What is a Freedom of Information request?
A written request to a government agency for documents it holds, made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. In an immigration matter it means asking Home Affairs for its own file on you: the applications, the correspondence, and the reasoning behind a decision.
Two Acts do this work, and one form covers both. A straightforward request for your own personal information is usually handled under the Privacy Act and answered within 30 days. Where it is complex, or where the Privacy Act cannot reach the documents, the Department treats it as an FOI request instead. You can also ask for it to be an FOI request from the start, and the FOI clock then runs from the day you ask.
The form is 424A, Request for access to documents or information. It is free, and it can be posted, emailed to the Department's FOI section, or lodged through the Department's online form. Nothing on this page requires an agent. What an agent is for is deciding what to ask for and reading what comes back.
Do you need an FOI request at all?
Often not. There are five ways to your own records, four of them cost nothing and none of those four is an FOI request. The Department itself asks you to check them before making one.
| Route | What it holds | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| ImmiAccount | The applications you lodged online, what was attached to them, and where each one got to. | Free, and open now |
| VEVO | The visa you hold today, the conditions on it and when it ends. | Free, and open now |
| International movement records | The dates you entered and left Australia, and the passport you used. | Free, on a form of its own |
| Client merits review file request | The file the Department gives the Tribunal, where a review of a migration or protection decision is already on foot. Not available for citizenship or character decisions. | Free, and prioritised if you have a hearing date |
| FOI or Privacy Act request, form 424A | What the Department holds about you that the four routes above do not reach, subject to the exemptions in the Act. | No charge for your own personal information |
The fourth one is the one people miss
If a review of a migration or protection decision is already before the Administrative Review Tribunal, you can ask the Department for a copy of the review file: the decision record and the documents it is giving the Tribunal. It is free, it is separate from the FOI queue, and the Department prioritises it where there is a hearing date. It is not available for citizenship decisions or decisions made on character grounds, and it does not include information protected under the Privacy Act.
An FOI request does not stop the clock.
If a visa has been refused or cancelled, the deadline to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal keeps running while you wait for documents. On migration and protection decisions the Tribunal says plainly: “We have no power to extend the time limit to apply for a review.”
The Tribunal publishes its time limits and its own wording on extensions at art.gov.au, and they vary by decision type and by whether the person is in immigration detention. Read the decision letter for the one that applies to you, and if the date is close, get advice the same week rather than waiting for paperwork.
What is on a Home Affairs file?
Whatever the Department has actually kept, which is more than most people expect and never exactly what they picture. These are the things people ask for.
- The application as it was lodged, and the documents that went with it.
- The decision record, which sets out the reasoning at more length than the letter you were sent.
- Correspondence about your case, including correspondence with people other than you.
- Notes made by the officer who assessed it.
- Information the Department obtained from elsewhere and took into account.
- Your movement records, if you ask for them as part of the same request.
That is a list of what to ask for, not a list of what arrives. What comes back is what the Department holds and what the Act allows it to release, and nobody can tell you in advance which of these is on your file or how much of it will be readable. A request that names documents precisely gets a better answer than one that asks for everything, which is most of the skill in writing one.
What Jenny does with an FOI matter
Five things, and the first one is the one that sometimes ends the engagement before it starts.
Works out whether you need one
Four of the five routes cost nothing. Jenny checks what you already hold and what those four would answer before she prepares a request for anything.
Prepares and lodges the request
A valid request has to describe the documents in enough detail for the Department to find them. One that is too broad comes back to be narrowed, and that costs weeks.
Asks for the records behind a refusal
Where an application was refused or a visa cancelled, the request names the documents that go to that decision rather than asking for the file in general.
Reads what comes back
Including the parts that were withheld and the reason given for withholding them. A refusal to release is itself a decision, and a decision can be reviewed.
Says what it means for the next step
Whether the documents change anything, what a future application would have to deal with, and when the honest answer is that the file tells you nothing you did not already know.
Records are usually a step towards something else: a fresh application, a review, or a decision about whether either is worth making. Where a refusal is what brought you here, start with the deadlines on the refusals page, because those run whether or not anyone has your file yet. Jenny will say whether the documents are likely to add anything before she asks you to pay for them. Her fee is quoted in writing before any work begins, and the Department's own charges, where any apply, are named separately from it.
What does an FOI request cost, and how long does it take?
Nothing, for your own personal information. There is no fee to make an FOI request, and no processing charge for a document that contains your personal information. Thirty days is the standard time to answer.
Charges only arise for documents that are not about you, such as policy documents or another person's records. They are set by the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 and the first five hours of decision making are free. If an agency estimates a charge, you have 30 days to dispute it or ask for it to be reduced, and it has 30 days to answer you.
| Work | Charge |
|---|---|
| Search and retrieval | $15 an hour |
| Decision making | $20 an hour, and the first 5 hours are free |
| Photocopying | 10 cents a page |
| Transcript | $4.40 a page |
| Supervised inspection | $6.25 a half hour |
| Delivery | The cost of postage |
Thirty days runs from the day the Department receives a valid request, and it can be extended. A request that touches other people usually takes longer, because the Department has to consult them first, and a request too broad to process comes back to you to be narrowed rather than being answered. Neither Jenny nor anyone else can tell you when a particular request will be decided, and nobody can speed it up.
What if pages come back blacked out?
Redactions are normal, and a decision to withhold something can be reviewed twice, both times for free.
The Act lets an agency refuse access to exempt documents, and on an immigration file the exemptions that come up most protect other people's personal information and the Department's own operations. The decision has to tell you what was withheld and why. The Information Commissioner's guidance on exemptions sets out how each one is meant to be applied.
Internal review
Someone other than the original decision maker looks at it again. Apply in writing within 30 days of being notified. There is no fee, and the decision is due within 30 days.
Information Commissioner review
An external review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Apply within 60 days. There is no fee, and you can go straight there without asking for an internal review first.
Your own records, answered plainly.
Worth knowing what is on the file before you decide anything.
What was applied for, what happened to it, and what you have been told since. Jenny will say which route reaches the records you want, whether an FOI request is one of them, and what the answer would change.
Indicative guidance only, not migration advice. Your details stay private.
Written and checked by Jenny Satya Graha, Registered Migration Agent MARN 0429372. Every process, charge and time limit on this page was checked on 31 August 2026 against the Department of Home Affairs pages on personal access requests and the client merits review file request, form 424A, the Information Commissioner on charges and the Administrative Review Tribunal. Procedures, charges and time limits are set by the Australian Government and change. Check those pages to confirm anything above, including the time limit that applies to your own decision.