether the bar is triggered at all and whether any narrow exclusion applies. Then work through regulation 2.12 to see which prescribed classes you qualify for, because a section 48 barred applicant often has more options than the refusal letter suggests.

If a partner, protection or skilled prescribed pathway fits your circumstances, the onshore route may be open now. If the realistic option is a 482 or 186, the planning centres on an offshore application and the timing of departure; a regional 494 can be lodged onshore. If merits review of the original refusal is still available and the decision looks reviewable, that avenue can preserve both your lawful status and the chance of removing the trigger event altogether.

Section 48 is one of the most misunderstood provisions in the Act, and a wrong assumption about it can cost an applicant a valid application or an unnecessary departure. If you have had an onshore refusal or cancellation and want to know what you can lodge, our team advises on the fastest lawful pathway. Speak with us through our skilled visas or partner visas pages, or about an employer sponsored option, onshore under the 494 or offshore under the 482 or 186.

General information only, current at the date shown. It is not legal advice on your situation. To get advice on your matter, book a consultation.