Key Points
- Visa processing delays leave many skilled migrants in limbo.
- There are currently 1.9 million temporary work visa holders in Australia.
- 19,840 skilled visas were granted to Indian nationals in the 2022-23 program year to 31 January 2023.
Gaurav Bajaj, an Indian migrant from Punjab, has spent every day for the past four years hoping to receive his permanent residency grant.
The Melbourne-based motor mechanic tells SBS Punjabi that he filed his application for a skilled nominated visa (Subclass 190) back in 2019 and received a state nomination within a month of lodgement.
But more than four years later, his application still hasn’t been processed.
“In these years, they opened my file twice, asked for documents to verify my job experience, and since then, there has been no intimation,” he says.
Gaurav Bajaj with his family. Credit: Supplied
According to the Department of Home Affairs website, 90 per cent of applications for the 190 visa category are currently being processed in 36 months, up from 25 months in early February.
The delay means Mr Bajaj cannot buy a home or start up a business in Australia.
“My application has already surpassed the maximum time they are taking to process 190 visas. We are living a temporary life, where I can’t open up a business or buy a better home for my family because of visa constraints,” he rues.
According to the data supplied by the Department of Home Affairs, at least 14,822 applicants were waiting for their 190 visa grants as at 17 February 2023, of which 5,854 were Indian citizens.
In a statement to SBS Punjabi, a Department spokesperson said reducing the number of on-hand visa applications is a priority for the Australian Government.
"The Department of Home Affairs is drawing flexibly on its global network of visa officers to process applications in line with the Government’s commitment to supporting economic recovery and addressing skills shortages," the spokesperson said.
In the 2022-23 program year to 31 January 2023, there were 19,840 Skilled visas granted to Indian nationals. This is an increase of 135 per cent, from 8,433 grants in the same period in 2021-22.Spokesperson, Department of Home Affairs
Number of applications onhand by subclass and client location at lodgement, overall and for Indian citizens - including primary and secondary applicants, as at 17 February 2023. Credit: Department of Home Affairs
The migration system needs urgent reform
Federal Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil
“Our migration system has been on continental drift for a decade. We have a broken system that is unstrategic, complex, expensive, and slow,” she said.
While the number of people on temporary visas has exploded, Australia’s share of the global pool of skilled migrants has almost halved over the past three decades.
There are currently 1.9 million temporary visa holders in Australia, of which only 6 per cent are skilled migrants.
Ms O’Neil said Australia is losing skilled migrants to other global destinations like Canada, which are giving a red-carpet treatment to such applicants.
We are losing people, and we’re not the favourite destination for many of the world’s skilled migrants.Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil
“If your skills are in demand across the world, you’ve got a choice between Canada, where the visa application is fast, or here – a 6 months to 12 months visa approval wait,” Ms O’Neil said.
The minister said the backlog of visa applicants has been cut from one million applications to 580,000 waiting to be processed.
More needs to be done to clear the backlog
Jaskaran Singh Nahar, another migrant from India who has been waiting for an 887 skilled regional visa for over two years, says the processing times for skilled visas are improving, but there remains a big catch-up in overall numbers given the backlog created by the COVID years.
“I applied for the skilled regional visa back in October 2020 and haven’t received any communication from the department so far. While I am aware of many people getting grants in recent months, I’d like to urge the government to clear the applications that were received first,” the 33-year-old says.
Jaskaran Singh Nahar Credit: Supplied
“It seems like the waiting game would never end. While other people who lodged their applications way after I did are receiving grants, my file remains untouched,” he says.
Mr Nahar says he is facing difficulties with employment since he is currently on a Bridging visa.
“I was left with no choice but to take what I was getting, instead of working in my own field as a mechanical engineer because everywhere I applied, they rejected me because of my provisional visa status, which is grossly unfair,” he laments.
As of 28 February 2023, 90 per cent of migrants seeking 887 visas are facing processing times of up to 27 months, a jump from 11 months as per 2018-19 figures.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff Source: AAP
Mr Rockliff has written to the Prime Minister to explain how the ongoing delays in the processing of permanent and provisional visas are creating uncertainty and frustration for both employers and their employees in Tasmania.
“We know how important a flexible and responsive migration system is and the role that plays in supporting the Tasmanian economy," Mr Rockliff said.
These delays are not only affecting the growth of businesses in our state, but also the well-being of the individuals involved who just want to work in and contribute to our community.Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff
Taking up the issue, Greens senator Nick McKim recently raised their plight during a hearing of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee.
Mr McKim said this is causing “real pain”, especially in regional communities across Australia.
In response to Mr McKim's query, Michael Willard, the first assistant secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, said the Department has granted over 18,000 regional visas (Subclasses 187, 487, 489, 491, 494, 887, 191) this year compared to 8,642 grants same time last year.
“What you are seeing with processing times, it is a consequence of clearing the backlog, and as we get through that, you will start to see a much more stable picture in terms of processing times for those sorts of visas.
“We do have 195,000 places in the permanent program, so there’s a lot of space to get through a large number of visas, and we are well on track to do that,” he told the committee earlier this month.
