Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV): This protection visa is for people who arrived in Australia without a visa and want to seek asylum. As a SHEV holder, you can live, work or study anywhere in Australia. There are no penalties if you chose not to live, work or study in a SHEV regional area. If you do not work or study in a SHEV regional area, you will still be able to apply for another SHEV or a Temporary Protection visa if you need Australia’s protection.
Eligibility
If you have entered Australia without a valid visa or were not immigration cleared on arrival, you may be eligible.
With this visa you can:
- Live, work and study in Australia temporarily for 5 years
- Access government services such as Workforce Australia, Medicare and Centrelink services
- Access short-term counselling for torture and trauma when required
- Attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), if eligible (the former 510 hour cap was removed on 19 April 2021)
- Travel overseas to countries other than your home country (if obtained a written approval to travel due to compassionate or compelling circumstances)
- Apply for certain other visas in Australia, including permanent visas such as skilled and family visas (but not a permanent Protection visa (subclass 866)) if you meet the Safe Haven Enterprise visa pathway requirements
Length of Stay
Temporarily, you can stay in Australia for 5 years.
Location
You must be in Australia when you lodge your application and when a decision is made for your visa.
Cost
$50
Processing Times
Department of Home Affairs (DHA) aims to finalise SHEV applications as quickly as possible. Since this is a complex process, it will take some time for the DHA to finalise your application.
Fast Track Assessment Process
Historical note: this section describes the fast track process as it operated before 14 October 2024, when the Immigration Assessment Authority was abolished and fast track review ended. It is kept for background. Most SHEV holders and pending applicants are now dealt with through the Resolution of Status visa (subclass 851) described below.
The Fast Track Assessment process makes the visa application process for those seeking protection in Australia more efficient and effective. If DHA have questions or concerns about your protection claims or other information from you, they will give you an opportunity to respond in writing or at interview. You will have limited time to give them new information or to respond to adverse information before they decide on your application.
DHA will assess your application under the Fast Track Assessment process if you:
- Are an unauthorised maritime arrival
- Entered Australia on or after 13 August 2012 and before 01 January 2014
- Have never been taken to a regional processing country
DHA will also assess all subsequent Temporary Protection visa and SHEV applications made on or after 02 April 2019 under the Fast Track Assessment process.
The Minister may also decide to assess other applicants under the Fast Track Assessment process.
Eligibility
Who could get this visa
To get this visa, you must:
- Be unable to make a valid application for a permanent Protection visa (subclass 866) and
- Be an unauthorised maritime arrival or
- Have not been immigration cleared at Australia’s border when you last entered Australia or
- Have entered Australia without a valid visa or
- Hold or held one of the following visas:
– Temporary Protection visa (subclass 785)
– Temporary Safe Haven visa (subclass 449)
– Temporary (Humanitarian Concern) visa (subclass 786) or
– Safe Haven Enterprise visa (subclass 790)
Identity
You may be asked to provide biometrics (a scan of your fingerprints and digital photograph of your face) as part of your application if you have not provided to the DHA before. DHA will use the information collected about your identity when assessing your claims for protection and completing character and security checks.
Security
As part of the application process, DHA will assess whether you meet Australia’s security requirements for the grant of a SHEV.
Health
You must meet certain health requirements. The results are usually valid for 12 months.
Character
All applicants older than 16 years of age must meet certain character requirements. They must be prepared to provide a police certificate from each country they have lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after they turned 16 years of age.
Australian Values Statement
All applicants older than 18 years of age, you must:
- Have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia booklet and
- Confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws when you sign or accept the Australian Values Statement
Including Family Members
Members of the same family unit may apply together on the same application. They must be in Australia at the time of application and be eligible to apply for this visa.
Members of the same family unit are:
- Spouse or de facto partner of the family head
- Dependent child or step-child of the family head
- Dependent child or step-child of the family head’s partner
- Other dependent relatives of the family head
*The family had can be you or someone else in your family who has not applied for this visa.
A dependent child is a child or step-child who is under 18 years old. A dependent child can be 18yeras old or older if they are:
- Incapacitated for work due to loss of their bodily or mental functions; or
- Wholly or substantially reliant on their parent or step-parent for financial, psychological or physical support
*A child or step-child of any age is not considered to be a dependent child if they are currently married, engaged to be married in a de facto relationship.
Other dependent relatives may include relatives such as the family head’s:
- Parent
- Brother/Sister
- Grandparent/Grandchild
- Aunt/Uncle
- Cousin
- Niece/Nephew or
- Step equivalent to any of the above
*A relative will be considered a dependent relative of the family head if they do not have a spouse or de facto partner. Relative who usually lives with the family head and are wholly or substantially reliant on the family head for financial, psychological or physical support is considered to be dependent.
Newborn Child
If a child is born after you have submitted your application and before the DHA makes a decision on our application, the child will be taken to e included in the application. Once the child is born, you must report to the DHA as soon as possible by:
- Completing Form 1022 – Notification of Change of Circumstances
- Providing a clear colour copy of the child’s original birth certificate (certification is required if you are planning to send it by post)
- Attaching them in ImmiAccount or sending them by post to the address where you sent your application
*If you child is born in Australia, they are automatically granted the same visas their parents hold at the time of the child’s birth.
Travel
If you leave Australia while waiting for your SHEV application to be decided, your bridging visa will expire and you will not be allowed to re-enter Australia.
Once your SHEV has been grant, visa condition of 8570 (restricted travel) will apply to your visa. You cannot travel to your home country, under any circumstances and you can only enter any other country if you have compassionate or compelling reasons for travel. You will be given a written approval to travel before you leave Australia.
If you travel overseas without the DHA’s written approval, you will breach visa condition 8570 and you may have your visa cancelled (and the visas of members of your family unit) while you are offshore.
Barred from lodging a SHEV application
You may not be able to make a valid SHEV application if you:
- Are an authorised maritime arrival or
- Were immigration cleared when you arrived in Australia or
- Have been refused a protection visa since your last arrival to Australia or
- Have had a protection visa cancelled since your last arrival to Australia or
- Are a national of two or more countries or
- Have protection in a prescribed safe third country or
- Hold or held a Humanitarian Stay (Temporary) (subclass 449) since last entering Australia or
- Are a transitory person
*The Minister has the power to lift any application bar if it is determined to be in the public interest and may have already lifted any relevant application bar(s) in your case.
Review Rights
Update: on 14 October 2024 the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was replaced by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), and the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) was abolished. Fast track reviews that were still pending at the IAA were transferred to the ART. The information below describes the former system and is kept for background. See “Review Rights After the AAT Was Replaced” below for the current position.
If you have applied your application under the Fast Track Assessment process, you will not have access to merits review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), unless DHA refuse your SHEV on character grounds.
If you do not engage Australia’s protection obligations, you could get a limited form of merits review by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA). DHA will automatically refer your case to the IAA, unless you are an excluded fast track review applicant.
The IAA will only consider information that was available to the DHA when they made the decision to refuse your application. You will only be able to give new information to the IAA in exceptional circumstances.
When you receive your SHEV refusal letter, the letter will inform you of any merits review rights you may have. Your refusal letter will mention:
- If the DHA have referred your case to the IAA directly or
- How long you have to apply for review at the AAT or
- That you are ineligible for merits review because you are an excluded fast track review applicant
Excluded Track Review Applicants
You will be considered as an excluded fast track review applicant if you:
- Have access to a safe third country where you can seek protection or are a national of two or more countries
- Entered Australia before and while in Australia applied for a protection visa and that application was either refused or withdrawn
- Were refused protection in another country, including with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- Made ‘manifestly unfounded’ claims for protection (that is, your claims have no substance)
- Provided DHA a bogus documents as part of your protection visa application and do not have a reasonable explanation for doing so
If you have been excluded, DHA will inform you if you fit in one of the above categories. They will give you an opportunity to comment and give us more information before they reach a decision that you are an excluded fast track review applicant.
SHEV Holders Can Now Move to Permanent Residence
The biggest change for Safe Haven Enterprise visa holders came in February 2023. On 13 February 2023 the Australian Government announced that Temporary Protection visa (TPV, subclass 785) and SHEV (subclass 790) holders would be able to apply for a permanent Resolution of Status visa (subclass 851).
This means most SHEV holders no longer need to keep renewing their SHEV every five years, or meet the regional work and study requirements of the SHEV pathway, to get permanent residence. The Resolution of Status (RoS) visa does not reassess your protection claims and there is no visa application charge.
In general, you may be able to apply for the RoS visa if:
- you hold a SHEV or TPV, or you held one in the past and it was not cancelled
- you first arrived in Australia before 14 February 2023
- you are in Australia when you apply and when the visa is granted
- you meet the health, character and security requirements
- you are not affected by an application bar that has not been lifted
What the Change Means for You
| Your situation | What usually happens |
| You hold a SHEV now | You can apply for the RoS visa. Your SHEV is extended while your valid RoS application is being decided. |
| You applied for a SHEV or TPV and are waiting for a decision | If you meet the criteria for the SHEV or TPV, your application is generally treated as an application for the RoS visa. You do not need to lodge a separate RoS application. |
| Your SHEV has expired but was never cancelled | You may still be able to apply for the RoS visa. Get advice quickly about your current visa status and any bridging visa. |
| Your SHEV or TPV application was refused, or your visa was cancelled | You are generally not eligible for the RoS visa. Get advice about any review or other options that may still be open to you. |
SHEV vs Resolution of Status vs Permanent Protection Visa
| Feature | SHEV (790) | Resolution of Status (851) | Protection visa (866) |
| Type | Temporary, 5 years | Permanent | Permanent |
| Who it is for | Unauthorised maritime arrivals and others who cannot apply for a permanent protection visa | Current and former TPV and SHEV holders (and pending applicants who meet the criteria) | People who arrived lawfully and engage Australia’s protection obligations |
| Travel | Restricted by condition 8570. No travel to your home country. | No travel restrictions on the visa. Travel facility for 5 years from grant. | Travel facility for 5 years from grant |
| Sponsor family | No | Yes, through family visas if eligible | Yes, if eligible |
| Citizenship | No | Yes, once you meet the citizenship requirements | Yes, once you meet the citizenship requirements |
Even with a permanent visa, travel to the country you sought protection from can raise serious questions about your protection claims. Always get advice before travelling there. See our Protection visa (subclass 866) page for more on permanent protection.
Review Rights After the AAT Was Replaced
On 14 October 2024 the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was replaced by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). The Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA), which reviewed fast track refusals, was abolished on the same date. Cases that were still waiting for a decision at the IAA were transferred to the ART.
If you receive a refusal or cancellation decision now, read the decision letter carefully. It will tell you whether you have a right to review, which body to apply to and the deadline. Review deadlines are short, so act straight away.
Moving From a SHEV to the RoS Visa: Step by Step
- Check your visa history. Confirm which visa you hold now, its expiry date, and whether any earlier TPV or SHEV application is still pending.
- Check whether you have already been invited or told your application has converted. Some people received letters from Home Affairs about their application or about a bar being lifted.
- Update your identity documents. Gather your passport or other travel document, birth certificates and any other documents that confirm your identity.
- Include your family. Check which family members in Australia can be included, and tell Home Affairs about any new births or changes in your family.
- Lodge the application, or respond to requests. Provide health checks, police certificates and other information when asked, and within the time given.
- Keep your details up to date. Tell Home Affairs if your address, phone number or email changes so you do not miss a request.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting a SHEV expire without lodging a new application or an RoS application, which can leave you without a substantive visa.
- Travelling overseas while on a SHEV without written permission, which breaches condition 8570 and can lead to cancellation.
- Missing a request from Home Affairs because your contact details are out of date.
- Giving information in an RoS application that is inconsistent with your earlier protection claims, without explanation.
- Assuming you must still complete 42 months of regional work or study before you can get permanent residence.
Safe Haven Enterprise Visa: Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still need to meet the SHEV pathway requirements?
Not if you are eligible for the Resolution of Status visa. The RoS visa does not require regional work or study. The SHEV pathway may still be relevant in limited cases, for example if you want to apply for a skilled, employer or family visa instead.
Is there a fee for the Resolution of Status visa?
No. There is no visa application charge for the RoS visa. You may still need to pay for things like health examinations or police certificates.
Will my protection claims be assessed again?
Generally no. The RoS visa does not reassess whether you engage protection obligations, but you must still meet identity, health, character and security requirements.
Can I travel while my RoS application is being processed?
While you are on a SHEV, the travel restrictions of condition 8570 still apply. If you leave Australia while relying on a bridging visa, you may not be able to return. Get advice before booking any travel.
Can I sponsor my family once I have the RoS visa?
Yes. As a permanent resident you may be able to sponsor eligible family members through the family visa program, such as a partner visa, subject to the usual requirements.
Can I become an Australian citizen?
Once you hold the RoS visa, your time as a permanent resident counts towards the residence requirement for Australian citizenship.
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