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Home / Protection & humanitarian
Australia gives protection to people who are refugees, or who face a real risk of significant harm if returned. We prepare protection matters from the first statement to the final review.
Protection and humanitarian visas
Onshore protection and offshore humanitarian visas. Choose a visa for the full requirements.
New regulations started on 1 November 2026. They affect travel, bridging visas and Tribunal reviews for protection visa applicants. Get advice before you travel or lodge a review.
If your protection visa application is undecided, or you are seeking Tribunal or court review of a refusal, you can no longer get a bridging visa B. If you leave Australia, you will not be able to come back on a bridging visa, and your protection claim may effectively end.
For protection decisions made on or after 1 November 2026, a review fee of half the standard migration review fee ($1,863.50 at the start, indexed each year) is paid when you apply. It is waived if you are in immigration detention and fully refunded if the review succeeds.
Some bridging visa E grants, including some to protection visa applicants, can now include conditions requiring you not to engage in criminal conduct and to follow a code of behaviour. Breaching them can lead to cancellation.
Source: Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026. Further protection reforms announced in September 2026, such as faster Tribunal review and limits on work rights during review, are not yet law.
Onshore protection
Which protection visa applies depends mainly on how you arrived in Australia.
A permanent visa for people in Australia who engage Australia's protection obligations, either as a refugee or under complementary protection. Generally for people who arrived in Australia holding a valid visa.
A temporary protection visa for people who arrived in Australia without a valid visa or who were otherwise ineligible for a permanent Protection visa.
A temporary protection visa for people who arrived without a valid visa, linked to work or study in regional Australia.
A permanent visa that lets eligible TPV and SHEV holders, and those who held them, move to permanent residence.
The criteria
The Department first decides whether you are a refugee. If not, it considers whether complementary protection applies.
You have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, and you cannot get protection from your own country.
There are substantial grounds for believing there is a real risk you would suffer significant harm if returned, such as arbitrary deprivation of life, the death penalty, torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Our process
Credibility is central to most protection decisions. Careful preparation reduces the risk of inconsistencies between your statement, your interview and your documents.
We hear your story, look at your documents and explain whether the protection criteria may apply.
Identity documents, photos, screenshots, letters and records are numbered and indexed into an evidence bundle.
Documents and messages in Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Persian and other languages are translated for the Department.
Your account is drafted in your own words and checked for dates, places, names and consistency.
We research current country information and media reports and link them to each claim.
Legal submissions apply the refugee and complementary protection criteria to your evidence.
We prepare you for the protection interview and respond to any request for information or adverse information.
If the application is refused, we advise on review by the Administrative Review Tribunal and further options.
The interview
Offshore humanitarian
These visas are for people outside Australia and their home country. Places are limited and many applications rely on an Australian proposer.
For people outside their home country who are subject to persecution there. Usually referred by UNHCR.
For people still living in their home country who are subject to persecution there.
For people outside their home country subject to substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of human rights, proposed by an Australian citizen, permanent resident or organisation.
For people facing an urgent and immediate threat to their life or safety, referred in emergency circumstances.
For women outside their home country who are subject to persecution and have no male relative to protect them.
Documents
Bring what you have, even if documents are incomplete or not in English. We arrange translations.
Printable checklists →Questions
Most applicants who apply while holding a valid visa are granted a bridging visa. Whether it allows work depends on your circumstances and visa conditions. We check this when we lodge.
Since 1 November 2026, protection visa applicants, and people seeking review of a protection refusal, can't get a bridging visa B. If you leave Australia you won't be able to return on a bridging visa. Talk to us before making any travel plans.
Documents must be accompanied by an English translation. We arrange translations and present them alongside the originals.
You may be able to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for merits review, usually within 28 days. For decisions made on or after 1 November 2026, an upfront review fee applies unless you are in immigration detention, and it is refunded in full if the review succeeds. Contact us immediately. See Visa & citizenship refusals.
Yes. Registered migration agents must keep client information confidential under the Code of Conduct, and protection claims are treated with particular care.
Every protection case is different. Speak with us before you lodge or respond to the Department.
