Migrants waiting for the long-awaited temporary sponsored parent visa say they are disappointed at the “inordinate delay” in making the visa available despite its announcement in May last year.
At the time of unveiling the visa, the government said it would be made available by the end of the year 2017. However, the visa has been caught in delays.
The Department of Home Affairs says the availability of the visa is subject to the passage of Migration Amendments (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill through the Parliament.
The Bill has already been passed by the House of Representatives and is currently before the Senate.
But the government has not listed it to be brought before the Senate in the 2018 Spring sitting which began this week.
The visa was first promised during the run-up to the 2016 federal election when Turnbull Government promised a parent visa with up to five years’ continuous stay in Australia.
The Bill remains a top priority for the Home Affairs portfolio but it is competing with priorities across the entire government.- Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Alex Hawke
Arvind Duggal, an Indian migrant living in Adelaide who spearheaded a campaign for a visa allowing continuous stay for parents of migrants in Australia, says he is disappointed at the delay.
“It’s a double disappointment. First, it’s not what the government had initially promised and they now seem to be having cold feed on delivering even that,” Mr Duggal tells SBS Punjabi.
Source: Getty Images
“Top priority for the government”
The Department of Home Affairs says the Bill linked to the visa is “expected” to be debated in the Senate in coming weeks.
“The Bill remains a top priority for the Home Affairs portfolio but it is competing with priorities across the entire government. We expect to see the Bill debated in the Senate in the coming weeks,” a spokesperson for Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Alex Hawke told SBS Punjabi.
Labor says the Government followed the party’s lead on the visa but has failed to deliver on it for over two years.
“There are families across Australia hoping to temporarily reunite with their parents who live overseas – from children who want to see their parents to grandchildren who might not have had the chance to meet their grandparents before,” Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Shayne Neumann told SBS Punjabi.
“It’s clear the out-of-touch Turnbull Government has broken its promise to the multicultural and migrant communities of Australia,” Mr Neumann added.
“Expensive and unaffordable”
Under the new scheme, visa applicants could seek a three-year visa for $5,000 or a five-year visa for $10,000, with the opportunity for a single renewal for another five years at the same price.
The financial burden of health care for migrant parents will be shouldered by their children under the new visa, with sponsors legally required to pay for their private health insurance.
The children will also need to act as financial guarantor for any extra healthcare costs their parents rack up in Australia.
Turnbull Government has broken its promise to the multicultural and migrant communities of Australia- Shadow Immigration Minister, Shayne Neuumann
Mr Duggal says the “excessive” fee of the visa will make it unaffordable for most migrants.
“Before the last election, the government said there could be a refundable bond. And when they formulated the policy, they have set a $10,000 fee for a 5-year visa- not many can afford. It’s too expensive and even that’s still up in the air,” he says.
But Assistant Minister Alex Hawke has defended the visa fee.
Members of Long Stay Visa For Parents committee. Source: SBS Punjabi
"There's great expense to the taxpayer in relation to health costs over time with elderly parents. That's the problem that government's around the world have been wrestling with,” told SBS News at the time of announcing the visa.
It will be mandatory for visa holders to take a private health cover to pay for any medical expenses incurred by them while in Australia.
Currently, parents are allowed a maximum continuous stay of 12 months on a family-sponsored visitor visa, costing just $140, with a total validity of three years. They are required to stay out of Australia for six months in each 18-month period.
Navjot Singh Kailay, a migration agent and a campaigner for parental visa said the new visa fees make it “unviable” for most people.
“I will never advise anyone to pay $5,000 for a three-year visa for a continuous stay, it’s just not worth it.”
"Our demand from the government was for a visa that could allow migrants who couldn’t afford to pay a hundred thousand dollars for contributory visas to have their parents with them. But this visa is just as expensive,” Mr Kailay says.
The new visa is capped at 15,000 places every year, once available, and migrants can only sponsor one set of parents.
