Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney are lawyers who act for a person already in Sydney on a Subclass 866 Protection visa application, from the first assessment of the claims through lodgement of Form 866, the Department of Home Affairs interview and, if the visa is refused, review at the Administrative Review Tribunal. My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney from its office at Level 1, 60 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000, which is open by appointment, and conducts every consultation by Zoom.

Sydney produces a particular kind of protection matter. The city holds a large population of international students, of visitor visa holders staying with relatives in the western and south western suburbs, of working holiday makers, and of people whose temporary visas have quietly expired while their circumstances at home deteriorated. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney see these situations constantly, and this article describes how each of them is handled at each stage of a Subclass 866 matter.

This is an account of what the lawyer does, not a summary of the law. The law itself is set out on the firm's protection visa lawyers service page and in the firm's guide to what a protection visa lawyer does. The firm's separate guide to choosing a protection visa lawyer in Sydney deals with selection rather than with the running of the matter.

Does an applicant need Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney to have an office near them?

No. An applicant does not need Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney to have an office near them, because nothing in a Subclass 866 matter happens at the lawyer's office. The Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994 are Commonwealth law and apply in the same way in every suburb of Sydney and every town in New South Wales. Form 866 is lodged online through ImmiAccount. The Department processes protection visa applications centrally and arranges any interview at a place or by a method of its own choosing. Documents move between the applicant and Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney through a secure client portal.

My Migration Lawyers is at Martin Place, in the Sydney central business district, and the office is open by appointment. Every consultation is conducted by Zoom, including the first consultation, the review of the statement of claims and the interview preparation session. This is how the firm serves an applicant in Parramatta, Bankstown, Liverpool, Blacktown, Auburn, Chatswood, Hurstville, Penrith, the Inner West or the Northern Beaches, and it is also how the firm serves an applicant in Wollongong or Newcastle. A student in the Inner West and a visitor visa holder in Auburn attend the same kind of consultation from where they are.

The practical consequence for the applicant is that the choice of Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney should turn on the lawyer, not on the train line. The questions that matter are who will read the statement of claims, who will attend the Department interview, whether the lawyer runs Subclass 866 matters as ordinary work, and whether the lawyer will give an honest assessment of the claims before Form 866 is lodged. At My Migration Lawyers the answer to the first three questions is Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer, and the answer to the fourth is the written letter of advice that follows every consultation.

Which Sydney applicants engage Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney?

The applicants who engage Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney fall into four broad situations, and each situation shapes the matter before the first claim is written. None of these situations is a statistic; each is a general description of the people the firm sees.

The first is the international student. Sydney has a high concentration of universities and vocational colleges, and a student on a Subclass 500 visa may find, part way through a course, that a change in their own circumstances or in conditions at home has made return unsafe. A conversion to a different religion, a relationship that has become known to family, political posts that have been noticed, or a family member's arrest can each give rise to a claim. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney assess the claim against the Act, advise on the effect of a protection visa application on the student's current visa and study, and explain the bridging visa that follows lodgement. The firm's guide for international students applying for a Subclass 866 Protection visa addresses the questions students ask most often.

The second is the visitor visa holder. Many people arrive in Sydney on a Subclass 600 visa to stay with relatives in suburbs such as Auburn, Bankstown, Liverpool or Blacktown, and learn while here that the reason they left is now a reason they cannot return. A visitor visa application will have told the Department that the applicant intended to return home, and the delegate will ask why that is no longer true. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney make sure the answer is given, truthfully and in full, in the statement of claims and not for the first time at the interview. The firm's article on moving from a tourist visa to a Subclass 866 Protection visa explains the sequence.

The third is the person whose visa has expired. A student whose enrolment lapsed, a visitor who overstayed, or a worker whose employer withdrew sponsorship may have been unlawful for months or years before they seek advice. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney do not turn these applicants away. The application is still open to them, but it is lodged while unlawful, the bridging visa granted is a Bridging Visa E rather than a Bridging Visa A, and the delay must be explained. This situation is dealt with in its own section below.

The fourth is the applicant with a claim that is difficult to put into words. Claims based on sexual orientation or gender identity, on gender, on family membership or on a fear of harm from people rather than from the State are common in Sydney and are frequently under-described by applicants who have never spoken about them. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney frame these claims in the language of section 5J and section 36(2A), and the firm's pages on protection visas for LGBTI applicants and on protection claims based on religious persecution describe two of the claim types the firm handles as ordinary work.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney run the first consultation and the letter of advice?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney run the first consultation as a structured interview by Zoom, and follow it with a written letter of advice and a document checklist before any application work begins. At My Migration Lawyers this is the fixed starting point of every protection matter, whether the applicant is in Chatswood or in Wollongong.

Before the consultation, the firm runs the applicant's details through Visa Entitlement Verification Online to confirm the current visa, its conditions and its expiry date, or to confirm that the applicant is unlawful and from what date. The firm then obtains the applicant's immigration history itself. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney do this rather than relying on the applicant's memory because the history is what the delegate will hold, and the claims must be consistent with it.

During the consultation, the lawyer takes the applicant's account in the applicant's own order, then returns to it with questions directed at the statutory criteria: what harm is feared, from whom, for what reason, in which part of the country, whether the authorities were approached or could be, and whether the applicant has ever held a right to live in another country. The applicant is asked about every passport and identity document, every previous visa application, and any statement made at the border or to the Department. Nothing is written into a statement of claims at this stage. The purpose of the first consultation with Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney is assessment.

The letter of advice sets out whether the account, if accepted, appears capable of satisfying section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa), which claims the lawyer considers can be advanced, the questions of relocation and effective protection that will have to be answered, the identity and history issues that must be resolved first, the bridging visa the applicant should expect, and the risks that remain. The document checklist lists the evidence the applicant should gather for each claim. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney put this advice in writing because the applicant is deciding whether to make an application that, under section 48A of the Migration Act, cannot be made a second time.

Where the advice is that the claims do not appear to meet either criterion, the letter says so. My Migration Lawyers would rather lose the matter than lodge an application it does not believe the law can carry. The applicant then decides, with the advice in hand, whether to proceed and which claims to advance.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney decide whether the claims meet section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa)?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney decide whether the claims meet either criterion by working through the statutory elements in order and recording, for each element, the facts that support it and the evidence that will be needed. This is the legal core of the matter and it is done before the statement of claims is drafted, not after.

The refugee criterion in section 36(2)(a) requires that the applicant be a refugee within section 5H. That means a well-founded fear of persecution within section 5J for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney identify which ground the facts engage, test whether the feared harm is serious harm and whether the ground is the essential and significant reason for it, and then turn to the relocation and effective protection questions in section 5J(1)(c), section 5J(2) and section 5J(3): whether the real chance of persecution exists in all areas of the country, whether the State provides effective protection, and whether the applicant could be expected to modify their behaviour, subject to the limits the subsection places on that expectation. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney put these questions to the applicant directly, because the delegate will put them.

The complementary protection criterion in section 36(2)(aa) is assessed separately even where the refugee claim appears strong. It asks whether there are substantial grounds for believing that, as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of removal, there is a real risk the applicant will suffer significant harm within section 36(2A): arbitrary deprivation of life, the death penalty, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment, or degrading treatment or punishment. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney assess this criterion because a Sydney applicant whose fear is of a violent family member, a criminal group or a private actor, rather than of the State for a Convention reason, may fall within it. The firm's guide to protection visa eligibility sets out both tests in plain terms.

Section 36(3) is then checked. Where the applicant has a right to enter and reside in any country other than the country of feared harm, Australia is taken not to owe protection obligations unless the exceptions apply. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney ask about every citizenship the applicant holds or could claim, every residence permit and every long term visa, because many Sydney applicants have lived or studied in a third country before arriving here.

The result of this exercise by Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney is a claim map: each claim, the criterion it engages, the facts that support it, the evidence to be obtained and the country information to be consulted. The applicant reviews it and decides which claims to advance. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney do not manufacture claims and do not suppress them. The firm presents the applicant's own account in the form the Act requires.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney handle an applicant whose visa has already expired?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney handle an applicant whose visa has expired by dealing with the unlawful status first, the delay second and the claims third, because the first two will be raised against the third if they are not confronted.

The first step is to establish exactly when and how the applicant became unlawful. The firm's Visa Entitlement Verification Online check and the immigration history show the date the last visa ceased and whether any application was made after it. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney take instructions on what happened: a course that was cancelled, a visa that was refused without the applicant understanding the notice, a sponsor who withdrew, or a simple failure to act out of fear. That account goes into the statement of claims in the applicant's own words.

The second step for Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney is the bridging visa. An applicant who is unlawful at lodgement is granted a Bridging Visa E on the making of a valid Subclass 866 application, rather than the Bridging Visa A granted to an applicant who still holds a substantive visa. A Bridging Visa E may carry conditions that restrict work and require the applicant to report or to reside at a stated address. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney explain the conditions, apply for a variation where the applicant's circumstances support it, and make sure the applicant understands that a breach of a bridging visa condition becomes part of the record the delegate will read. The firm's guide to bridging visas in Australia explains the difference between the two.

The third step is the delay. Section 5AAA of the Migration Act places on the applicant the responsibility to specify all particulars of the claim and to provide sufficient evidence. A person who has been in Sydney for several years and applies for protection only after becoming unlawful will be asked why the application was not made earlier. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney do not treat this question as a trap to be avoided. It is answered in the statement with the actual reasons, whether those are ignorance of the visa, fear of the authorities, shame about the claim, or a change in circumstances at home that only recently occurred. The firm's article on a delayed Subclass 866 Protection visa application deals with the point in detail.

The fourth step is the same as for every other applicant: the claims are assessed against section 36(2)(a) and section 36(2)(aa), the identity evidence is settled, and the statement is written and reviewed. Unlawful status does not change the criteria. It changes the questions about credibility that surround them, and Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney make sure those questions are answered before they are asked.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney prepare the statement of claims, the evidence and Form 866?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney prepare the statement of claims as the applicant's own evidence, corroborate it with documents, witnesses and country information, and then complete Form 866 so that every answer in the form matches the statement. The order matters: the statement comes first, the evidence follows it, and the form is completed last.

The statement begins with the applicant. The applicant writes, or dictates to the firm by Zoom, an account of who they are, where they lived, what happened to them, what they fear and why they believe the authorities will not protect them. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney then review that account against the immigration history, the identity documents and the claim map. The review corrects dates and sequence, raises claims the applicant mentioned in consultation but omitted in writing, identifies claims the evidence does not support and advises the applicant on each. The applicant confirms that every sentence is true before the statement is signed. The firm's guide to the protection visa statement of claims shows what a complete statement contains.

Completeness is enforced because of section 423A. Where a claim or evidence is raised for the first time at the Administrative Review Tribunal without a reasonable explanation for not raising it before the Department, the Tribunal must draw an inference unfavourable to the applicant's credibility. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney therefore ask the applicant, more than once, whether there is anything they have not said. Claims that are embarrassing, dangerous to a family member or painful to describe are the claims most often left out, and they are often the strongest.

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney settle identity alongside the statement. Section 91W allows the Minister to request documentary evidence of identity, nationality or citizenship and to refuse the visa where the applicant does not comply without a reasonable explanation. Section 91WA requires refusal where a bogus identity document is provided or where identity documents have been destroyed or disposed of, unless the applicant has a reasonable explanation and either produces documentary evidence or has taken reasonable steps to obtain it. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney examine each document, ask how it was obtained, and where a document is missing set out the explanation and the steps taken in the statement itself.

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney gather the supporting evidence against the claim map. For each material fact the firm identifies what exists or can be obtained: identity and civil documents, records of membership or employment, letters, messages, photographs, medical or psychological reports from Sydney practitioners, court or police records, and statements from witnesses here or overseas who write in their own words. Country information, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reports the delegate is likely to rely on, is read and addressed in a submission that points to the material supporting the account and confronts the material that does not. The firm's protection visa documents checklist lists the categories.

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney complete Form 866 last, from the applicant's instructions, and read it against the statement line by line. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney resolve every difference in a date, an address, an employer or a family member before lodgement, because a difference between the form and the statement is the first inconsistency the delegate will find. Character disclosure under public interest criterion 4001 and section 501, including Form 80 where requested, is prepared at the same time. The firm's guide to the Form 866 Protection visa application explains the form. Lodgement through ImmiAccount follows, and the bridging visa grant is confirmed and explained on the same day.

What do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney do at the Department interview and in response to section 56 and section 57?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney manage every contact with the Department after lodgement, and three contacts carry most of the risk: a request for further information under section 56 of the Migration Act, a natural justice letter under section 57, and the interview with the delegate.

A section 56 request asks for further information or documents within a period that is short and strictly applied. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney read the request for the concern behind it, obtain what is asked for, and respond in a way that answers both the request and the concern. Where the request cannot be fully met in time, the firm responds with what is available and explains the rest. The firm's guide to responding to a section 56 request for more information explains how these requests are read.

A section 57 letter means the Department holds information it considers would be a reason, or part of a reason, to refuse the visa, and it invites comment before a decision. In a Sydney protection matter that information is often a statement made in an earlier student or visitor visa application, adverse country information, a doubt about an identity document, or information from another person. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney treat the response as the most important document in the matter after the statement itself: instructions are taken in detail, evidence answering the information is obtained, and the response addresses each point directly.

The interview is arranged by the Department, not by the applicant, and not every applicant is interviewed. Where one is scheduled, Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney prepare the applicant by Zoom in a session that goes through the statement from beginning to end, explains why each question is likely to be asked, and practises the discipline of answering only the question asked, saying so when something is not remembered, and never guessing. The firm's guide to protection visa interview questions and its page on the protection visa interview describe what to expect.

At the interview the lawyer attends, takes a full note and may make submissions at the end. The lawyer does not answer for the applicant. Where an interpreter is used, the lawyer listens for errors of interpretation and raises them at the time, because an error in the record is treated as the applicant's own inconsistency. After the interview, Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney prepare written submissions that answer any concern the delegate raised, supply any document requested and direct the delegate to the country information that supports the account on the points in issue.

How do Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney handle a refusal and review at the Administrative Review Tribunal?

Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney treat a refusal as the most urgent event in the matter, because the notice under section 65 starts a period for applying to the Administrative Review Tribunal that is short, strictly applied and not able to be extended, and because section 48A means that review is the only remaining path to a protection visa while the applicant is in Australia.

On the day the decision arrives, Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney read the reasons. The delegate's findings show which claims were accepted, which were rejected and on what basis: credibility, the absence of a Convention ground, relocation and effective protection, section 36(3), or complementary protection. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney advise the applicant in writing on the prospects of review and on the evidence that would meet each adverse finding. The firm's guide to urgent immigration advice explains why a refusal notice is never left until the following week.

The review application is lodged first and the case is prepared afterwards. The deadline runs from the date the applicant is taken to have received the decision, which may be earlier than the date the applicant opened it. My Migration Lawyers lodges the application to the Tribunal as soon as instructions are confirmed. The firm's article on a protection visa refusal and the Administrative Review Tribunal appeal explains the steps.

The Tribunal decides the matter afresh. It hears the applicant, with Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney appearing, considers new evidence and may consider new claims, subject to section 423A. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney prepare a statement of facts, issues and contentions that addresses each finding in the delegate's decision, obtain updated country information and any further evidence, prepare the applicant for the hearing and appear at it. The firm's guide to the protection visa hearing at the Administrative Review Tribunal describes how a hearing runs and what the applicant will be asked.

If the Tribunal affirms the refusal, the applicant is told the position plainly. Section 48A bars a further protection visa application while the applicant is in the migration zone. The bar can be lifted only by the Minister personally, and there is no right to have a request considered. Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney explain this at the first consultation and again after a refusal, because it is the reason the first application is prepared as though there will never be another.

How My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney

My Migration Lawyers acts as Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney for onshore applicants across Sydney and New South Wales, on Subclass 866 Protection visa applications founded on the refugee criterion, on complementary protection, or on both. The firm's protection practice is led by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer, who is responsible for the assessment, the advice, the review of the statement and the submissions on every protection matter the firm accepts.

The firm acts in many matters of exactly this type: international students at Sydney universities and colleges whose fear arose during their studies, visitor visa holders staying with family in the western and south western suburbs, working holiday makers, people whose visas expired before they sought advice, claims based on religion, political opinion, sexual orientation and gender identity and particular social group, complementary protection claims, identity document problems under section 91W and section 91WA, section 57 letters, Department interviews and review at the Administrative Review Tribunal. Complex matters are the firm's ordinary work, and My Migration Lawyers is equipped to run them.

On every matter My Migration Lawyers, as Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney, 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, assesses the claims against section 36(2)(a) and section 36(2)(aa), reviews and corrects the applicant's statement of claims as the applicant's own evidence, assembles the supporting evidence and the country information, completes and lodges Form 866, confirms and explains the bridging visa, answers every section 56 request and section 57 letter, prepares the applicant for and attends the interview, and lodges any review application within the deadline.

Fees are fixed per matter and set out in a costs agreement. Documents are exchanged through a secure client portal, and every consultation is by Zoom, so an applicant in Penrith, Hurstville or Newcastle receives the same service as an applicant who walks past the Martin Place office each day.

Applicants who want Protection Visa Lawyers Sydney to assess their claims 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 criteria, and the firm's guide to choosing a migration lawyer in Sydney covers the questions to ask before engaging any lawyer on a migration matter.