The Protection visa — subclass 866 is Australia's onshore permanent protection visa for persons who are found to engage Australia's protection obligations — as a Convention Refugee or on complementary protection grounds — and who arrived in Australia on a valid visa (lawful arrival). The 866 is a permanent visa that allows the holder to live, work, and study in Australia indefinitely. Persons who arrived in Australia as unlawful non-citizens (without a valid visa) are generally not eligible for the 866 and are instead assessed for the Temporary Protection Visa (TPV, subclass 785) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV, subclass 790).

For current processing information, eligibility requirements, and the application process, refer to the DHA Protection 866 page and the DHA onshore protection page.

• Migration Act 1958, s 36 — protection visa eligibility: Refugee Convention, complementary protection, and non-refoulement obligations
• Migration Regulations 1994 — Subclass 866 (Protection) — visa criteria
• DHA: Protection visa (subclass 866) — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/protection-866
• DHA: Onshore protection — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/onshore-protection

The lawful arrival requirement

The critical threshold for the subclass 866 is the lawful arrival requirement: the applicant must have arrived in Australia on a valid visa and been immigration-cleared. This distinguishes the 866 from the TPV/SHEV pathway:

• Persons who arrived on a valid visa (tourist, student, work, or other visa) and then apply for protection → assessed for the permanent subclass 866
• Persons who arrived as unlawful non-citizens (by boat without a valid visa, or in a manner triggering unlawful non-citizen provisions) → assessed for the temporary subclass 785 (TPV) or subclass 790 (SHEV)

This distinction reflects Australian government policy that persons who entered through regular channels and then sought protection are entitled to permanent protection if found to engage protection obligations, whereas persons who entered unlawfully are subject to the temporary protection framework.

Protection grounds — who engages Australia's obligations

Under the Migration Act 1958, s 36, Australia's protection obligations are engaged by two distinct grounds:

1. Convention Refugee

A person is a Convention Refugee if they are outside their country of nationality and have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country. For the framework of the five persecution grounds, see the refugee five grounds page (the grounds are the same under the 1951 Refugee Convention in both Australia and Canada).

2. Complementary protection

A person engages complementary protection if they face a real risk of significant harm if removed from Australia to their country of nationality — even if they do not meet the Convention Refugee definition. Complementary protection covers risks of arbitrary deprivation of life, death penalty, torture, or cruel/inhuman/degrading treatment or punishment. For details on complementary protection in Australia, see the complementary protection page.

The application process

The protection visa application process in Australia involves:

1. Lodging a protection visa application (Form 866 or 866C) with DHA from within Australia — the 866 cannot be applied for from outside Australia
2. Providing a detailed statement of claims setting out the grounds for protection, the feared harm, and why home country authorities cannot or will not protect the applicant
3. An interview with a DHA protection officer
4. Assessment of the claims against the protection criteria
5. A decision — if the decision is favourable, the visa is granted; if refused, the applicant may seek merits review at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and, after that, judicial review at the Federal Court

Free legal assistance is available for many protection visa applicants — refer to the DHA information guide for the 866 for current free legal assistance services.

2026 — faster processing

DHA announced in 2026 that significant changes to the protection visa process have resulted in most new applications being decided substantially faster than in prior years. The changes include reformed processing procedures aimed at reducing the large backlog of protection cases. For current processing times, refer to the DHA 866 page.

Outcome — permanent residence

If granted, the subclass 866 is a permanent visa — the holder can:

• Live, work, and study in Australia indefinitely
• Travel on an Australian travel document (Convention Travel Document) if they cannot access their country's passport
• Sponsor certain family members to join them in Australia
• Apply for Australian citizenship after meeting the citizenship residence requirements

Travel restriction during application

A person who has applied for a Protection visa and then travels to the country in which they claim to fear persecution risks having their application refused — this travel can be taken as evidence that the claimed fear is not well-founded. Applicants are strongly advised not to travel to the country from which they are seeking protection while their application is pending.

The subclass 866 is the permanent protection pathway for persons who entered Australia lawfully and then sought asylum — a relatively rare situation compared to the large numbers who sought protection after arriving by boat (who are subject to the TPV/SHEV temporary protection framework). The 866 is also the protection outcome for persons who were initially assessed and found to meet protection criteria, and for those who benefit from the Resolution of Status (RoS) pathway (pre-February 2023 TPV/SHEV holders can now apply for the permanent subclass 851 RoS visa). For current eligibility, the application guide, Form 866, free legal assistance services, and current processing times, refer to the DHA subclass 866 page.