Global Special Humanitarian visa (Subclass 202) - Australian Visa

Overview

From 1 July 2025, you must use ImmiAccount if you are proposing a person, or applying for, a Refugee and Humanitarian visa. You must complete the proposal first and use your transaction reference number (TRN) within 60 days to apply for the visa in ImmiAccount.

For more information, see the step-by-step guide.

Stay

Permanently

Cost

There is no visa application charge for this visa unless an Approved Proposing Organisation proposes you under the Community Support Program.

Processing times

Each year we receive more applications for resettlement than the number of available visas. This means the decision process may take many years and most applications will be unsuccessful.

With this visa, you can

stay in Australia permanently
work and study in Australia
propose certain family members for permanent residence.

See all conditions

Check your eligibility

You must

have a proposer
enter Australia by the date on your visa
you and your family members must obey all Australian laws.

Help with your visa

If you are getting help with your visa, before you pay someone, read information on Who can help with your visa application.

Apply

About this visa

With this visa, you can

How long you can stay

With this visa, you can

stay in Australia permanently
work and study in Australia
enrol in Australia's public healthcare scheme, Medicare
propose family members for permanent residence
travel to and from Australia for 5 years
if eligible become an Australian citizen
attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program.

How long you can stay

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia permanently.

You become a permanent resident on the day you enter Australia on this visa. This counts for citizenship purposes.

Include family

You can include family in your application when you apply. You can also add certain family members to your application at any time before we decide on your application.

For this visa, your family are:

your
your ren
your partner’s dependent children
other relative who is a dependant (parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or cousin).

If your child is not dependent on you, they must apply for their own visa.

Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements.

Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health requirement.

It is important to declare all your family members, even if they will not be applying with you.

If you do not declare a family member in your application, you may not be able to propose them for a Humanitarian visa after you arrive in Australia.

Cost

There is no visa application charge for this visa unless you are proposed under the Community Support Program by an Approved Proposing Organisation.

Apply from

You must be outside Australia and outside your country of origin when you apply for this visa.

Processing times

Each year we receive more applications for resettlement than the number of available visas. This means the decision process may take many years and most applications will be unsuccessful. We will tell applicants when their application reaches the next stage of processing or when the application is finalised.

Processing time is lengthy and varies according to the circumstances of each applicant.

Your application can take longer to process if:

your application form is not filled in correctly
you do not include all the documents we need, or we need more information from you
it takes us time to verify your information.

We do not give processing updates.

Priorities

We process SHP applications in order of priority group. Visa applications for family reunion are more likely to be successful if the proposer is an immediate or close family member because they receive a higher priority.

Priority groups within the SHP are as follows:

Your proposer is an immediate family member (partner or dependent child, or, if the proposer is under 18 years of age, the proposer's parent). They must also have been granted a Class XB visa or are an Australian citizen who held a Protection or Resolution of Status visa. You must also meet the split-family criteria. This means your proposer:
- was a member of your immediate family when we granted their visa
- told us about your relationship before we granted their visa
- proposed your visa application within 5 years of us granting their visa.
You do not meet the split-family criteria and your proposer is a close family member (partner, child, parent or sibling) and does not hold a Protection or Resolution of Status visa.
Your proposer is an extended family member (grandparent, grandchild, cousin, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew) and does not hold a Protection or Resolution of Status visa.
Your proposer is a distant relative, friend or community organisation and does not hold a Protection or Resolution of Status visa.
Your proposer holds a Protection or Resolution of Status visa.

A person who arrived in Australia as an unauthorised maritime arrival (UMA) on or after 13 August 2012 cannot propose family members under the Humanitarian Program. This is in line with the Migration Regulations 1994.

To satisfy the criteria for a Woman at Risk/vulnerable women visa in either the subclass 204 (Woman at Risk) or under the SHP, women must not:

be living with a male person who is over 18 years of age or
have a male relative residing in the same locality.

Women who are granted a Woman at Risk (subclass 204) visa or who are prioritised under the SHP on the basis of being a vulnerable women should sponsor any existing or new spouses under the Family Stream of the Migration Program. Similarly, children (under 18) who are granted a visa on the basis of their mother’s vulnerability as a woman, should sponsor their parent under the Family Stream of the Migration Program.

The Australian Government has established policy to guide decisions on which applications we should generally give priority. For more information about these priorities, see About the refugee and humanitarian program.

As all humanitarian applicants are in similarly compelling circumstances, the department is unable to expedite applications outside of these priorities.

Your obligations

You must enter Australia before the first entry arrival date (initial arrival date) specified in your grant letter.

If you signed a health undertaking, you must comply with it.

You and your family members must obey all Australian laws.

Assisted Passage

The Assisted Passage program supports the delivery of Australia’s Offshore Humanitarian Program and provides health screening and medical related services to Special Humanitarian Program visa applicants and visa holders.

The Assisted Passage service has transitioned from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to Toll Remote Logistics Pty Ltd (Toll). Toll are responsible for delivering Assisted Passage services globally.

Toll will help you to attend health appointments and, if you are granted a visa, assist you to travel to Australia.

Help with travel to Australia may be available through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under their prepaid migration travel program. More information is available on the IOM website Travel to Australia with IOM.

You and your proposer are responsible for paying for your travel to Australia.

Tell us about your travel bookings so that we can ensure you receive settlement assistance when you arrive in Australia.

More information about Assisted Passage services for 202 Global Special Humanitarian visa applicants can be found in the information sheets below:

Travel

You and your proposer or approved proposing organisation are responsible for arranging your travel to Australia.

If the first entry arrival date (initial arrival date) specified in your grant letter has passed, contact the visa processing office for a travel facilitation letter. We may first ask you to undergo another medical examination.

You can travel to and from Australia for 5 years from the date we grant the visa. After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155) or (subclass 157) to re-enter Australia.

Visa label

We will digitally link your visa to your passport or other travel document. You will not get a label.

Eligibility

With this visa you can move to and stay permanently in Australia

You face substantial discrimination or human rights abuses in your home country and you have a proposer or
You are a member of the immediate family of a person who has been granted this visa and this person is your proposer.

You must:

Be living outside Australia and outside your country of origin
Be subject to substantial discrimination in your home country
The discrimination would amount to a gross violation of your human rights in your home country.

Living outside Australia
A member of the immediate family of a person who was granted this visa in the last five years.

Have a proposer

You must be proposed for this visa by a person or organisation in Australia.

Your proposer must be one of the following:

an Australian citizen
an Australian permanent resident
an or
an organisation in Australia.

If you are applying for this visa as an immediate family member of a person who was granted this visa, your proposer must be that person.

The cost of the travel is your or your proposer’s responsibility. Toll can provide help to organise travel to Australia. Toll is the department’s Assisted Passage service provider. Your Toll case manager will be in contact with you to offer help. This includes help with:

booking flights
getting exits permits and
providing you with your AMS ImmiCard.

The Australian Migration Status (AMS) ImmiCard is an official International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) compliant travel document. It is also an identity document that you can use in Australia to prove your eligibility for government services and to check your visa details.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) can also help you. Learn more at the International Organization for Migration website.

You or your proposer should tell the Department about your travel bookings. This is so that we can send you an invitation to attend the Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) program before you travel to Australia and settlement assistance when you arrive in Australia.

Your proposer also has other responsibilities to help you settle in Australia.

Select the ‘For Proposers’ switch at the top of this page for information about proposing.

Meet our health requirement

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet our health requirement.

Family members who do not apply with you might also have to meet our health requirement.

If you have compassionate and compelling circumstances, we might waive your health requirement

Meet our character requirement

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet our character requirement.

Family members who do not apply with you might also have to meet our character requirement.

Sign the Australian values statement

If you are 18 years of age or older, you must confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws by signing or accepting the Australian Values Statement.

Have paid back your debt to the Australian Government

If you owe the Australian Government money, you must have paid it back or have a formal arrangement to pay it back.

Meet all these criteria? Check how to apply in our step by step guide.

How to apply

Step 1

Gather your documents

Provide accurate information

Provide accurate information. See what happens if you can't prove your identity or don't provide true information.

Identity documents

Provide the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates.

Also provide:

a national identity card, if you have one
proof of change of name.

Documents that prove a change of name include:

a marriage or divorce certificate
change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or the relevant overseas authority
documents that show other names you have been known by.

If you can't provide these items, provide a statement explaining why you have no travel or identity documents.

Humanitarian circumstances

Provide proof If you have registered with any international organisation dealing with refugees, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Provide a detailed statement, in English about why you left your home country.

Visas or residence permits

Provide certified copies of any visas or residence permits you hold.

Relationship documents

Provide certified copies of marriage certificates or relationship registrations for you and anyone else included in your application, even if they are not joining you in Australia.

Photographs

Online applications need 1 scanned photograph per applicant.

The photographs should be of the head and shoulders only against a plain background.

Character documents

Provide military service records or discharge papers if you served in the armed forces of any country.

Tell us you are getting help

To nominate someone to:

receive your correspondence, use Form 956A Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient (301KB PDF)
provide immigration assistance, use Form 956 Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person (308KB PDF).

For more information see Who can help you with your application.

Partner documents

Provide:

identity documents
character documents
documents about other relationships, if applicable
any visas or residence permits held
a photograph, as described in the information for the main applicant.

Provide either:

your current marriage certificate, or
documents to prove you have been in a de facto relationship with your partner for at least 12 months before you apply.

Documents that prove your de facto relationship can include:

joint bank account statements
billing accounts in joint names
joint leases or mortgages
documents that show your partner has lived at the same address as you.

Dependants under 18 documents

For every dependant under 18 years old who is applying with you, provide:

identity documents, or a statement explaining why they have no travel or identity documents
proof of your relationship with them, like a birth or marriage certificate
any visas or residence permits held
any marriage certificates or relationship registrations held
character documents, if applicable
a photograph, as described in the information for the main applicant.

Parental responsibility documents

Unless you have a court order you must get consent for the child to resettle in Australia from anyone who:

has a legal right to decide where the child lives and
is not coming to Australia with the child.

They must complete either:

Form 1229 Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years (276KB PDF)
a statutory declaration giving their consent for the child to resettle in Australia.

Include a document with the signature and photo of the person who completed the form or declaration, such as a:

passport
driver’s licence.

If the child is not staying with a relative or legal guardian, provide Form 1257 Undertaking declaration (211KB PDF). The person they are staying with must sign the form.

Dependants over 18 documents

For every dependant aged 18 years or older who is applying with you, provide:

identity documents
documents about their other relationships, if applicable
character documents
any visas or residence permits held
a photograph, as described in the information for the main applicant.

Proof of dependency

You need to prove that this person is dependent on you. You must demonstrate financial, physical or psychological dependence.

Prepare your documents

Translate

Have all non-English documents translated into English.

Provide original and translated documents in your application.

Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.

Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. On each translation, they must include their:

full name
address and telephone number
qualifications and experience in the language they are translating.

These details must be in English.

Step 2

Apply for the visa

Provide accurate information

Apply for this visa online.

Provide accurate information. See what happens if you can't prove your identity or don't provide true information.

Apply

Your proposer must use ImmiAccount to submit a proposal, unless you are applying under the Community Support Program (CSP). Your proposer will then give you the transaction reference number (TRN).

Follow these steps to apply:

Log in to ImmiAccount. If you do not have an ImmiAccount login, you will need to create a new account.
Click ’New application’.
Click ’Refugee & Humanitarian’.
Click ‘Offshore Humanitarian Visa (200, 201, 202, 203, 204)’.
Complete the application.
Submit the application.

You must submit the application within 60 days of the proposal. The proposal will expire after 60 days if you have not submitted the application.

If the proposal has expired, the proposer must submit a new proposal. Use the new TRN for the application.

Select the ‘For Proposers’ switch at the top of this page for information about proposing.

Proposers under the CSP must submit:

Form 842 Application for an Offshore Humanitarian Visa
a proposal form specific to Approved Proposing Organisations (APO).

Your APO will explain the full process for submitting application forms under CSP.

Having family applications processed together

Submit your applications at the same time. This helps give us a clear idea of everyone that is applying for a visa.

In your application, you must list all family who are also applying for their own visa.

Step 3

After you apply

We will let you and your proposer (if you have authorised them) know when we have received your application and documents.

Status updates

We can’t give updates on applications.

Wait for us to contact you.

Travel after you apply

Do not arrange travel to Australia until we let you know, in writing, that we have granted you the visa.

Health exams

We will let you know if you need health examinations.

Biometrics

We might ask for biometrics (fingerprints and photo). We will let you know if you need to provide them.

Attach more information

If you did not attach all documents when you applied send them to the office where you sent the application. Quote the file number we have given you.

We might also ask you to provide more information.

Attend an interview

We might ask you to attend an interview. You must bring your passport or other identification and any other requested documents. We might ask you about:

your situation, including why you are applying for a humanitarian visa
your family
information you provided in your application.

If we receive information that could result in us refusing you a visa, we will usually ask you to comment.

We might contact your proposer to:

clarify details in their proposal
assess the kind of help they can give you.

Pay the second instalment

If you need to pay a second instalment, we will send you an invoice after you have met all other requirements for the visa. Pay the instalment after you get the invoice. Do not ask for the invoice.

Add family

In some circumstances you can add certain family members to your application before we decide on your application.

Complete Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement (481KB PDF).

Mistakes on your application

Let us know as soon as you can if you made a mistake on your application.

Complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers (168KB PDF).

Help with your application

Let us know if you no longer want someone to:

receive your correspondence - complete Form 956A Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient (301KB PDF)
provide immigration advice - complete Form 956 Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person (308KB PDF).

For more information see Who can help you with your application.

Tell us if things change

Things you need to let us know about after you have applied include:

changes to your phone number, email, address or passport
changes to your marital or de facto status
the birth of a child
you want to withdraw your application.

See how to tell us if your situation changes.

Step 4

Visa outcome

We will let you know our decision in writing.

You must be outside Australia when we make our decision.

If we grant your visa, we will tell you:

your visa grant number
the date your visa starts
your visa conditions, if applicable.

Keep a copy of the decision.

If we refuse your visa, we will tell you:

why we refused the visa
whether you have a right to a review of the decision.

When you have this visa

Coming to Australia

In Australia

Leaving Australia

Coming to Australia

Before you leave

To find out about Australian history, culture, society and values, read the Life in Australia booklet.

You must come to Australia initially by the date specified in the letter we sent you when we granted your visa.

Find support

You or your proposer must pay for you to travel to Australia.

You will be contracted by Toll, who are the Department’s Assisted Passage service provider, to offer assistance with your travel arrangements to Australia.

Once you arrive, your proposer has responsibilities to help you settle in Australia.

The Australian Government also offers some general support services for visa holders.

Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) Program

This 5-day program is free and open to all humanitarian visa holders over the age of 5. It is delivered overseas, to give you an understanding of life in Australia before you arrive.

Humanitarian Settlement Program

This service will contact your proposer once your visa is approved. It is free and runs across Australia. The focus is on helping you to learn English and to gain education or work skills.

Read more about the Humanitarian Settlement Program.

Departure health check

You, and any family members travelling with you on the visa, may have a health check in the 72 hours before you leave for Australia. An approved immigration panel physician must do the check. This will assist in reducing any health issues after you arrive, and make resettlement easier.

Your departure health check might include:

checking that you are healthy enough to travel
a physical check up
a pregnancy test
tests for communicable diseases
vaccinations if needed, such as for measles, mumps and rubella
treatment of parasites and infestations if needed

You must agree to follow up on any health conditions after you arrive in Australia.

Check your travel documents

You must have a valid travel document.

At the Border

Completing an Incoming Passenger Card

All people arriving in Australia must complete the Incoming Passenger Card. You will get a card on board.

In Australia

What can you do when you have this visa

stay in Australia permanently
work and study in Australia
enrol in Australia's public healthcare scheme, Medicare
propose family members for permanent residence
travel to and from Australia for 5 years
if eligible become an Australian citizen
attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program

What you must do on your visa

You and your family members must obey all Australian laws.

Tell us if things change

Things you need to let us know about include:

changes to your phone number, email, address or passport
changes to your relationship status
the birth of a child

See what to do if your situation changes.

Travelling on your visa

You can travel to and from Australia for 5 years from the date we grant the visa. After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155) to re-enter Australia. To see when the 5 years ends, use VEVO.

Work and study

With this visa, you can work and study. You are protected by Australian workplace law. For more information on your workplace rights and entitlements see Visa holders and migrant workers.

Bringing family

As an Australian permanent resident, you might be able to sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia.

To find a visa for your family member, explore visa options.

You can also propose a family member for a Subclass 202 Global Special Humanitarian visa.

Becoming an Australian citizen

After a certain time, you might be eligible for Australian citizenship. Find out more about becoming an Australian citizen.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day you entered Australia on this visa.

Leaving Australia

Before you leave

Check your travel documents

You must have a valid passport or non-citizen travel document to leave Australia. Find out more about non-citizen travel documents.

You must tell us if you have a new travel document so that we can link it to your visa.

You cannot use your ImmiCard to leave Australia and return.

Ensure your visa is still valid and allows for re-entry to Australia

Your visa allows you to travel overseas and return to Australia for 5 years from the date we grant the visa. To see when the 5 years ends, use VEVO. After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155) to re-enter Australia.

See what to do if your visa has expired or is about to expire.

At the Border

Leaving the airport faster

We have an automated process that uses facial recognition technology and your ePassport. You could leave the airport faster if you use SmartGate.

After you leave

Proving you have been to Australia

Request your international movement records to get proof of your travel in and out of Australia.

Official Information

For complete eligibility requirements, application process, processing times and costs, visit the official Department of Home Affairs page.

View on Home Affairs

Important Disclaimer

The information on this page is intended as a general guide only. Always verify the latest details on the official Department of Home Affairs website or seek help from a registered migration agent.