Legal Assistance for People Seeking Asylum
This year RACS assisted over 1,500 vulnerable individuals and families to seek protection in Australia by providing crucial legal assistance to lodge their applications for protection. These people now need our help with the next critical stages in their application process. The government has indicated they want to complete all interviews with people seeking asylum from this group by October 2018 so time is critical. The legal assistance we provide now will impact the final decision on their case and their future, and will ensure that everyone has the opportunity of fair representation before the law. Our legal expertise will be essential at all of the following stages:
- People will be questioned by letter about their identity documents.
- People will attend Department of Immigration interviews which can be daunting without a lawyer present. Post-interview submissions. Written submissions generally relate to questions of legal interpretation, relevant country situation or clarification of evidence. Further interviews may be required, which are crucial to a person’s success and require legal support.
- Non-English-speaking people need assistance to understand the reasons for Department outcomes. It is essential that they are provided with professional legal support in order to be able to correct misunderstandings, seek additional evidence or respond to errors in the decision making.
- Where the decision is to grant the visa, people require legal advice on their rights and obligations as a holder of the visa.
- If people receive a negative decision, legal assistance is crucial in order to assess their prospects for judicial review. Time is of the essence with a very small appeal window.