Permanent Residence for Protection Visa
IMMIGRATION
Good news or not good news? Lots of our kababayan were happy with the announcement on 14/02/2023 that the Australian government will grant permanent residence to about 19,000 protection visa holders.
It’s true but under this visa called Resolution of Status (subclass 851), the applicant must be a holder of TPV (Temporary Protection visa) or SHEV (Safe Haven Enterprise visa) and must have entered Australia in late 2013 before the start of Operation Sovereign Borders.
Your questions would then be:
What if I have a pending protection visa application – can I apply for this new PR visa?
The answer is no because you are not a holder of TPV or SHEV.
However, if you applied for protection visa before 14.02.2023 and you meet the criteria for TPV or SHEV, your application will be converted automatically into a Resolution of Status visa and you will be granted permanent residence.
People from Iran, Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar and Sri Lanka will benefit this concession as most of them fits the definition of a refugee as they are unable to return to their country of origin because of fear of being persecuted by reason of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Citizens of the Philippines hardly gets their refugee or asylum claims approved as in most decisions I read, the decision maker in denying a protection visa application is of the view that the Philippine government has a functional institution including the judiciary and Police where the applicant can seek redress. If you need further information, please ring Mr. Jessie Icao, immigration lawyer on 0412269439, or use the Contact Us form that is available on this website.