The Senate is exploring problems relating to family and partner visa, in order to find solutions to them. The committees have sought submissions from the public and other interested parties.
Secretary of Multicultural Greens Victoria, Apsara Sabaratnam, says this inquiry is essential because the system is “broken”.
“Approximately 200,000 Australians are waiting to be united either with their loved ones or parents, and in many cases, the cost is quite prohibitive. It can be from a couple of thousands to $6000, just for the application. And, the time that people have to wait for, is between 30 and 50 years,” she says.
Highlights:
- Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquires into family and partner reunion visas
- The committees have sought submissions from the public and other interested parties
- Costs and waiting times of such visas are ‘prohibitive,’ say migrants
The Greens have been pushing for this inquiry. had reported in February that the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee agreed to it.
In February, Greens' Senator Nick McKim had said that it was the right time to create a “fairer and faster” system for applicants.
He warned that the family reunion system has “unnecessarily kept families apart”.
“It is keeping families apart and tearing families apart unnecessarily ... we want to see a fairer system, a faster system and a more affordable system,” he had told SBS News.
Some in the Indian community agree with Senator McKim.
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Senate committee inquiry into family and partner reunion visa underway, seeks public input
SBS Hindi
11/04/202105:20
Arvind Duggal, an Indian migrant in Adelaide, is the founder of the Long Stay Visa for Parents campaign on Facebook. He says many families are suffering the long queues and high fees.
“Our parents have given their next generation to this country. Staying with their families is their right and they should get it,” says Mr Duggal emphatically.
Migrant communities have nursed these concerns for many years.
Arvind Duggal has been a long-term campaigner for the parent visa. Source: Supplied by Arvind Duggal
Australia offers a permanent visa that lets a parent of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen to move here permanently.
Parents can also pay their way into Australia if they do not wish to wait that long.
A Contributory Parent Visa that costs $47,775 per person with an average wait time of 45 months, lets them do that. Its mirror image, the Non-Contributory Parent Visa, costs a fraction of that ($6,000) but will make the applicant wait for more than 30 years.
Ms Sabaratnam, who is helping migrants make submissions to the Senate committee, says if you have that kind of money, you could bring your parents to Australia.
“You can see that very few people have the opportunity to be united with their parents,” says Ms Sabaratnam.
The current backlog for Non-Contributory Parent Visa applications is estimated at 50,000, while for Contributory Parent Visa, there are 55,000 pending applications.
The estimated waiting times for these applications is not clear.
The Department of Home Affairs had told SBS News that processing times for visas can be impacted by changes in application volumes, seasonal peaks, complex cases and income applications.
A spokesperson for the department had said that the Australian Government “recognises the importance of reuniting families.”
“The department strives to assess applications and finalise visas as efficiently and effectively as possible,” the spokesperson had earlier this year, adding that the Australian government was “committed to a managed and equitable system of migration.”
The Senate committees have stated limitations on the eligibility to apply for relevant visas, waiting times, cost of applying and commitments required to grant relevant visas, as the terms of reference of this inquiry.
The current backlog for non-contributory parent visa applications is estimated at around 50,000. Source: Getty Images/Mayur Kakade
It is also looking into government policy settings regarding relevant visas and the role of family reunion in Australia’s Migration Program and its suitability and consistency, among other factors.
Mr Duggal says these issues are “genuine concerns” for communities and need to be talked about.
“We need a reasonable solution to these issues,” he says.
Ms Sabaratnam says people should make submissions to the committee to fix these problems.
“Legislations affect us every day, and we have to think when we have the opportunity to provide feedback and input. We should feel empowered to do that because it really does help make changes,” she concludes.
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