When is the deadline for application to the high court for judicial review of a migration decision?
The catalogue records a 35 days period from the date of the migration decision, as defined by Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 477(3). This draft page remains free only until its source, worked example and limits are reviewed.
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Calculation basis and source
- Period
- 35 days
- Trigger
- the date of the migration decision, as defined by Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 477(3)
- Counting
- The encoded calculator method must be independently documented before publication.
- Rollovers and holidays
- Holiday, closure and order treatment must be independently documented before publication.
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- Section 486A(2) permits the High Court by order to extend the 35 day period as it considers appropriate, but only if (a) an application for that order has been made IN WRITING to the High Court specifying why the applicant considers it necessary in the interests of the administration of justice, and (b) the Court is satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice. The written application is a statutory precondition. The enlargement power in High Court Rules 2004 (Cth) r 4.02 does not assist, because it is confined to periods fixed by or under the Rules and this period is fixed by an Act.
- ADDED ON VERIFICATION. This deadline was missing from the researched catalogue and is the most frequently encountered time limit in the High Court's original jurisdiction. It is precisely the 'any other law [that] requires the application to be filed within a shorter period' contemplated by High Court Rules 2004 (Cth) r 25.02.2(b): where the impugned decision is a migration decision the applicable period is 35 days under s 486A(1), not the 6 month default for certiorari in r 25.02.2(a), and it applies to the whole application for a remedy in the original jurisdiction (prohibition, mandamus and injunction under s 75(v) of the Constitution as well as certiorari), not only to certiorari. Relying on the 6 month figure in a migration matter would put an application roughly five months out of time. The exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court, the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) over migration decisions is set by Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 484. Legislative history: the provision as originally enacted imposed a 28 day limit with no power to extend and was held invalid in Bodruddaza v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (2007) 228 CLR 651 as an impermissible curtailment of the jurisdiction conferred by s 75(v) of the Constitution; the present 35 day period with the s 486A(2) extension power replaced it. Because the period is fixed by an Act and not by the Rules, time is computed under Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 36, not under High Court Rules 2004 (Cth) r 4.01: the 5 day short-period rule in r 4.01.4 and the 4.00 pm cut-off in r 4.01.6 do not govern, and roll-forward is under s 36(2) to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, 'holiday' including a day on which the particular office at which the thing is to be done is closed for the whole day (s 36(3)(b)). Sections 486AA and 486AB deal respectively with intervention by the Attorney-General and with the fact that making the application does not affect the operation of the decision. Source: Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ss 477(3), 484, 486A, 486AA and 486AB, compilation in force 4 June 2026.