Protection Visa Interview Preparation

Protection Visa Interview Preparation: The Short Answer

Protection visa interview preparation is the work done between the invitation and the interview to make sure the officer receives complete, consistent and accurate evidence. Good protection visa interview preparation has four parts. You review everything the Department already holds. You build a clear chronology. You deal with weaknesses in writing before the interview. You then prepare yourself and your documents for the day.

The interview for a Subclass 866 Protection visa is usually the most important event in the application. The Department states that the interview is an opportunity for you to clarify the claims in your application. It also warns that it may decide the application on the information it holds, and that you may not get another opportunity to present your claims. Protection visa interview preparation is therefore not optional work. It is the last planned chance to put the case properly.

This guide sets out protection visa interview preparation as a sequence of steps. For the questions themselves, see our guide to protection visa interview questions. For what happens on the day, see our page on the protection visa interview and our article on how to prepare for the interview and when to hire a lawyer.

When Protection Visa Interview Preparation Should Start

Protection visa interview preparation should start the day the invitation arrives, and ideally much earlier. The best preparation begins at lodgement, because the interview tests the application that was lodged.

The Department contacts you if it requires you to attend an interview. The invitation sets out the date and time, whether the interview is by videoconference or in person, and how to join. Most protection visa interviews are conducted by videoconference. The period between the invitation and the interview can be short, so do not wait until the week before to start.

There is no legislative requirement for the Department to interview every applicant. The Department's guidelines state that officers decide whether to interview, and that an interview may be chosen where the officer has concerns about credibility or wants to test claims that could succeed on the country information. An invitation often means the officer has specific issues to explore. Protection visa interview preparation should aim to identify those issues in advance.

Step 1: Read the Invitation and Confirm the Arrangements

The first step in protection visa interview preparation is administrative, and mistakes here can cost the interview. Read the invitation carefully and confirm each practical arrangement in writing.

Check the following:

• The date, time and time zone. Videoconference interviews may be scheduled in the time zone of the office conducting them.
• The format. Confirm whether the interview is by videoconference or in person, and test the joining instructions early.
• The interpreter. Confirm the language and, where it matters, the dialect. The Department provides an interpreter if you need one. If you want an interpreter of a particular gender, ask in writing. The guidelines state that every effort should be made to meet a request about the interpreter's gender.
• Your representative. If you have a lawyer or migration agent, make sure a Form 956 is on file so that they can attend. Our guide to Form 956 and Form 956A explains how appointment works.
• A support person. The Department states that you may be able to bring a support person, such as a friend or relative, if you contact the officer in advance to ask for permission.
• Childcare. The Department asks applicants to make childcare arrangements so that they can speak with the officer without interruption.

If you cannot attend, tell the Department as soon as possible and explain why. The Department states that you must make every reasonable effort to attend, and that if you do not attend it can decide the application on the information available at the time.

Step 2: Obtain and Review Everything the Department Holds

The second step in protection visa interview preparation is to read the file the officer will read. The officer will compare your oral evidence with every earlier statement you have made to the Department.

That file usually includes:

• your Subclass 866 application and any attachments;
• your written statement of claims;
• any later submissions and documents lodged in ImmiAccount;
• your earlier visa applications, such as a visitor, student or work visa application, including the reasons you gave for travelling;
• your passenger card and entry records; and
• any other correspondence with the Department.

You can access a copy of your protection visa application in ImmiAccount. Earlier visa applications may need to be obtained from the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 if you do not have copies. The purpose is not to rewrite history. It is to know in advance where your earlier statements differ from your protection claims, so that you can explain the difference honestly. Our guide to Form 866 explains what the application form records.

Protection Visa Interview Preparation Starts With the Legal Test

Protection visa interview preparation is more effective when you understand what the officer must decide. The officer is not deciding whether your story is sad or whether your country is dangerous in general. The officer is deciding whether you meet one of two legal tests.

The first is the refugee test in section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958. It asks whether you have a well-founded fear of persecution for one of five reasons: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The second is the complementary protection test in section 36(2)(aa). It asks whether there is a real risk that you will suffer significant harm, such as torture or cruel or inhuman treatment, if you are removed from Australia.

Each test has elements that the officer must work through, including whether the risk exists in all areas of your country and whether the authorities could protect you. Most interview questions are aimed at one of those elements. When protection visa interview preparation starts with the legal test, you can see which parts of your account carry the most weight and which parts the officer is likely to test hardest. Section 5AAA of the Act also makes it your responsibility to set out the particulars of your claim and provide sufficient evidence to establish it. Our guide to protection visa eligibility explains the threshold requirements, and our page on the Subclass 866 Protection visa sets out the visa requirements.

Step 3: Build a Chronology

A chronology is the backbone of protection visa interview preparation. It lists, in date order, every event that matters to your claim and to your personal history.

The chronology should include your education, your employment, your addresses, your travel, each incident of harm or threat, any report to the police or other authorities, your departure, your arrival in Australia, any visa applications and the date you decided to seek protection. For each event, note the source: your statement, a document, a witness or your memory.

A chronology does two things. First, it reveals gaps and conflicts. If your statement says you were in hiding during a period when your employment history shows you working, the chronology will show it before the officer does. Second, it helps you give dates with confidence. Many applicants struggle with dates under questioning, particularly through an interpreter. Linking events to fixed points, such as a wedding, an election, a school year or a religious festival, makes recall more reliable.

The Department's guidelines recognise that trauma, forgetfulness and the passage of time affect memory, and that confusion about the sequence of events does not necessarily mean the account is not credible. Protection visa interview preparation should still aim to reduce avoidable confusion. Where you cannot be sure of a date, the chronology should record the approximation and why you are unsure.

Step 4: Identify the Weak Points and Address Them in Writing

The most valuable part of protection visa interview preparation is identifying the issues the officer is likely to raise, and dealing with them before the interview. Common weak points include:

• Delay. Why you did not apply for protection sooner after arriving. Our article on delaying a Subclass 866 application explains how delay is assessed.
• Inconsistency. Differences between your protection claims and your earlier visa applications, or within your own statement.
• Relocation. Why you could not live safely in another part of your country.
• State protection. Why the police or other authorities could not protect you.
• Missing documents. Why you cannot produce identity documents or corroborating evidence.
• Conduct in Australia. Where a claim depends on something that happened after you arrived, why that conduct was not undertaken to strengthen the claim.

A written submission lodged before the interview allows the officer to consider the explanation in advance, rather than hearing it for the first time under questioning. The submission should set out the relevant law, the facts and any supporting country information. Our page on complementary protection explains the relocation and state protection rules for the second legal test.

Using Country Information in Protection Visa Interview Preparation

The officer will compare your account with independent country information, so protection visa interview preparation should do the same. Country information includes government reports, reports by international organisations, reputable news reporting and academic research about conditions in your country.

The Department's own country information includes reports prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The officer is likely to rely on those reports, particularly on questions of relocation and state protection. If a report suggests that people in your situation can live safely in a large city, or that the police act on complaints of the kind you describe, expect to be asked about it.

Protection visa interview preparation should therefore identify the country information that supports your claim and the information that appears to count against it. Where the general reporting does not reflect your circumstances, explain why in writing. For example, a report may describe police protection as generally available but say nothing about cases where the police are connected to the person you fear. Specific, recent and reliable information about people with your profile is more persuasive than general reporting about the country as a whole.

Step 5: Lodge Further Evidence and Submissions Before the Interview

The Department states that you can provide more information about your claims or your application before a decision is made. For material you want considered at the interview, the Department asks that it be submitted through ImmiAccount well before the interview. It warns that if material arrives late, the officer may need more time, the interview may not proceed as advised, or the officer may cancel the interview and seek more information in writing.

Protection visa interview preparation should therefore include a firm internal deadline for lodging evidence. Useful material includes:

• a supplementary statement that corrects errors or adds detail omitted from the original statement;
• statements from witnesses who can speak to specific events;
• medical or psychological reports that describe injuries, or explain how trauma affects your memory and your ability to give evidence;
• documents from your home country, with translations; and
• country information that addresses your particular profile.

If you made a mistake in your application, the Department asks that it be corrected on Form 1023. Our guide to evidence in a protection visa application explains which kinds of material tend to carry weight.

Step 6: Prepare Your Documents for the Day

Document preparation is the part of protection visa interview preparation that is easiest to get right and most embarrassing to get wrong. The Department asks you to bring:

• your request to attend interview letter, if the interview is at a departmental office;
• all your original identity documents, which may include your passport, national identity card, birth certificate or driver's licence;
• any other proof that supports your protection claims; and
• your religious book, if you intend to make an oath rather than an affirmation.

The Department also asks you to bring English translations of all documents, certified by a translator accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters. This differs from lodgement, where the Department states that documents do not need to be certified. Protection visa interview preparation should allow time to obtain certified translations. For a videoconference interview, have the originals within reach so that you can show them to the camera when asked. Our protection visa documents checklist lists the documents to gather.

Protection Visa Interview Preparation for a Videoconference Interview

A videoconference interview needs its own protection visa interview preparation. Technical problems can interrupt your evidence at the worst moment.

Test the device, camera, microphone and internet connection in advance, in the room you will use. Use a private and quiet room where no one else can hear you, unless the officer has agreed to a support person being present. Have your identity documents, the invitation and a charged device ready. Close other applications and turn off notifications. Keep water nearby. If the connection fails during the interview, rejoin immediately using the instructions provided, and tell the officer what happened.

Do not read from a prepared script or notes during the interview unless the officer agrees. The officer is assessing your own recollection, and reading from notes can suggest that the account has been rehearsed.

Preparing Yourself, Not a Script

Protection visa interview preparation is about understanding your account, not memorising it. Officers are trained to notice answers that sound rehearsed, and an answer repeated word for word from a statement can raise more doubts than it resolves.

The aim is for you to be able to explain events in your own words, in a natural order, with the details you actually remember. That means reading your statement several times, going through your chronology, and thinking about the questions that each weak point is likely to prompt. It also means accepting that you will not remember everything. The honest answer "I do not remember" is always better than a guess.

The interview can be emotionally difficult. Discussing harm, threats or the loss of family members can cause distress. The guidelines direct officers to take account of factors that affect how a person gives evidence, including trauma, anxiety, the difficulty of speaking through an interpreter or by video, and cultural background. If you are receiving medical or counselling support, a report from your treating practitioner lodged before the interview can help the officer understand how your circumstances may affect your evidence. Rest before the interview, and ask for a break during it if you need one.

Protection Visa Interview Preparation for Family Members

If your partner or children are included in the application, protection visa interview preparation should include them. The officer may wish to speak with family members, particularly where they witnessed events or have their own claims.

Family members should read the parts of the statement that concern them and confirm that they agree with the dates and events described. The guidelines recognise that two people may remember the same event differently because of their perspective, and that differences should be put to the applicant for comment. Differences between family members are common and not necessarily damaging, but they should be understood in advance. Where a child is involved, the guidelines direct officers to use child-sensitive questioning and to take particular care.

What to Do After the Interview

Protection visa interview preparation does not end when the interview ends. The period after the interview is often when the officer asks for further information or invites comment on concerns.

After the interview:

• write down any question you found difficult, and any point you forgot to mention, while it is fresh;
• lodge any promised document or clarification in ImmiAccount promptly;
• respond to any request for further information by the date set, because the Department can decide the application after that date on the information it holds;
• respond fully to any invitation to comment on adverse information; and
• tell the Department about any change of address or circumstances on Form 1022.

Do not travel overseas while the application is pending without advice. Clause 866.411 of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires you to be in Australia when the visa is granted. Our guide to section 56 requests for more information explains how post-interview requests work. If the application is refused, our page on protection visa refusals explains review by the Administrative Review Tribunal, which is subject to a short and strictly applied time limit.

Common Mistakes in Protection Visa Interview Preparation

Most problems at interview can be traced back to gaps in protection visa interview preparation. The most common are:

• Starting too late. Leaving preparation until the final days means there is no time to obtain earlier visa applications, translations or reports.
• Not reading the earlier visa applications. Differences between those applications and the protection claims are then raised by the officer for the first time.
• Adding new detail at the interview. Important events that appear for the first time at the interview invite the question of why they were not in the statement. Put them in a supplementary statement beforehand.
• Relying on someone else's account. Your evidence must be your own. Do not adopt dates or details from another person because they seem more convincing.
• Leaving explanations unwritten. An explanation for delay or a missing document is more persuasive when it has been lodged in writing before the interview.

Each of these mistakes is avoidable with structured protection visa interview preparation and enough time.

How My Migration Lawyers Handles Protection Visa Interview Preparation

My Migration Lawyers acts in many Subclass 866 Protection visa matters and handles protection visa interview preparation from the invitation to the decision. The firm deals with complex cases, including applicants with inconsistent earlier visa applications, long delays before lodgement, missing identity documents and claims that depend on relocation or state protection arguments.

The firm's protection visa interview preparation follows the steps in this guide:

• File review. The firm obtains and reviews the full file, including earlier visa applications, and identifies every inconsistency before the officer does.
• Chronology and issues. A chronology is prepared with you, and the legal issues likely to arise at the interview are identified.
• Pre-interview submission. Explanations, corrections, witness statements, reports and country information are lodged well before the interview.
• Preparation sessions. You are taken through the structure of the interview and the likely areas of questioning. Your account remains your own evidence. You review and correct your statement, and you decide which claims are advanced.
• Attendance and follow-up. Your lawyer can attend the interview, make submissions at its end and respond to any later request.

The practice is led by Principal Lawyer Weiwei Zhang. Consultations are held by video, so clients across Australia can start protection visa interview preparation as soon as the invitation arrives. Our protection visa lawyers page explains how the firm acts in these matters. Book a consultation with My Migration Lawyers, or call 1300 040 300.