Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV)
Statutory definition
The Safe Haven Enterprise Visa is prescribed in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) as Subclass 790. Like the TPV, it is available to unauthorised maritime arrivals found to be owed Australia's protection obligations.
Explanation
The SHEV was introduced in 2015 as an alternative to the TPV for UMAs willing to live and work in a regional or designated area. It is valid for five years (longer than the TPV's three years) and provides work rights.
If a SHEV holder lives and works (or studies) in a designated regional or specified area for at least 42 months (three and a half years) of the five-year period, without accessing most government income support, they become eligible to apply for certain other temporary or permanent visas.
In practice the SHEV pathway to permanency was limited. The 2023 legislative amendments that created a direct permanent residence pathway for long-term TPV/SHEV holders addressed this limitation.
How this term is used
The SHEV is available to UMAs who have not been found to engage protection obligations on previous applications and to those granted a TPV who wish to transition to a SHEV. A holder may hold only one protection visa at a time.