In 1982 Chan applied for a visa by section 6A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Subsection (I)(c) allowed for visas to be granted to people who: ... (b) met the status of Refugee under two relevant international agreements. These agreements were the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the 1967 Status of Refugees protocol. Relevantly under those agreements, a refugee was a person who 'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of ... political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality'.