Australian Refugee Visas and Humanitarian Visas

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.

An internally displaced person (IDP) is a person who has been forced to flee his or her home for the same reason as a refugee, but remains in his or her own country and has not crossed an international border. Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid. As the nature of war has changed in the last few decades, with more and more internal conflicts replacing wars among countries, the number of IDPs has increased significantly.

A stateless person is someone who is not a citizen of any country. Citizenship is the legal bond between a government and an individual, and allows for certain political, economic, social and other rights of the individual, as well as the responsibilities of both government and citizen. A person can become stateless due to a variety of reasons, including sovereign, legal, technical or administrative decisions or oversights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underlines that “Everyone has the right to a nationality.”

When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum – the right to be recognized as a refugee and receive legal protection and material assistance. An asylum seeker must demonstrate that his or her fear of persecution in his or her home country is well-founded.

An economic migrant normally leaves a country voluntarily to seek a better life. Should he or she decide to return home, they would continue to receive the protection of his or her government. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes.

The 1951 Geneva Convention is the main international instrument of refugee law. The Convention clearly spells out who a refugee is and the kind of legal protection, other assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the countries who have signed the document. The Convention also defines a refugee’s obligations to host governments and certain categories or people, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status. The Convention was limited to protecting mainly European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but another document, the 1967 Protocol, expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displacement spread around the world.

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Yes, the 1951 Convention only protects persons who meet the criteria for refugee status. Certain categories of people are considered not to deserve refugee protection and should be excluded from such protection. This includes persons for whom there are serious reasons to suspect that:

Either they have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity or a serious non-political crime outside their country of refuge; or they are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Examples of persecution include:

• real threats to life and liberty;
• harassment, detention or arrest;
• slavery;
• confiscation of property; and
• re-education or forced direction.

The discrimination may include:

• not being allowed to make a living;
• intervention in the person’s privacy;
• refusing entry to education;
• being watched all the time;
• taking away the rights of citizenship; and
• refusing to supply a passport.

• Whether applicants have a “compelling reason” to be admitted as a refugee. This depends on a. the level of persecution/discrimination, b. any connections with Australia, c. whether another country can provide residency, and d. the capacity of the Australian community to accommodate them;
• Whether the applicant can safely return to their home country;
• Whether the applicant is under pressure to leave their home country;
• Whether there is close family or other ties in another country that would accept them;
• Whether the persecution/discrimination is connected to the applicant’s race, religion, political opinion or the like.

On average, the Service Standard for processing Offshore Australian Humanitarian Visas is 12 months.

For Offshore Humanitarian visas there is NO fee. For Onshore Humanitarian visas there is a fee of $35.00 AUD