From 14 February 2023, Temporary Protection visa (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise visa (SHEV) holders and certain people who previously held a TPV/SHEV may be eligible for permanent residency (i.e. a Subclass 851 Resolution of Status visa).
In order to apply, the Minister will need to lift the bar to allow people to lodge these applications. We anticipate that the Minister will not lift the bar for most people until the end of March 2023.
The Minister has indicated that he will allow certain people to apply before the end of March 2023, including people who hold TPV/SHEVs expiring soon.
If you have already applied for a TPV/SHEV or a subsequent TPV/SHEV that is with the Department, you do not have to do anything to apply for permanent residency. That application will automatically be converted to an application for permanent residency and will continue to be processed.
You will generally not be able to apply for this visa if your most recent TPV/SHEV has been refused or cancelled and any review/appeal of that decision has been unsuccessful and there is no further review/appeal taking place.
We will be working with our friends at RACS to ensure that people effected by the above in NSW can get free legal assistance.
RACS will be holding free information sessions about the above changes. More information can be found here: https://www.racs.org.au/tpv-shev-processing
We encourage anyone who holds or has held a TPV/SHEV visa and is in NSW to register through the above link.
We recommend that you obtain legal advice before lodging any visa application and before responding to any correspondence from the Department of Home Affairs.