Highlights
- Partner and child visas are demand-driven and are not capped.
- 10,000 places from the Partner visa stream in the 2021-22 Migration Program will be diverted to skilled visas.
- Processing times for visas are inconsistent.
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Mag-asawa, limang taon ng naghihintay na ma-approve ang partner visa
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A recent states that it is "a matter of urgency" that the Department of Home Affairs develop a “long-term strategy to update its system for the processing of visas.”
“It really shows that the system is broken and is failing families,” Josephine Langbien, senior lawyer of the Human Rights Law Centre, shares with SBS News.
One family affected by the "broken system" is Pelar and Adrian Mcintire's. The two have been waiting on a decision on Pelar's partner visa for five years.
Pelar and Adrian McIntyre have been waiting five years for the result of Pelar's partner visa application. Source: Pelar McIntyre
The wait
"I was initially on a de facto partner visa. Adrian's divorce was still being processed so we had to wait for it to get finalised to get married," Pelar shares.
The couple had a civil wedding in Australia in 2017, after which they updated their information to apply for the more permanent subclass 801 partner visa. Her son from another relationship, who moved to Australia in 2019, is attached to her application.
"Our case is clear-cut and straightforward. We have nothing to hide. We've passed all background checks. We don't have any bad records. We gave more documentation than was even required," she says.
The couple had a civil wedding in Australia in 2017, after which they updated their information to apply for the more permanent subclass 801 partner visa. Source: Pelar McIntyre
"Immigration doesn't update you. No call, no email.
"A year after handing in my application, my migration agent told me to call immigration directly to get some answers. They just told me it was still being processed."
She then asked if she was missing any requirement, but all she could get from the department was the usual reminder to wait.
Pelar gave more than the required paperwork to immigration. Source: Pelar McIntyre
So wait they did - for four more years.
'My life is on hold'
"Immigration tells you to wait and not to call them for updates, so I don't know what else I can do," Pelar says.
Adrian adds, "They asked her to do a DNA test last year to prove her son was her son. That felt degrading."
"Now they're asking for my school records because my birth certificate was registered late, although the document doesn't state that it was late," Pelar shares.
"They asked her to do a DNA test last year to prove her son was her son. That felt degrading." Source: Pelar McIntyre
Because the couple applied onshore, they have been fortunate to have spent the last five years of waiting together; however, Pelar admits to getting depressed when she thinks about her application.
"Sometimes I think I'd rather they just deny my application so we can at least go through tribunal and resolve this."
Adrian agrees with his wife, and says that their lives have been greatly affected by the delay.
The McIntyres Source: Pelar McIntyre
"Every six months, she needs to get a new Medicare card," he shares.
"We have plans of buying a house together, but we can't do that until Pelar's a permanent resident.
"Also during the first wave of the pandemic, Pelar wasn't eligible for any payouts from the government. Luckily, her employer helped her out. She has no access to benefits like that, so it makes life harder financially."
With the help of their migration agent, they were able to get their case officer to call Pelar, but she was unable to answer the call because she was at work.
Because Pelar wasn't a permanent resident, she waisn't eligible for any financial help from the government during the height of the pandemic. Source: Getty Image
"She said she would call me back. I'm still waiting for the call.
"Some of the ones who applied after me, have their visas already. The wait feels never-ending. It feels like my life is on hold," Pelar shares.
Demand-driven
Despite the announcement that the partner visa stream will take on a demand-driven model from 2022-23, there have been no details attached to it.
According to Kelly Leeds, President of the Victoria & Tasmania Branch and National Director of Migration Institute of Australia, "Usually when we hear 'demand-driven', we ask if there are caps to the visas. In relation to partner and child visas, there is no cap, which means they will accept as many visas as they receive."
Despite the announcement that the partner visa stream will take on a demand-driven model from 2022-23, there have been no details attached to it. Source: Getty Images/FotografiaBasica
However, Kelly says that there are given number of places allocated each year in the planning levels.
"For 2022-2023, there is a total of 40,500 places for partner and 3,000 for children which is actually less the ones granted last financial year for partners because they used the unused skilled migration places."
The inconsistencies
Kelly says the inconsistencies in processing times are common.
"One could conclude that the backlog of applications may be a result of not sufficient resources to process those applications. This is not related to caps because there are no caps. There is no ceiling to partner visas. They are also excluded from any suspension in processing."
Although there are average processing times for both onshore and offshore applications, Kelly admits that there are inconsistencies because each case is different.
"If applications are not decision-ready when they are picked up, it means more information may be requested."
"I know sometimes it does hurt families because they know that everything is fine [and their application is legitimate]." Source: Pelar McIntyre
"I know sometimes it does hurt families because they know that everything is fine [and their application is legitimate].
"I do say to families, especially when there are children involved, to not feel bad. It's not that your case needs investigation; but cases that look as good as yours does, may hide other things behind them and they need to protect the children."
Update as of 15 May 2022: Pelar and Adrian Mcintire Partner Visa has been approved.
