Eligibility

To be eligible for a Special Humanitarian Program visa, a person must be subject to substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of their human rights in their home country. They must be living outside their home country, have compelling reasons for resettlement in Australia and have included a valid Refugee and Special Humanitarian Proposal (form 681) with the application.

Form 681 needs to be completed by an Australian citizen or permanent resident over the age of 18, an eligible New Zealand citizen or an organisation operating in Australia. This person⁄organisation is known as ‘the proposer’.
See: Proposing an Applicant
See also:
Form 681 – Refugee and Special Humanitarian Proposal (241KB PDF file)
Form 842 – Application for an Offshore Humanitarian Visa (592KB PDF file)

Family members

If the applicants are members of the proposer’s immediate family, the proposal may be considered a Split Family application.
See: Proposing an Immediate Family Member (Split Family Provisions)

Dependent children: A person is a dependent child if they are the applicant’s child or stepchild and they meet at least one of the following requirements:

• they are under 18 years of age
• if they are aged 18 years or over, they are wholly or substantially reliant on their parent for financial, psychological or physical support.

Note: If a child (regardless of their age) is married, in a de facto relationship or is engaged to be married, they will not be considered to be a dependant.
Dependent children may, in some cases, be added to the application after it has been lodged.

Other dependent relatives: A person is a dependent relative if they are:

• a parent, brother or sister; step-parent, step-brother or step-sister; grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, step-grandparent, step-grandchild, step-aunt, step-uncle, step-niece or step-nephew
• single
  Example: widowed aunt
• usually resident in the applicant’s household
• wholly or substantially financially reliant on the applicant for financial, psychological or physical support.

Health requirements

Applicants and their dependent family members must meet health requirements in order to be granted a visa for Australia. Applicants will be notified when they will need to have medical and x–ray examinations. They may also undergo medical treatment.

The costs of all medical examinations are covered by the Australian Government.
See: Health Requirements

Character requirements

Applicants and their dependent family members must meet character requirements in order to be granted a visa for Australia. The assessment process may require the Australian Government to conduct character checks on applicants. Details of the application are not passed to the applicant’s home country.
See: Character and Penal Clearance Requirements