The number of places for contributory parents visa has been reduced by the government this year.
A legislative instrument which determines the maximum number of visas that may be granted in the 2019/20 financial year for parent visas and other family visas released by the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) has revealed this change.
The number of places allocated in 2018/19 for Combined Parent visas was 1500 compared to this year which is 1275.
In contrast, other Family visas have been allocated 562 places, a hike from 500 places allocated last year.
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Brisbane based migration expert Suman Dua says the step shows the government is not very keen on promoting these type of visas.
“Currently the processing time for the contributory visas has also increased to almost five years. The other parent visas have a processing time of 30 years. Now that they have further decreased the capping for combined contributory parent visas from 7175 to 6096, the processing time may go further up,” says Ms Dua.
The migrant community has strongly objected to this change.
Source: Getty Images
Jasvinder Sidhu, who has been campaigning for a long-stay visa for the parents of migrants living in Australia, has condemned the government.
“As one of the founders of long-stay parents visa campaign, I condemn a reduction of 15% in both visas. Numbers of visas available are already too low when compared with Canada,” says Mr Sidhu.
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Earlier in March, the Federal government introduced a new temporary sponsored parent visa which opened on 17 April 2019.
However, the migrant community has been demanding for a better and more equipped visa for the parents.
“As someone who works closely with emerging communities, I know that the parent visa policy is one of the most important issues for these communities,” says Mr Sidhu, who is also an adviser to the Labor Party of Victoria.
