The federal government has recently announced that it will be re-instigating the “Community Proposal Pilot” as of 1 July 2014. The Community Proposal Pilot is a program of up to 500 visa places under Australia’s Humanitarian Program. It allows approved ‘proposing organisations’ to propose someone in a humanitarian situation outside of Australia for a Refugee and Humanitarian visa.
This is a significant development for displaced Iraqi Nationals who now have a new avenue for applying for permanent residence through the In-Country Special Humanitarian Visa (Subclass 201) or the Global Special Humanitarian Visa (Subclass 202).
As many Iraqi’s would be aware, in a series of recent attacks jihadist militants belonging to an al-Qaeda splinter group have seized two major cities in Iraq. These cities are Mosul, the country’s second largest city, and Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
As many as half a million people are believed to have fled their homes in Mosul as a band of around 800 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants seized the city on Tuesday, with many more Iraqis also fleeing the city of Tikrit.
Now that the Community Proposal Pilot has been re-introduced, these displaced Iraqi nationals can apply for a permanent visa to Australia if they can get the support of one of the four government approved proposing organisations under the program.
GMH Legal has an ongoing working relationship with several these organisations who have provided us with placements to use to nominate people for offshore humanitarian visas during the last round of the Community Proposal Pilot.
Under our arrangement, we provide the proposing organization with a completed a case, and if they believe that it is sufficient to meet the requirements for an offshore humanitarian visa, they will propose the applicant to come to Australia under the pilot program.
Our most recent case under the program was approved in record time of only 1 month, with another 2 months taken for health and character checks by agencies of the federal government.
It should be noted that the application fees for visa applications made under the Community Proposal Pilot are onerous. In total, a single applicant must pay the government $19,124 in application fees, and must also pay the sponsoring organization fees of $5,500.
There is also further government fees of $2,680 for each additional applicant included on the visa application as ‘dependants’, such as spouses and children. That said, this visa allows a potential applicant to apply for a permanent residence visa in instances where such a visa would not otherwise be available.
All visas types under Australia’s Offshore Humanitarian Program can be used to propose a visa applicant. Most commonly for displaced Iraqi nationals, this would include the In-Country Special Humanitarian (Subclass 201) Visa (“the Subclass 201 Visa”) and the Global Special Humanitarian Visa (Subclass 202).
The In- Country Special Humanitarian visa is right for you if you are living inside your home country and subject to persecution in your home country, and have not been able to leave that country to seek refuge elsewhere. This is a permanent residence visa that will allow you to live and work in Australia indefinitely, with all the benefits, such as Medicare and Social Security. Under the Community Proposal Pilot, only Iraqi nationals can apply for this visa, and it is not open to people from other Arab countries.
In contrast, the Global Special Humanitarian Visa is right for you if you are living outside your home country, are subject to substantial discrimination amounting to a gross violation of your human rights in your home country, and are proposed by a person or organisation in Australia. As above, this is also a permanent residence visa that comes with all the benefits of being an Australian permanent resident.
Our firm have handled many of these types of visa applications in the past and have an exceptional success rate. If you know an Iraqi family member or friend who has been displaced and suffered persecution, please call Mr George Hanna on