If Australians born overseas want to sponsor a parent's everlasting immigration to Australia, they’ve two options available to them.
The expensive way is a Parent liable to pay contributions or old parent Visa with a price of virtually $50,000 per person. The cheaper option is an ordinary parent or old parent The visa costs “only” $5,125, but takes significantly longer.
The government sets an annual cap of 8,500 parent visas, with about eight in 10 awarded to “contributory” applicants. That's 4,000 more places than the coalition granted in its last 12 months in office, but still far too few to fulfill demand.
As a result, the backlog is getting greater and larger. On June 30, 2023, the Home Office had 140,615 applications for parent visas available. A 12 months later, the number was 151,596.
A 12 months ago, the Home Office told latest applicants that a paid parent visa “could take at least 12 years” to process. Now says the timeframe is 14 years. That's ridiculous, however the waiting time for the cheaper standard visa is beyond absurd – it's now 31 years.
Many applicants will die before their cases are considered. They and their Australian families are condemned to living in limboclings to a vain hope.
“Giving people the opportunity to apply for a visa they will probably never get seems both cruel and unnecessary,” said the Expert panel Review of the migration system.
Overhaul of the system
At the start of its term in office, the federal government commissioned The panel who found the migration system to be “not fit for purpose”.
One second report Former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon revealed “grotesque” visa abuses.
Former Home Secretary Clare O'Neil explained the system is broken and revealed a brand new migration strategy which sought comprehensive reform quite than continuing to tinker with it.
She and the then Immigration Minister Andrew Giles initiated necessary measures, including a overhaul the points system for choosing expert staff for everlasting residence and a review of settings designed to lure them to the Australian provinces.
But they prioritised solving the issue of expert migration over family migration, particularly the dysfunctional parent visa system. It is a long-term mess that’s getting worse.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Political distractions
Home Secretary Tony Burke says In the times following his appointment as Interior Minister, he was almost continually in briefings, his concentrate on an upcoming Decision of the High Court which could once more declare government policy illegal.
The opposition has sharply criticized the federal government for its handling of the November ruling that indefinite detention of immigrants was unconstitutional. Burke doesn’t wish to be in trouble if the court upholds a ruling. Challenge to the laws it passed in response.
Lawyers for stateless individuals called YBFZ, argue The imposition of curfews and ankle bracelets on all released prisoners constitutes a violation of the separation of powers between the chief and the judiciary.
But coping with the political fallout from the litigation is a distraction from other deep problems in Australia's immigration system, including the tens of 1000’s of individuals waiting for parental visas.
What is the answer?
As I wrote earlier, the expert panel proposed switching to a lottery system, New Zealand has come into force. New Zealand will allocate 2,000 places annually to folks who’ve entered the immigration processing queue before October 2022. Applications submitted after that date can be placed in a pool where 500 places can be allocated in a lottery. Once New Zealand has cleared its backlog, it could actually introduce a lottery for all parent visas.
Australia could do something similar. It could issue 7,500 visas a 12 months to waiting parents and allocate 1,000 by lottery. Even at that rate, nonetheless, it will still take twenty years to clear the backlog.
Drawing names out of a hat would not less than eliminate the injustice of those that can raise $50,000 getting ahead within the visa queue. However, tens of 1000’s of families would still be denied a visa.
Canada was introduced right into a lottery system in 2015 and the general program offers 20,500 places.
The probabilities of success remain slim – about one in seven. More than 100,000 applicants are left empty-handed, and upset families are more likely to keep trying 12 months after 12 months. They will not be at the tip of an infinite queue, but they too must hope against hope for a visa they could never get.
An alternative is to abolish everlasting migration of fogeys altogether. Extended families could proceed to return together by temporary parent visas. While expensive and problematicThe temporary parent visa allows an initial stay of three to 5 years, supplying you with time to remain in Australia while your grandchildren are very young or to supply support in times of need.
Abolishing everlasting parental immigration can be the honest approach, as neither Labor nor the Coalition will expand the parent visa program to fulfill demand. Skilled immigration is their top priority. They see parents as a drain on the system, using more services than they contribute through work and taxes.
Politics vs. politics policy
But Labor and the Coalition know that abolishing everlasting parental migration would anger foreign-born voters in marginal constituencies. This is central to the parent puzzle: The immigration policies of the main parties contradict their electoral strategies.
Whatever the Government decides in the long run, as the brand new minister, Burke has the chance to act decisively and forestall the issue from getting worse. He could freeze latest applications for everlasting parent visas until an intensive review of options has been carried out, while the Home Office works through the backlog of 150,000 applications.
It is irresponsible to let the queue grow longer and longer, hoping for a visa that you’ll never get. Ultimately, tough decisions should be made.
Previous ministers have delay this problem for greater than a decade. Now it’s Burke's turn.
image credit : theconversation.com