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Feature
It's been ages since Australia’s borders reopened, so why can't these people leave?
More than a year since Australia fully opened its international borders following the COVID-19 shutdown, some migrants remain unable to return home to see their families due to their visa conditions.
Published 17 April 2023 5:01pm
By Anna Bailey
Source: SBS News
Image: Tamsyn and her husband Danny want to return to South Africa. (Supplied)
Thousands of Australian residents have reunited with their families and gone on dream trips abroad since the country in February 2022.
But some migrants still can’t leave because of their visa conditions. If they do – they run the risk of losing the lives they’ve worked so hard to build.
“It’s this weird limbo place where I don’t know what to do,” 34-year-old Tamsyn Schimmel told SBS News earlier this year.
“It would be such a difficult decision to make if my father passed away.”
Tamsyn is from South Africa. Her ageing father remains there and is unwell. She currently lives with her Australian husband Danny in Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast.
Tamsyn and her family in South Africa. Source: Supplied
The following September she was granted an exemption to travel to Australia on a three-month visitor visa (which she was able to extend). She and Danny wanted to apply for a partner visa but didn’t have the $8,000 required. She then applied for another temporary visa and was placed on Bridging Visa A.
Once the couple saved up enough money, they applied for a partner visa. Because Tamsyn was not on a substantive visa when she lodged her partner visa application, she was then placed on Bridging Visa C, which has left her unable to travel.
What is a bridging visa?
that allows onshore visa applicants to remain in Australia while their substantive visa is being processed.
Bridging Visa A (BVA) holders can apply for Bridging Visa B, which permits them to travel within a specific window, but Bridging Visa C holders can’t.
Statistics from The Department of Home Affairs show that as of 31 January this year, . This does not include those on Bridging Visa E.
“Once you’re on a [Bridging Visa] C or an E – you can never go back to B,” said Zefy Souvlakis, partner at Ethos Migration Lawyers in Melbourne.
Waiting times can be anywhere from six to 36 months.
Tamsyn’s visa status has meant that she has not only been unable to return home to see her family – it also put her and her husband’s plans to start a family on hold. They would like to travel to South Africa to adopt a baby.
Technically, Tamsyn could have returned to South Africa, but it could have put her partner visa at risk.
“Bridging Visa C holders can leave the country, but they can’t get back in on the same visa. There are ways around it in some situations, but it complicates each person's immigration situation in Australia quite significantly”, Ms Souvlakis said.
Personal circumstances aren’t taken into account when a BVC or BVE is issued.
“It depends on the status of the applicant at the time of the new visa application lodgement”, Ms Souvlakis said.
Tamsyn (right) with her sister Gwlithyn in Cape Town in December 2019. Source: Supplied
“I love Australia, but I feel like I’m being punished,” she said.
Chloe was initially on a Bridging Visa A but later ended up on a Bridging Visa C after her relationship with her partner broke down and she applied for another visa pathway in order to stay.
She hasn’t seen her family for four years.
“The reason this visa scheme has been in effect for many years now is to mostly deter visa applicants from lodging multiple applications while waiting for another application to be finalised,” Ms Souvlakis said.
“Let’s say your advantages from being on a bridging visa are restricted in terms of what you can and cannot do, that is used as a deterrent in terms of keeping you lodging applications onshore.”
“This is not written in policy anywhere that … [The Department of Home Affairs] ... want to use it as a deterrent. It’s just how the immigration system has been established – to prevent people from doing the wrong thing.”
Living in limbo
Bridging visas aren’t the only visas that come with travel restrictions.
Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs) and Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) are issued to people claiming asylum in Australia who arrived by boat. SHEVS are valid for five years and TPVs are valid for three, and both can be renewed.
Holders of these visas can apply for permission to travel, but only if they have a compelling reason.
Nayran Tabeibi came to Australia in 2012 when the war in Syria broke out. She is on a TPV and runs Flavours of Syria, a cafe and social enterprise in Melbourne.
Each year, the 53-year-old’s extended family gathers in Thailand, where her older brother lives, for a beachside reunion.
“It’s so the cousins can get to know each other,” she said.
Like many Syrian families, Nayran’s family is spread out across the world.
“I’m the only one [who can’t go] … I’m still in the limbo.”
Nayran (right) has settled in Melbourne with her daughter Elyanoura and husband Majid. Source: Supplied
Earlier this year, the federal government announced (RoS) which, if granted, will give them the ability to travel in and out of Australia freely.
Those eligible will receive an invitation to apply from home affairs for the RoS. Nayran has yet to receive an invitation. If she is eligible to apply for an RoS, it could take to process the application.
On Saturday, as SBS News was preparing to publish this story, Tamsyn received the news that she had got her partner visa.
She is now able to travel overseas to see her father and she and Danny can begin their plans to start a family.
"I feel really relieved that it's over and that I can leave the country at any point," she said.
But the years of uncertainty caused by border closures and visa wait times have had an impact.
"It's just the lack of knowing the timeframe and the fact you can't leave and return is the thing that kind of makes it terrible with having older parents."
The Department for Home Affairs doesn’t comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson for the department said in a statement that bridging visas (BVs) “do not preclude someone from departing Australia, however, in most cases the BV would cease upon departure”.
“The department continues to explore ways to improve provision of its services, including how BVs are allocated and managed."
In September last year, the government announced a comprehensive review of Australia’s migration system. Since the announcement, the department has started making changes to streamline permanent residency.
The most recent change includes to allow current holders of this visa to become eligible for permanent residency.
For now, Chloe and Nayran remain in limbo.
Many of Nayran’s family members overseas have since become citizens of the countries they sought asylum in, she said.
“In three years, they get their citizenship. For me, it’s been 10 years, and I can’t even travel.”
Anna Bailey is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne.
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