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“There are five steps in the protection visa application process,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“First, we do an Initial consultation and eligibility assessment and then we lodge the application. Once we receive a confirmation of application from the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA), the processing time is generally around six weeks. You will then receive an invitation to a biometrics appointment, where the DOHA will take your fingerprints and a digital photograph. At this stage, DOHA may ask for additional evidence to support your application,” says Mario.

“Following your biometrics appointment, the next step is to attend an interview with the DOHA. Here, they’ll cover health, character and security checks. If you meet the conditions of the visa and have a successful interview with the Department of Home Affairs, your protection visa will be granted,” says Mario.

“If your protection visa is refused, there is a small window in which you can apply for a review – your PAX lawyer will help you to act quickly and provide you with any urgent legal advice,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“To be eligible for an Australian protection visa, you must either be determined to be a refugee, face a real risk of significant harm if returned to your home country, or be a member of the same family unit as a person who meets this criteria,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

To be a refugee in Australia, you must be assessed as meeting certain legal criteria. Under these provisions, a refugee is:

• outside their country of nationality or former home country); and
• due to a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’, is unable or unwilling to return to their home country or to seek the protection of that country

This definition looks to the future, not the past. You must have a well-founded fear of persecution and there is a real chance they will be persecuted in your home country now, if you were to return. But past events can establish a real chance of persecution if you were to return.

Having a well-founded fear of persecution must be due to your race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or your political opinion.

“Complementary protection is protection that is available if you are not a refugee under the law, but you cannot return to your home country if there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk you will suffer ‘significant harm’ if you were removed from Australia to your home country,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

Significant harm means:

• arbitrary deprivation of life
• the death penalty
• torture
• cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment
• degrading treatment or punishment

Significant harm does not include circumstances where:

• it would be reasonable for you to relocate to an area of the country where there would not be a real risk that you will suffer significant harm
• you could obtain protection from the authority of the country so that there would not be a real risk that you will suffer significant harm
• the real risk is one faced by the population of the country generally and is not faced by you personally

If you are granted a protection visa, you won’t be able to travel to the country you have sought protection​ from without permission from the Department of Home Affairs. You will need permission even if your family lives there. If you do enter the country from which you were granted protection without written approval, you will breach your visa condition. As a result, your visa may be cancelled, as well as the visas of any dependent family members.

If you hold a permanent residency subclass 866 protection visa, you can travel to any other country.

If you hold a temporary subclass 785 or subclass 790 visa, you must obtain written approval to travel by the Department of Home Affairs, due to compassionate or compelling circumstances.

“Yes, you may be able to apply for Australian citizenship after being granted a protection visa, if you hold a Subclass 866 Permanent Protection visa and meet the additional requirements,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“Yes, you can work in Australia while on a protection visa. If you have a Subclass 866 protection visa, you are allowed to live, work and study in Australia,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.

“Protection visas allow married or de facto partners, dependent children and other dependent relatives to stay in Australia without needing to apply for separate visas like a partner visa or children’s visa,” says Mario Amor, Principal Lawyer at PAX Law and a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales.