Hundreds of asylum seekers have just days remaining to claim protection in Australia or risk being booted out of the country.
Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton gave roughly 7000 asylum seekers who arrived by boat a non-negotiable October 1 deadline to "lodge it or leave".
Mr Dutton declared "fake refugees" were bleeding Australian taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars in welfare payments each year.
"Some of them are refusing to lodge claims at all and others refuse to provide any evidence around their identity and we are not going to allow that to continue," he told reporters at the time.
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Mr Dutton indicated those who refused to engage in the process would be stripped of income support before their visas were cancelled and they were deported.
More than 6000 people have applied since the cut-off date was announced in May, with about 600 asylum seekers yet to submit their paperwork ahead of the Saturday deadline.
An immigration department spokesperson said there was limited time for those who remained to apply either online or by mail for a Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV).
"Failure to lodge a TPV or SHEV application will be taken as an indication that an IMA (illegal maritime arrival) no longer intends to seek protection in Australia," they told AAP on Tuesday.
"IMAs who do not apply and who do not make arrangements to leave Australia may be detained and removed from Australia."
Refugees lawyers and advocates have railed against the "unreasonably tight" deadline, but the government is concerned some of the cohort have lived in the community for several years without a deep analysis of their backgrounds.
The so-called "legacy caseload" refers to roughly 30,500 asylum seekers who arrived by sea between late 2012 and early 2014, roughly 23,000 of whom had already applied for protection when the deadline was announced.
