The Assistant Minister of Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs of Australia, Julian Hill, has called on families to consider longer-stay parent visa options instead of the standard parent visa, which allows parents to stay permanently in the country.
Such advice from Hill comes as the processing time for standard parent visa applications is increasing to nearly 31 years due to enormous demand, VisaGuide.World reports.
As SBS explains, at the moment, there are over 151,90 pending visa applications from migrant families who wish to bring their own parents to Australia.
On the other hand, there is also a cap of 8,500 available spots per year for this type of visa, making it impossible to meet all the needs of migrant parents and causing huge backlogs.
Speaking for SBS, Hill said that not every foreigner legally residing in the country who wants to bring their parents on a permanent visa will be able to do that.
Acknowledging the contribution that parents of migrants make to a family, especially when it comes to the upbringing of their grandchildren, Hill suggested that Australia want to take care of this bond.
However, according to him, the country cannot have a large number of aged parents coming all at once because of the cost to the taxpayer.
Taking this into consideration, Hill advised that migrant take their parents on longer-stay parent visas to avoid years-long waiting times.
That’s why options like longer stay parent visas to allow grandparents to come and spend extended period (of time) often after the birth of a child and to remain involved in the family while not migrating permanently also need to be part of that mix.
The price for a standard parent visa is currently AUD5,125.
Backlog in Partner Visas Has Been Cleared
While there is a huge demand and backlog for standard parent visas, Hill emphasised that the case is not the same for partner visas.
According to Hill, the “horrible backlog” in partner visas has been cleared, allowing partners to reunite sooner.
In addition to the above-mentioned, Hill said that the Australian government has also reduced the backlog in citizenship applications. The waiting times for tourist visas have also been reduced, but Hill did not reveal the current waiting period.
Australia has made several changes to its visa and immigration system so far this year. The country decided to extend the validity of business visitor visas from three to five years for nationals of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and Timor-Leste.
Moreover, Australia has also increased the citizenship application fees for those between 18 and 59, which has increased from $540 to $560.