Australia Visa refund due to COVID

SpecialK84

Hi, 

On the 16th May 2020 we applied for a Skilled - Nominated (subclass 190) visa for Australia. Our invite to reply was received the day the UK went into lock down and as you only have 60 days to submit the application we proceeded at risk rather than lose the invite. However, we did not at the time fully appreciate the impact of COVID on the world, including the closure of Australia’s boarders and the delays in processing time of the VISA. On the 19th July 2021 as the visa processing time just kept on going up and Australia was still in the midst of COVID lockdowns we may the decision to withdraw our visa application and formally request a refund (withdrawal acknowledged by IMMI on the 31/08/2021). We submitted the refund request (stating department error due to delayed processing of the application due to COVID) and on 7th October 2021 received a formal letter (via email) declining the refund (quoting that there was no legislative basis for this and that ‘change of mind’ is not a valid reason for providing a refund’). In our eyes as the application was not processed we paid for a service which was not performed as should be able to seek a refund. Note the visa application charge was paid by credit card (MasterCard) and approx £3,800.

I am seeking advice as to whether we have any option to further pursue the refund via:
1) Credit card Chargeback? Although it is >540 days since the original application
2) Section 75?
3) Any other means? Note in the refund refusal letter it states we have no ‘right of appeal’.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

There's no other options, as you're not entitled to a refund. A chargeback would have been reversed and the card provider wouldn't uphold a s75 claim.

It's just one to chalk up to experience, unfortunately.

JJ_Egan

Would this not come under the laws of Australia .