Wait times for parent visas to Australia have become so long that nearly 2,300 applicants died before receiving their visas over the past three years, according to data from the Department of Home Affairs. The data was released to Senate estimates, revealing that 2,297 parent visa applicants, along with 87 other family members, such as aged dependent relatives or carers, passed away while waiting for their visas.
Currently, the processing time for a contributory parent visa, which costs $48,495 in fees, is 14 years, while the wait for a general aged parent visa, costing $5,125, can be up to 31 years.
In response, the Labor government increased the annual quota for parent visas from 4,500 to 8,500. However, the number of applications has continued to rise, with the total number of pending applications growing from about 140,000 in mid-2023 to more than 150,000.
Critics have argued that providing people with the opportunity to apply for a visa that may never be granted is both cruel and unnecessary. A recent review suggested introducing a lottery system, similar to the U.S. green-card process, to more fairly allocate parent visas. Alternatively, the review proposed removing access to permanent residence for parents and improving access to temporary migration.
Peter Dutton, in his budget reply speech in May, pledged to reduce permanent migration by 25% annually from 2024-25, lowering the intake from 185,000 to 140,000 for the first two years, and then gradually increasing it back up to 150,000 and 160,000 in the following years.
Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary of immigration, warned that reducing the permanent migration cap would essentially cut off the entry of parents into Australia, as the family stream of migration would mostly be occupied by partner visas, which are demand-driven and not capped.
Rizvi also pointed out that addressing the parent visa backlog is politically challenging due to the significant budget costs involved in bringing non-working age parents, who require services like Medicare, into Australia. Even with contributory parent visas, the budget incurs losses.
As a result, Rizvi suggested that the temporary parent visa, which allows parents to stay for three to five years initially, may become a more attractive option as the chances of obtaining a permanent visa continue to diminish.
The slow processing times are causing mental strain on both parents overseas and permanent residents in Australia. For example, Manu Baines, an Australian citizen, has been struggling with the uncertainty of his parents’ visa status. His parents, aged 64 and 60, are currently in Australia on visitor visas but must periodically return to India due to visa restrictions. They applied for a contributory parent visa in May 2023, but the wait time is expected to exceed 12 years.
Similarly, Thomas Fuchs, a 64-year-old from Switzerland, has been waiting seven years for a parent visa. He initially applied with the understanding that the wait time would be 18 to 24 months, but that timeframe has since passed. Fuchs, who opened a hair salon employing Australians, cannot access Medicare without the visa, and is concerned that if the intake figures are reduced, the waiting process will be further delayed.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson stated that all visa programs are subject to limited resources, which can lead to delays in application assessments, especially during periods of high demand. The spokesperson noted that the high volume of parent visa applications in recent years, exceeding the program’s annual planning levels, has contributed to the current delays and backlog.
