Highlights:
- The processing time for skilled Independent Visa (Sub Class 189) has jumped up to 20-24 months.
- Many applicants have been waiting for their visas for almost an year now.
- The Department of Home Affairs says it is prioritising processing for visa applicants who provide critical or specialist skills in support of the Government's response to COVID-19 and economic recovery.
In March 2020, Aman Sehgal could feel his hard work had finally paid off. He received an invite to apply for Australian Skilled Independent Visa (Sub Class 189).
"I submitted my Expression of Interest in December 2019 and received an invitation in March invitation round. In April, I submitted my visa application with all documents and fee."
That was he heard, according to Mr Sehgal who is still waiting for his visa.
Listen to Aman Sehgal's story in his own words:
LISTEN TO
189 Visa: Processing time jumps to 20-24 months as many wait for over a year
SBS Hindi
25/01/202109:47
"I have not received anything yet. All they tell us is to check the processing time on the DoHA website. And the processing time has increased from 9 to 18 months in recent months," says a dejected Aman Sehgal who is on a bridging visa now.
From a dream to a touch or reality
Aman Sehgal arrived in Australia in 2016 on students visa. After finishing his masters in Information Technology from Monash University, he started working as an engineer.
During this period he gained experience and improved his score to apply for the 189 visa.
The 189 skilled independent visa is a points tested visa which allows one to work and study anywhere in Australia and sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence.
Aman Sehgal applied for his 189 visa in March last year. Source: Supplied by Aman Sehgal
Aman Sehgal says it is one of the toughest visas to get.
"It's based on several parameters, and to even receive an invite, the applicant has to prove their potential in terms of their skills, education, commitment towards life in Australia, and a lot more.
Aman Sehgal says this implies "applicants who have received an invite to apply for permanent residency have proven their ability to become a permanent resident to the Government."
"Three years ago, around 4,000 applicants were invited to apply for permanent residency, and processing time used to be around 6-8 months. In the past two years, when the ceiling for skilled independent visas fell from 42,000 to 18,000; the number of applicants also fell to approx 500 per month for invitations," Aman explains.
Source: Department of Home Affairs
"As the demand was reduced by 50 per cent, there was more competition among the applicants, and applicants tried to maximise their points as much as they could. This included giving a NAATI exam, scoring 79+ in all sections of the PTE test, doing a Professional Year course, etc.
Normally, one would expect that as there are fewer applicants than the Immigration department is accepting, this would imply that visa processing will be shorter. But it all took a U-turn, and visa processing time has now shot up to 18 months.
Aman Sehgal is not alone. Many applicants have been waiting for months after applying for their 189 visa.
"The visa process is so slow. It's very frustrating," says Abhishek Balaiya who applied for his 189 visa in March last year.
"I am not expecting people to think about anything about offshore but at least for people who already are here and got the invitation, applied it, paid for it as it is not cheap. I don't know how much we already invested in terms of time and money during the past four-five years."
And it's not about another guy or me. So many people are in the same position.
Many of these applicants are on bridging visas now which leaves many options out of their reach.
Mr Balaiya says being on a bridging visa A(BVA) puts an applicant's life at a huge risk.
"Without having a proper PR there are certain things one cannot do like changing jobs. Seeing the Bridging Visa, they won't allow you go through the application process. They really want proper PR people for the jobs even though we have full work rights.
"It is very frustrating in terms of how things are and the visa process is so slow," said Mr Balaiya.
The 189 skilled independent visa is a dream for many young skilled migrants aged between 25 and 33 years, who come to Australia to study or work on a temporary visa.
"But, since March 2020, apart from applicants from Medical Sciences, a handful of applicants have been granted this visa. There have been no new invites and the applicants who had applied for the visa paid $4,000+ for it, with medical examination done as well, have been waiting for their grants for over 18+ months. Even after paying this much, the applicants are unable to get any information on their visa processing status," says Mr Sehgal.
He adds that a skilled person's personal and professional life have been impacted severely, and the uncertainty of the future is unbearable.
Abhishek Balaiya is on Bridging Visa after applying for Subclass 189 visa in March last year. Source: Supplied by Aman Sehgal
Recent changes in Australian immigration policy
In the 2020 budget, the Federal Government announced some significant changes to immigration policy.
Only 6,500 places have been allocated to Skilled Independent visas which include the 189 Skilled Independent visa.
Less than 8,000 invitations for skilled independent visa were issued by the Department of Home Affairs in the last financial year, a significant decrease of 66 per cent in the number of invites issued.
Compared to 22,920 invites issued for Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) in 2018-19, only 7,720 invites were issued in the last financial year.
The maximum limit in the current financial year is 6,500.
'Prioritising processing for critical skills'
The Department of Home Affairs says it is prioritising the processing for visa applicants who provide critical or specialist skills in support of the Government's response to COVID-19 and economic recovery.
A spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs told SBS Hindi: "On 1 September, the then Minister of Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, the Honourable Alan Tudge MP, issued two new visa processing Directions pursuant to section 499 of the Migration Act 1948, specifying prioritisation of skilled visas. Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visas continue to be processed in accordance with this Direction.
This visa does not use the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL).
"The Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa is open to eligible applicants working in skilled occupations listed in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, Short-term Skilled Occupation List and Regional Occupation List."
The spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs says the Government is closely monitoring migration and visa settings to ensure they are consistent with public health measures, are flexible and do not displace job opportunities for Australians, so that Australia can effectively respond to the immediate and subsequent impacts of COVID-19.
