New visa to give regional opportunity

Asylum seekers will be able to seek a new type of temporary visa to enable them to work or study in regional areas under laws which start on Wednesday.

The five-year safe haven enterprise visa (SHEV) will be available to people who arrive by boat, in a similar application process to the temporary protection visa.

An immigration department spokeswoman told AAP the department would broadly invite people to apply according to the order in which they arrived.

However, the department will prioritise particular groups, such as people in detention.

The SHEV will allow a visa holder to settle in a regional community and find work or study.

NSW is the only government to have so far signed up to take part, agreeing to provide health and educational services.

Temporary protection visas will still be available.

Since December, when TPVs came back into law under the Abbott government, five people have been granted the visas, the department says.