UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. To this end, UNHCR strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and where necessary, find safe refuge in another country. By assisting refugees settle in another country, UNHCR seeks to protect refugees, and also to provide lasting solutions to their plight.
I arrived in Australia or New Zealand and I wish to claim asylum. Can UNHCR in Canberra assist me?
The Governments of Australia and New Zealand are both Contracting States to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and have asylum systems in place to determine whether persons claiming asylum are refugees. UNHCR is not formally involved in determining whether a person is a refugee in Australia or New Zealand.
If you are in Australia and wish to claim asylum in Australia, you must approach the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). Further information is available from DIBP’s website at http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/866.aspx
If you are in New Zealand and wish to claim asylum in New Zealand, you must approach the Refugee Status Branch of New Zealand. Further information is available from the Refugee Status Branch website at http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branch/RSBHome/
To assist you in making a visa application, you may find it useful to seek the assistance of a lawyer or a migration agent.
There is a directory of registered migration agents in Australia that may be accessed from the Australian Migration Agents Registration Authority at www.mara.gov.au
There is also a directory of licensed immigration advisers in New Zealand that may be accessed from the Immigration Advisers Authority at http://www.iaa.govt.nz
I am currently in another part of the world and I wish to claim asylum in Australia or New Zealand. Can UNHCR in Canberra assist me?
UNHCR in Canberra cannot assist you with claiming asylum in Australia or New Zealand.
Australia and New Zealand have asylum systems to determine whether persons claiming asylum are refugees. UNHCR in Canberra is not formally involved in this process.
To claim asylum in Australia or New Zealand you need to be physically present in the relevant country.