Key Points
- Hundreds of applications lodged more than 18 months ago are still being process by the Department of Home Affairs.
- They delays are leaving international students like Tanushree and Mohammadhossein in limbo.
Tanushree Nath and Mohammadhossein Esmaeli live in two different parts of the world – Ms Nath in Guwahati, India, while Mr Esmaeli in Tehran, Iran.
But for the past 18 months, they’ve both been following the same ritual.
The first thing they do every morning is to visit the Department of Home Affairs website to find out the outcome of their student visa application.
And every morning, they’re greeted by the same words “further assessment”, indicating their applications are still being processed.
“I applied for my Australian student visa in January 2021 and [the status of] my application has not been updated since March 2021,” Ms Nath told SBS News.
India-based Tanushree Nath applied for an Australian student visa in January 2021 and has still not received an outcome. Credit: Supplied
In Tehran, Mr Esmaeli is just as frustrated.
“Waiting is one of the hardest things in the world,” he told SBS News.
“My day starts with checking emails – sometimes I wake up at five or six o’clock … Then I again check [my email] during the day. And at the end of the day, I say, OK, maybe tomorrow,” he said.
‘It’s absolutely outrageous’
Ms Nath and Mr Esmaeli are not alone.
As of 30 June, more than 74,700 offshore student visa applications and over 69,700 onshore student visa applications were waiting to be processed by the Department.
Of the offshore visa applications, over 650 were lodged more than 18 months ago.
According to Tasmanian senator and the Greens’ immigration spokesperson Nick McKim, that’s "outrageous".
“It’s absolutely outrageous that people are waiting 18 months plus and – in some cases – years to get an answer out of the department," he said.
Of the offshore visa applications waiting to be processed by the Department, about 31 per cent are more than two months old.
“We definitely need to be concerned that about a third of the applications on hand are more than two months old,” Senator McKim said.
“Two months is a reasonable length of time for people to wait. But once we start getting beyond two months, it becomes unreasonable.”
Reasons behind the delays
In a statement to SBS News, the Department of Home Affairs highlighted a number of factors that could lead to delays in visa processing.
“All non-citizens applying for visas to enter Australia are considered on an individual basis and against legal requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation,” a spokesperson from the department said.
“This often includes requirements that all applicants undertake and meet (where relevant) mandatory health, character and national security checks that are undertaken by other agencies; and this can take some time."
But Senator McKim said the Department's reasons don’t justify 18-month waiting periods.
If the department’s going to say no, say no quickly, so people can make plans, get on with the rest of their lives and make alternative arrangements to study in another country.Senator Nick McKim
“Processing visas does take some time. But there are far too many examples … where people have been waiting far, far too long to have their visa applications processed," he said.
“If the department’s going to say no, say no quickly, so people can make plans, get on with the rest of their lives and make alternative arrangements to study in another country.”
‘It breaks my heart’
India-based Ms Nath, who has been waiting for her visa to be processed for more than 18 months, said the process was impacting her mental health.
“It breaks my heart … I have undergone depression,” she said.
“Most of the time I don’t like to go out and meet people because the only question people are interested in [asking] is when I will be going to Australia.
“I’m not comfortable talking about it to people, to my relatives, to my friends. I have been sitting at home, I haven’t been going anywhere.
“There are days when I get panic attacks, like, where is my career going?
“It is difficult and not only for me but for my family [too] – they are very stressed.”
Is Australia still a desirable destination for international students?
The visa processing delays are also having an adverse effect on Australia’s reputation.
Ms Nath said when she mentions the visa delays to her friends and family in India, the “only reply they give me is, ‘You shouldn't have applied there’”.
“And they always tell me that if somebody they know wants to apply in the future, they will be telling them about my circumstances and they will be warning them,” she said.
“They tell me I should have applied to either Europe or [the] US because getting visas there is easier. And even if it’s not easier, it’s faster.
“Even if the visa is rejected or accepted, it’s told within [a reasonable period of time].”
Tasmanian Senator and the Greens’ immigration spokesperson Nick McKim. Source: AAP / Likas Cock
“And we need to do everything we can to encourage students to come here to study from other countries and make sure that our reputation is not only further damaged, but we begin to repair it,” he said.
So how can the problem be fixed?
“Firstly, the new minister [for immigration, Andrew Giles] needs to make his expectations to the department very clear that they will process these applications not only fairly, but within a reasonable time frame,” Senator McKim said.
“He should be setting reasonable time frames and requiring the department to meet those time frames.
“Secondly, he needs to be prepared to allocate more resources, both financial and human resources, to the visa processing part of his department, because it’s just not good enough for students to be missing out on [education opportunities in Australia].”
SBS News has contacted Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for comment.
