A Tamil asylum seeker on a bridging visa has died with burns to 90 cent of his body after apparently dousing himself in petrol and setting himself on fire in Geelong.

A spokesman for the Tamil Refugee Council said 29-year-old Leo Seemanpillai feared being sent back to Sri Lanka.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Seemanpillai arrived in Darwin by boat in January 2013 and was first granted a bridging visa last May.

He was taken to the Alfred Hospital on Saturday before dying of his injuries overnight.