Highlights
- Visa holders of subclasses 489, 491 stuck offshore urge government to freeze or extend visas
- Over 8,000 skilled regional visa holders stranded outside Australia as of 29 March
- Return of skilled migrants could fill critical skill gaps in regional Australia, say experts
Skilled regional visa holder Meenu Rani had travelled to her native village near Phagwara in Punjab along with her husband and children in February 2020.
At the time, her family didn’t know that their six-week-long visit would stretch into an indefinite stay, upending the lives they had painstakingly built in Adelaide at the cost of thousands of dollars.
“For the past year-and-a-half, we have continued to pay our rent, car insurance and other overhead expenses in the hope that we’d be able to return to our life in Australia.
“My son has not attended school for the past one year, and I am worried that he is missing on the crucial learning years which may have a long-lasting impact on his education,” Ms Rani told SBS Punjabi.
Amongst her biggest concerns is they may lose their only chance to get permanent residency, for which they would have become eligible in October.
Meenu Rani remains stranded with her family in India ever since the borders closed in March 2020. Source: Supplied by Meenu Rani
“We are on a 489 visa, and in normal circumstances, we would have become eligible for permanent residency later this year. But because we have spent over a year-and-a-half outside Australia, I fear that we may no longer be eligible even after struggling for 12 years,” she added.
Thousands of 489, 491 visa holders stranded overseas
Over 8,000 skilled regional visa holders were stranded outside Australia as of 29 March 2021. Source: AAP
Meenu is not alone.
As per the latest data from the Department of Home Affairs, a total of 6,230 holders of the Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa Subclass 489 and 2,233 of the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa Subclass 491 were stranded offshore as of 29 March. The figures include primary and secondary applicants.
The 489 visa is a four-year provisional visa that requires applicants to live in a specified regional area for at least two years and work full-time for at least 12 months before they become eligible to apply for permanent residency through the permanent Skilled Regional visa Subclass 887.
However, this visa pathway was discontinued by the government in November 2019 and was replaced with the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa Subclass 491.
This provisional visa is granted for a five-year period, and visa holders must meet the regional requirement for three years before becoming eligible to apply for permanent residency through the Skilled Regional visa Subclass 191.
'We just want some certainty'
Ali Riad Abdallah is a 489 visa holder and heads a Telegram group called ‘Stranded Skilled Migrants of Regional Australia (SSMORA)’.
Ali Riad Abdallah. Source: Supplied by Ali Riad Abdallah
This group comprises over a thousand 489 and 491 visa holders stranded across the globe.
The ICT business development manager, who was invited to migrate to the Northern Territory in December 2018, fears that he may not fulfil the requirements towards his permanent residency if the international borders remain closed for another year.
“When my visa was granted, its terms and conditions stated that I need to work for 12 months and reside for 24 months in a regional area to convert my provisional visa into a permanent residency visa. But, unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and the closure of borders, I will not be able to fulfil those requirements should the borders stay closed for another year,” the 35-year-old said.
Speaking on behalf of the Telegram group, Mr Abdallah said migrants stranded offshore are not urging the Morrison government to put Australians at risk or prioritise their return over Australian citizens and permanent residents.
“We just want to have certainty that before we arrive in Australia when borders reopen for skilled migrants, we are guaranteed that our visa will be extended by the duration lost since the border closure, so that we can qualify for permanent residency, as our visa entitled us for in the first place,” he said.
COVID visa concessions 'not enough'
In September 2020, the for the lodgement and eligibility requirements for prospective Skilled Regional visa Subclass 887 applicants where they meet the following criteria:
- Eligible prospective subclass 887 visa applicants can make their visa application outside Australia during the and be granted the visa while they are outside Australia
- Applicants outside of Australia who lodge during the are given access to shorter employment requirements and shorter residence requirements
However, no such concessions were made for 491 visa holders.
Adelaide-based migration agent Mark Glazbrook said these concessions seem helpful but leave many existing visa holders without any safety net.
“What about visa holders who have not been able to enter Australia after the visa grant or their visas have not been activated yet? Also, there may be many visa holders who were able to get their visas activated, stayed here for let’s stay three months, and travelled overseas. So, while these concessions are helpful, they don’t go far enough to support everyone, including the 491 visa holders,” he said.
Mr Glazbrook said the government needs to urgently address this issue to ensure skilled migrants can return to regional Australia and continue on their pathway to permanent residency.
“The federal government has created these problems because of their border restrictions, but they are not doing anything to address these concerns. If they could allow these migrants to return to the country, the move will not only benefit the visa holders but the economy at large because these migrants can return and fill critical skill gaps in regional areas,” he added.
Mr Abdallah rued that during the federal government’s Budget presentation in May, no mention was made about the regional skilled migrants stranded offshore.
Their plight was later raised by Greens Senator and immigration spokesperson Nick McKim during a Senate hearing on 23 June.
He held the government responsible for upending the lives of 489 and 491 visa holders, who he said were meant to be Australia’s next cohort of permanent residents.
“These were meant to be Australia’s next group of permanent residents, but their futures are now at risk because they might not be able to meet their permanent residency requirements. Years of hard work, years of planning slipping away before their very eyes, thanks to the government,” he said.
Click on the player to listen to the audio in Punjabi.
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