Australia’s visa backlog is exacerbating delays in processing and prompted the new Labor government to call the issue a priority to address from the time it comes to power. The Department of the Interior has confirmed to SBS News that it has redirected resources and added more staff to address the issue. challenge, but still worries that the blockage cannot be easily overcome and it will still take time to resolve.
Abdo Gamal Taher, 26, is a Yemeni engineer who left the conflict behind in his home country to continue his career in Nairobi, Kenya. His dream is to one day bring his skills to Australia, but despite applying for an engineering graduate visa in May 2019, he has been waiting for approval.
Abdo Gamal Taher has applied to come to work in Australia.
“It’s a golden opportunity. It’s a golden opportunity [to work in Australia], ”He said.“ The process is completely slow. Applicants are detained, trapped, while you can reap a benefit. “The 476 visa you have applied for allows applicants to live, work or study in Australia for up to 18 months, but their waiting times have increased. Up to 41 months. The visa delay is a lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic after Department of Home Affairs resources were earmarked to enforce the closure of Australia’s international border and the administrative burden of travel exemptions.
Applicants are trapped while you can benefit from it,
Abdo Gamal Taher, visa applicant This means that despite the reopening of the border to visa holders last December, companies are still waiting months to incorporate staff to cover the shortage of qualifications, while applicants continue facing delays in their applications to come to Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his first national cabinet meeting with state and territorial leaders last month to announce his government’s response.
“We have put people on other tasks to try to erase the visa delay which is clearly something that is needed,” he said on June 17.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government has staffed additional staff to help clean up the backlog of visa applications. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH
Since then, a Home Office spokesman has confirmed to SBS News its intention to reduce visa processing times and the number of applications submitted. “This will involve a sustained effort over the next few months to reduce the pipes available for temporary visa applications,” they said.
The department has described the response as the development of so-called “increased capacity” which includes staff from across the department and the Australian Border Force.
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The spokesman said this was expected to further boost its visa processing capacity to reduce the number of applications available. “In addition, agents who previously focused on processing travel exemptions associated with Australia’s border restrictions have now been redirected,” they said. The spokesman also said that for the past six months he has hired new officers focused on visa processing. “These officers have recently started and the Department’s recruitment efforts continue on a large scale,” the spokesman said.
The department did not tell SBS News how much staff it had hired to help clear the backlog.
“This will take time”
Former deputy secretary of the immigration department, Abul Rizvi, said that even with additional resources, solving the problem would not be a quick fix. “This will take time,” he said. “We will have a better idea of how the government is doing. Rizvi added that the loss of a ‘customer service culture’ in the department, as well as changes in visa design had reduced its target.” The relocation of staff that I used to work with travel exemptions, that’s good, ”he said.
“If, however, they end up moving staff from other processing areas, this may end up being just a matter of ‘stealing Peter to pay Paul’.”
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The department is also facing a $ 875 million budget cut, according to the previous coalition government’s March budget update. It is something that the Labor government now has to choose if it wants to address when it delivers its first budget in October. The demand for humanitarian visas is another pressure on the system, including Australia’s commitment to deliver 31,500 places to the Afghan population for four years. Rizvi also said there were only about 130,000 asylum seekers already living in Australia, as well as about 360,000 people with bridge visas.
“It’s an amazing figure,” he said.
Frustration grows
Migration agent and lawyer Ben Watt said he is among the clients facing the personal consequences of visa delays. “We have a large number of applications both in Australia and abroad that had applied for visa applications and have not yet been processed.” He said.
“Quite often [for clients] goes beyond frustration: it is a great harm to people’s lives and [their] ability to move forward and establish and plan for the future. “
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There are also economic implications. State and territorial leaders are among those expressing concerns about visa backlogs hampering efforts to address the shortage of qualifications. Melbourne-based hairdresser Joey Scandizzo said his business hopes qualified visa holders can help them make up for the losses suffered due to the pandemic. sector, we are striving to get staff to take care of our customers. “
“If we get government support, getting more hairdressers here at home, it would make it a lot easier for us as a company to continue to grow and make up for some of those losses during those two years that we closed.”
Joey Scandizzo wants to hire more workers from abroad. Source: AAP / JULIAN SMITH
The president of the National Federation of Farmers, Fiona Simson, said the agricultural sector is also facing labor shortages. “It is very frustrating for farmers to have people sitting in their countries waiting for their visas to be processed for many months,” he said. we need to make sure that we can address the administrative requirements of the delay; we need to keep hiring people for these important jobs. “You can find official information on visas and immigration in Australia .