The Federal Government will start accepting applications for the new parent visa that will allow them to stay in Australia for a period of up to five years, in the first half of next year.
A Bill has cleared Parliament after some complex amendments paving the way to roll out this ‘much-awaited’ new visa that will allow as many as 15,000 parents to reunite with their children who are Australian citizens or permanent residents.
comes at a “hefty” price for the applicants who can now seek a three-year visa for $5,000 or a five-year visa for $10,000, with the opportunity of a single renewal for another five years at the same price.
Arvind Duggal, the convener and the founder member of the Long Stay Visa for Parents campaign committee has expressed his concerns over the new visa.
“We did not expect it from the government. This is unfair and out of reach and we didn’t get what we were promised,” said Mr Duggal.
“We can’t understand why they’re forcing a $5,000 fee for a three-year visa when you can get a two-year stay for a visa that costs only $140”.
Mr Duggal said that the new arrangement will be ‘out of reach’ for many migrant families.
“It is unaffordable and forceful, and to my surprise, they [government] even didn’t look at the needs of the community,” he adds.
“The Liberals lured migrants by offering a five-year continuous visa during the last elections. They didn’t provide any details at that time and this is what we get after three years!
Amreek Dhaliwal is an Australian citizen who has been living with his family in Australia for the past ten years.
Members of Long Stay Visa For Parents committee. Source: SBS Punjabi
His parents live in India and visit them occasionally on temporary visitor visas.
“They’re a big help to us as they look after our two young children while I and my wife can work to pay our mortgage and bills,” says Mr Dhaliwal.
“With the new visa, they’ll make us pay $5,000 for something that we’re getting for $150 in the past. This is on top of the health insurance premiums that we’ll be paying for our parents.
“The cost of living has gone up and so has our struggle. We needed some support from this government but this is just outrageous!"
Anika Visser also wants the parent visa to be more affordable. She made a comment on Facebook – ‘It shouldn’t be this hard for a now Australian citizen to bring the family over... If I am happy to support my parent and temporary support and aid my siblings in acquiring work, I should be entitled to bring them to this country without paying tens of thousands of dollars."
Another Indian Australian who doesn’t want to be named said that he is concerned over the handling of the parent visa.
“There’s a lot of politics going on from last three years. Such a high cost for the temporary visa is highly unacceptable,” he says.
“It is blackmail and they’re doing it forcefully without looking at the community needs.
“It seems like they’re forcing us to pay tens of thousands dollars to have childcare labour in the form of parents of the migrants.
Melbourne-based migration agent Navjot Kailay says the visa comes with a ‘heavy fee’ and doesn’t solve the problems of the migrant communities.
"The costs look extremely high for a temporary visa. The proposed parent visa by the current Government will not solve anything,” he says.
“Firstly, it is capped to 15,000 a year, secondly it’s a very expensive option with heavy fees thirdly this new parent visa option can only be availed twice in a lifetime. So, it’s not a practical solution for migrant families.”
Mr Duggal said their campaign for Long Stay visa for Parents had a very genuine and reasonable demand that should have been met by the government.
“It has been a long journey for us as a family, as a team, and as a community. The government made our simple proposal so complicated that we are still struggling to achieve what we wanted in the first place.
Following years of pressure from ethnic communities, the government had promised a parent visa before the last federal election.
But at the same time, the government also announced that they don’t want elderly migrant parents to be a financial burden on the taxpayer.
