Getting your visa approved is probably the single most important step in your journey as an immigrant in Australia because it can’t even begin without it. You’d need a visa to enter and stay in Australia. Unfortunately, the country is currently experiencing visa processing delays. This means that applicants are having to put their lives on hold for longer.
There are a number of variables that could affect visa processing times. Some of these are things like an incomplete application, the pandemic, change in ministerial directions, and the volume of applications needing to be processed. For today, we’ll be talking about the current government’s media release regarding visa processing times. And we’ll also try to get to know a bit more about our new ministers.
Current government prioritising visa applications
The media release from Andrew Giles MP (Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) dated 25 July 2022 states that the government is taking action to process more visas faster. It was mentioned that visa processing is an urgent and major priority for the current (Albanese) government but that reducing the visa application backlog isn’t something that can happen overnight. The backlog has apparently increased to almost a million on the previous government’s watch.
” The Albanese Government is determined to reduce the backlog and restore the importance of the immigration function of our Government.”
Andrew Giles MP
Based on the media release, there are a couple of things that the current government is already doing to address this problem. One of which is having the Department of Home Affairs devote more staff to deal with the current visa backlog. It was mentioned that the Minister has directed the Department to handle the backlog as soon as possible. Giles is said to be assessing all options at hand to deal with it.
The Minister said that the Department was working through large amounts of older cases and is seeing an increase in application volumes across key programs. There were people reassigned to handle visa applications but they still need to be trained and skilled before they can commence. Those who were previously focused on travel exemptions have been reassigned to visa processing. Since May 2022, there’s now almost 140 new staff designated to processing visas.
Full media release here.
How does this affect you?
It was indicated that the Department is prioritising the processing of key offshore caseloads. This is so there’d be more people who can travel to Australia and contribute to the growth of our economy and assist with our labour shortages. This is great news for temporary skilled, student and visitor visa applicants.
As stated in the above cited media release, 745,000 visa applications have been finalised since the start of June 2022. This figure includes over 645,000 offshore visa applications (388K visitor visas, 62K student visas and 9.5K temporary skilled visas).
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New Government, New Ministers
The new government has commenced on the 23rd of May 2022. It is being led by PM Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor party (ALP). In one of Albanese’s speeches, he has recognised that short term migration will need to be a part of the solution to current skilled shortages that are putting pressure on businesses such as in construction and infrastructure.
Claire O’Neil MP
Clare O’Neil MP is the new Minister for Home Affairs (and for Cyber Security) since 1 June 2022. She’s also currently the Federal Member for Hotham (Victoria). She has previously held many different positions in the government. She’s even made history by becoming the youngest elected female mayor in Australian history when she became the mayor of the City of Greater Dandenong in 2004 at the age of 23.
Before working in politics, she’s worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company (2009-2013) and as a Business Adviser at the Marngarr Aboriginal Resource Centre (2011). She’s got an impeccable education having studied at Monash University (double degree) and Harvard University (Master of Public Policy, Fulbright Scholar).
She’s someone who has voted consistently for the following:
- Implementing refugee and protection conventions
- Increasing scrutiny of asylum seeker management
- Removing children from immigration detention
She’s someone who has voted consistently against the following:
- A citizenship test
- Increasing eligibility requirements for Australian citizenship
- Regional processing of asylum seekers
- Temporary protection visas
- Turning back asylum boats when possible
Andrew Giles MP
Andrew Giles MP is the new Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs since 1 June 2022. He is Scullin’s (Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs) Federal Member. He was first elected to parliament in the 2013 federal election. Giles has served as the Shadow Assistant Minister for Schools (2016-2019) and as the Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure and Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs (2019-2022).
Prior to being elected to Parliament, he was a Principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon. He was also previously a senior associate at Holding Redlich. This husband and a father of two has studied Law at the University of Melbourne.
He’s someone who has voted consistently for the following:
- Implementing refugee and protection conventions
- Increasing scrutiny of asylum seeker management
- Removing children from immigration detention,
He’s someone who has voted generally against the following:
- Increasing eligibility requirements for Australian citizenship
He’s someone who has voted consistently against the following:
- A citizenship test
- Banning mobiles and other devices in immigration detention
- Greater control over items brought into immigration detention centres
- Regional processing of asylum seekers
Sources:
– https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=140590
– https://www.alp.org.au/our-people/our-people/clare-oneil/
– https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/hotham/clare_o’neil
– https://www.andrewgiles.com.au/
– https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ministers-for-home-affairs/the-hon-andrew-giles-mp/biography
– https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/scullin/andrew_giles
– https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AndrewGiles/Pages/processing-more-visas-faster.aspx
Disclaimer All content and information in this post is for purposes of sharing my experiences only, does not constitute professional advice and does not establish any kind of professional-client relationship.
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