Protection Visa Lawyers Perth

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth are lawyers who act for a person already in Western Australia who fears serious harm in their home country and applies for a Subclass 866 Protection visa from inside Australia. My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Perth for applicants across metropolitan Perth and regional Western Australia, from the first assessment through lodgement, the Department interview and, where the visa is refused, review at the Administrative Review Tribunal.

This article sets out what Protection Visa Lawyers Perth do at each stage of a Subclass 866 matter, why that work is legal work and not form filling, and how a Perth applicant is represented by a firm whose only office is in Sydney. It is not an explainer of protection law. The criteria are described on the firm's protection visa lawyers service page and in the firm's guide to the protection visa in Australia. This article is about the tasks.

It is written for onshore applicants only: people who are already in Australia on a student visa, a visitor visa, a temporary work visa or a bridging visa, or who have become unlawful, and who want to know what Protection Visa Lawyers Perth will actually do if they are engaged.

Why does a Perth applicant engage Protection Visa Lawyers Perth whose office is in Sydney?

A Perth applicant engages Protection Visa Lawyers Perth whose office is in Sydney because protection visa law is federal, the Subclass 866 application is lodged online, the Department of Home Affairs assesses it centrally and every consultation with My Migration Lawyers is conducted by Zoom, so the postcode of the lawyer changes nothing about the matter. My Migration Lawyers has one office, at Level 1, 60 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000, open by appointment. The firm has no office in Perth and does not claim one.

The criteria for a Subclass 866 visa are set out in section 36 of the Migration Act 1958 and apply in exactly the same terms in Western Australia as in New South Wales. The application is lodged through ImmiAccount. The delegate who assesses it may sit in any Department office in the country, and the interview, where one is held, may be conducted by video. Nothing in the process turns on where the applicant's lawyer sits.

Distance is the reason Zoom is the practical way for a Perth applicant to be represented at all. Perth is further from the east coast than any other capital and runs on its own time zone. A fly-in fly-out worker on a mine site in the Pilbara or the Goldfields cannot attend any lawyer's office during business hours, and a student in Joondalup or a visitor staying with family in Mirrabooka has no reason to travel across the city when the same consultation can be held from home. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth at My Migration Lawyers schedule consultations around Western Australian working hours and around swing rosters, and documents are exchanged through a secure client portal rather than by post.

My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Perth for applicants in Cannington, Mirrabooka, Fremantle, Joondalup, Rockingham, Mandurah, Midland and Bunbury, in the Pilbara, the Kimberley, the Goldfields and the South West, and for regional and fly-in fly-out workers wherever their site is. Each applicant is served by Protection Visa Lawyers Perth in the same way and by the same lawyer.

The question a Perth applicant should ask is therefore not where Protection Visa Lawyers Perth are located but how many Subclass 866 matters they act in, whether they have acted in matters with the same kind of claim, and who will personally do the work. The firm's article on how to choose a protection visa lawyer for a Perth matter sets out those questions in more detail.

What do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth assess before advising an applicant to apply?

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth assess whether the applicant's account, taken as true, satisfies the refugee criterion in section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 or the complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa), and whether anything in the applicant's visa position bars the application before it begins. This assessment is the most important work on the matter, because a Subclass 866 application can be made only once from within Australia.

Under section 36(2)(a), the applicant must be a refugee as defined in section 5H. That requires a well-founded fear of persecution within section 5J, which means a real chance of persecution for one of the five Convention grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth identify which ground the applicant's account engages, whether the harm feared amounts to serious harm, and whether the conduct feared is systematic and discriminatory. The firm's guide to protection visa eligibility explains these elements.

Under section 36(2)(aa), an applicant who is not a refugee may still be owed complementary protection where there are substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal, there is a real risk of significant harm. Significant harm is defined in section 36(2A) as arbitrary deprivation of life, the death penalty, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment, or degrading treatment or punishment. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth assess every matter against both criteria, because an account that does not fit a Convention ground may still meet the complementary protection test.

The relocation and effective protection questions are assessed at the outset. Section 5J(1)(c) asks whether the real chance of persecution relates to all areas of the home country or whether the applicant could reasonably relocate to another part of it, and section 5J(2) asks whether effective protection measures are available there. Section 36(3) asks whether the applicant has a right to enter and reside in a third country. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth ask these questions before lodgement because they are the questions on which many otherwise credible claims fail, and the answers must be evidenced rather than asserted.

The applicant's visa position is checked at the same time. My Migration Lawyers runs the Visa Entitlement Verification Online check itself and confirms the current visa, its conditions and its expiry, whether the applicant has ever applied for protection before, and whether the section 48A bar applies. The Perth applicants the firm sees are most often a student whose course has ended or whose visa is close to expiry, a visitor visa holder who cannot safely return, or a temporary worker on a regional or fly-in fly-out placement whose sponsorship is ending. The firm's articles on international students applying for a Subclass 866 visa and on moving from a tourist visa to a Subclass 866 visa address those two situations.

The assessment ends in a written letter of advice and a document checklist. Where the account does not meet either criterion, Protection Visa Lawyers Perth say so plainly. A Subclass 866 application is not a means of extending a stay in Australia, and advising an applicant to lodge one that cannot succeed exposes the applicant to a refusal, a section 48A bar and a record that will follow every later application.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth resolve identity, travel documents and immigration history?

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth establish the applicant's identity, nationality and immigration history before any claim is drafted, because section 91W of the Migration Act 1958 allows the Department to require documentary evidence of identity, nationality or citizenship, and section 91WA requires refusal where the applicant has provided a bogus document or has destroyed or disposed of identity documents without a reasonable explanation. Identity is decided before the claim is considered, and a matter that fails on identity never reaches the merits.

The firm asks for every identity document the applicant holds or has ever held: passport, national identity card, birth certificate, household registration, military or student records. It asks how the applicant entered Australia, on what document, and where the originals now are. Where documents were left behind, confiscated or taken by an agent, Protection Visa Lawyers Perth record the explanation now, in the applicant's own words, so that a section 91W request or a section 91WA finding can be answered from the file and not reconstructed later.

Immigration history is obtained by the firm itself. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth ask for every visa application the applicant has ever made, to Australia or to any other country, and every refusal or cancellation. The Department holds the applicant's earlier visitor or student visa applications and the statements made in them about ties to the home country and intention to return. Where those statements sit uneasily with the protection claim, the difference must be explained in the statement of claims. It cannot be hidden, and an applicant who tries to hide it is usually found out at interview.

Character is examined at the same stage. Public interest criterion 4001 and section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 allow a visa to be refused on character grounds, and Protection Visa Lawyers Perth take full instructions on any conviction, charge or security matter in Australia or abroad, arrange the police certificates and prepare the disclosure before the Department asks. Concealment is never advised.

Delay is examined last. An applicant who has lived in Australia for years on other visas before claiming protection will be asked why the claim was not made earlier. There are often good reasons: fear, shame, ignorance of the law, a belief that the danger would pass, or a change in circumstances at home. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth make sure those reasons are recorded in the applicant's statement, because the firm's article on delay in applying for a Subclass 866 visa explains that unexplained delay is treated as bearing on credibility.

Who writes the statement of claims when Protection Visa Lawyers Perth are engaged?

The applicant writes the statement of claims, and Protection Visa Lawyers Perth review, test and correct it. The statement is the applicant's own evidence. Section 5AAA of the Migration Act 1958 places the responsibility on the applicant to specify all particulars of the claim and to provide sufficient evidence to establish it, and the Department is not obliged to go looking for claims the applicant has not made. The firm's guide to the protection visa statement of claims sets out the structure the firm uses.

The process at My Migration Lawyers begins with the applicant giving the account in their own words, by Zoom, through an interpreter where one is needed, and usually across several sessions. The account is written up, returned to the applicant and read back sentence by sentence. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth check each event, date, place and person against the documents, against Form 866 and against every earlier visa application the applicant has made. Where the account is inconsistent, the applicant is asked which version is true. Where a claim cannot be supported by the applicant's own knowledge, it comes out. The applicant decides which claims are advanced. The firm does not decide for them and does not add claims of its own.

A complete statement addresses each element the delegate must decide: who the applicant fears, why, what has already happened, what the applicant fears will happen on return, why the authorities of the home country will not or cannot protect the applicant, why relocation to another part of the country is not reasonable, and whether the applicant has any right to live in a third country. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth organise the statement so that the delegate can find each element without hunting for it, because a delegate who cannot find the answer to the relocation question will find against the applicant on it.

Completeness at this stage matters for a specific statutory reason. Section 423A of the Migration Act 1958 provides that where an applicant raises a claim at the Administrative Review Tribunal that was not raised before the Department, and there is no reasonable explanation for the omission, the Tribunal must draw an inference unfavourable to the credibility of the new claim. A claim left out of the statement because it was embarrassing or seemed unimportant is therefore very hard to introduce later. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth are exacting about the statement for this reason.

The statement is prepared in English. Where the applicant does not read English, it is translated back to the applicant by an accredited translator or read to the applicant through an interpreter, and the applicant confirms that every sentence is true before signing. For a Perth applicant this is done by Zoom in exactly the same way as for an applicant in Sydney, and a fly-in fly-out worker can complete the review between swings.

What supporting evidence and country information do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth put before the Department?

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth assemble two kinds of evidence: evidence particular to the applicant, which corroborates the events in the statement, and country information, which shows the conditions the applicant would face on return. Both kinds are needed, and each is chosen to prove a specific element of section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa) rather than to make the file thicker. The firm's guide to protection visa evidence and its protection visa documents checklist describe what is commonly available.

Personal evidence includes documents from the home country such as police reports, court summonses, arrest warrants, membership records, medical records, photographs, threatening messages and news reports naming the applicant or the applicant's family. It includes statements from witnesses who saw or knew of the events, and medical or psychological reports where the applicant has been injured or is being treated for the effects of what happened. It also includes evidence of the applicant's activities in Australia that are relevant to the claim, such as religious practice, political activity or a same-sex relationship. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth advise on this last category with care, because section 5J(6) requires conduct engaged in for the purpose of strengthening a claim to be disregarded, and the evidence must show that the conduct is genuine.

Every document from overseas is translated, and every document is accompanied by an account of how it was obtained. A document the applicant cannot explain is a liability rather than an asset, because section 91WA applies to bogus documents and a delegate who doubts one document doubts the rest. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth test each document before it goes in and leave out any the applicant cannot vouch for.

Country information is selected to address the applicant's specific profile, region and feared harm, and the relocation and effective protection questions. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth draw on the country information reports published by the Australian Government, on reports of international organisations and on reputable news reporting, and cite each source to the passage relied on. General information that a country is dangerous is of little use; information that people of the applicant's religion, ethnicity, sexuality or political affiliation are harmed in the applicant's region, and that the authorities do not protect them, is the evidence the delegate needs.

The final document is the legal submission. The statement is the applicant's evidence; the submission is the firm's argument. It takes the delegate through section 36(2)(a) and, in the alternative, section 36(2)(aa), element by element, matching each element to the statement, the personal evidence and the country information. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth write the submission so that a delegate who accepts the applicant's account has a clear path to grant, and a delegate who has doubts has them answered on the page.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth lodge Form 866 and secure the bridging visa?

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth lodge the Subclass 866 application on Form 866 through ImmiAccount together with the statement of claims, the supporting evidence, the country information and the legal submission, and then confirm the bridging visa the applicant will hold while the application is decided. Lodgement is the point at which the applicant's account becomes fixed, so nothing is lodged until the applicant has confirmed every answer. The firm's guide to Form 866 and the protection visa application explains the form itself.

Form 866 asks for the applicant's personal details, family members, every address, every period of employment and study, every passport and every journey, as well as the claims. Each answer is checked against the statement, because the delegate will compare them. A date of departure in the form that does not match the statement, or a sibling listed in the form and absent from the statement, is the kind of detail that is put to an applicant at interview. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth complete the form from the applicant's instructions and take the applicant through every answer before lodgement.

Timing determines the bridging visa. An applicant who lodges while still holding a substantive visa, such as a student or visitor visa, is granted a Bridging Visa A that takes effect when the substantive visa ends and generally preserves the applicant's position. An applicant who has already become unlawful receives a Bridging Visa E, which may carry a no work condition and other restrictions, and which is granted on the Department's terms rather than automatically. For a fly-in fly-out or regional worker whose income depends on being permitted to work, and for a student in Rockingham or Mandurah whose visa is about to lapse, this difference is the reason Protection Visa Lawyers Perth advise the applicant to seek advice before the current visa expires. The firm's guide to bridging visas in Australia explains each subclass.

After lodgement the firm monitors ImmiAccount, arranges the health examinations, biometrics and police certificates the Department requires, and notifies changes in the applicant's circumstances on Form 1022. A change of address is the most important of these, because section 56 requests and section 57 letters are sent to the address on the file and the deadlines run from the date of the letter, not the date the applicant finds it. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth do not predict how long the Department will take, because timing varies from matter to matter and nothing the applicant does after lodgement changes it.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth handle section 56 requests, section 57 letters and the interview?

Protection Visa Lawyers Perth treat every letter from the Department as a deadline and treat the interview as the applicant's one opportunity to be heard by the person who will decide the case. A request for further information under section 56 of the Migration Act 1958 is answered with the same care as the original application, and a natural justice letter under section 57 is treated as urgent, because it means the delegate holds adverse information and intends to rely on it. The firm's guide to responding to a section 56 request explains how such a request is read.

The Department interview is conducted by a delegate, usually with an interpreter, and the interview may be conducted by video. Not every applicant is interviewed. Under Department policy a delegate may decide a matter on the papers, which is one more reason the written material must be complete. Where an interview is scheduled, Protection Visa Lawyers Perth attend as the applicant's representative, take a note, raise interpretation problems as they arise and make submissions at the end. The lawyer does not answer for the applicant. The firm's protection visa interview page explains what happens on the day.

Preparation is about recall and truth, not scripting. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth take the applicant back through the statement, the documents and the earlier visa applications, and explain the questions a delegate is likely to ask: about dates, about inconsistencies, about delay in applying, about documents, and about why the applicant could not live safely in another city or seek protection from the authorities. The applicant practises answering by Zoom from home in Perth, and is told that the correct answer to a question they cannot remember is that they cannot remember. The firm's guide to protection visa interview preparation sets out this process.

After the interview, Protection Visa Lawyers Perth prepare a post-interview submission where the delegate has raised a concern that can be answered with further evidence or further explanation, and lodge it promptly. Concerns raised at interview and left unanswered become findings in the decision record, and Protection Visa Lawyers Perth do not leave them unanswered.

What do Protection Visa Lawyers Perth do after a refusal, and what does section 48A mean?

If the Department refuses the Subclass 866 visa, Protection Visa Lawyers Perth read the decision record on the day it arrives, advise on review at the Administrative Review Tribunal and lodge the application for review within the deadline, which is short and strictly applied. The firm's guide to appealing a protection visa refusal at the Administrative Review Tribunal explains the first steps.

Review at the Tribunal is a fresh consideration of the claim against the same criteria. The applicant gives evidence at a hearing, new evidence may be provided, and the Tribunal member reaches an independent decision. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth prepare the applicant for the hearing, prepare a written submission that addresses each finding in the Department's decision, and gather the further evidence the decision record shows was missing. The section 423A rule on late claims applies at this stage, so the review is conducted on the claims already made unless there is a reasonable explanation for a new one. The firm's article on what happens at a protection visa Administrative Review Tribunal hearing describes the hearing itself.

Section 48A of the Migration Act 1958 is the reason the first application must be complete. It provides that a person whose protection visa application has been refused, or whose protection visa has been cancelled, may not make a further protection visa application while in Australia. There is no second attempt from within the country. Protection Visa Lawyers Perth explain section 48A at the first consultation, because an applicant who understands it understands why the statement, the evidence and the submission are prepared with the care described in this article.

An applicant who lodged without representation and has now been refused can engage Protection Visa Lawyers Perth at the review stage. My Migration Lawyers accepts matters at this point as ordinary work. The firm reads the decision record, identifies each adverse finding, obtains the Department file and prepares the Tribunal matter on the evidence as it stands. The firm's article on engaging a lawyer after a visa application has been lodged explains how the transition is managed.

How My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Perth

My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Perth for onshore Subclass 866 applicants across metropolitan Perth, the South West, the Goldfields, the Pilbara and the Kimberley, and for fly-in fly-out and regional workers wherever they are based. The firm's protection visa practice is led by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer, who is responsible for the assessment, the letter of advice and the submissions on the firm's Subclass 866 matters.

The firm acts in many matters of exactly this type: applications by students whose visas are ending, by visitor visa holders who cannot safely return, by temporary workers whose sponsorship has finished, by applicants who have become unlawful and need a Bridging Visa E, and by applicants whose claims involve religion, political opinion, ethnicity, sexuality or gender, family or clan disputes, or a real risk of significant harm that does not fit a Convention ground. Complex matters, including matters with identity problems, long delay, inconsistent earlier visa applications or a prior refusal now at the Administrative Review Tribunal, are the firm's ordinary work, and My Migration Lawyers is equipped to run them.

On every Subclass 866 matter, My Migration Lawyers provides a written letter of advice and a document checklist after the consultation, runs the Visa Entitlement Verification Online check and obtains the immigration history itself, tests the account against section 36(2)(a) and section 36(2)(aa), reviews and corrects the applicant's own statement of claims, assembles the personal evidence and country information, drafts the legal submission, lodges Form 866, confirms the bridging visa, manages every section 56 request and section 57 letter, prepares the applicant for interview and attends it, and acts on review if the visa is refused. Fees for Protection Visa Lawyers Perth are fixed per matter and set out in a costs agreement before work begins. Every consultation is conducted by Zoom, and an applicant in Perth is served in the same way as an applicant in Sydney.

A person in Western Australia who wants Protection Visa Lawyers Perth to assess their matter can request a consultation with My Migration Lawyers through the firm's online form. The firm's Subclass 866 Protection visa page describes the visa, and the firm's article on what a protection visa lawyer does covers the role in general terms.