The much-awaited that will allow parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to stay in Australia for a period of up to five years is being made available this month with applications for sponsorships being accepted from 17 April.
While the visa will benefit families wanting to reunite with their parents living overseas as they will be able to stay in Australia for up to five years, there are concerns that those who can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars in fee for the new visa could get a raw deal.
According to information published on the Department of Home Affairs website, while the standard visitor visa arrangements won’t change, the new temporary sponsored parent visa will replace the “visitor visa concessions” that existed for parents of migrants.
“People seeking to visit Australia are generally granted a period of stay of up to three months, however longer periods of stay, up to 12 months, may be allowed on a Visitor visa depending on the individual applicant’s circumstances,” a department spokesperson told SBS Punjabi on Tuesday.
“The parent concessions refer to the policy of considering parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents for grant of a Visitor visa that has a longer travel and stay period,” the spokesperson added.
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However, Immigration Minister David Coleman on said on Thursday that the initial information on the website was "incorrect" which has now been amended.
"The existing systems still remain. So, you can still do what you have been able to do up until now," he said in Melbourne.
The information published on the Department of Home Affairs website has now been amended which now reads: "No existing visas are affected by the introduction of the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa. Standard Visitor visa arrangements remain unchanged. Parents will continue to be able to apply for a longer stay and longer validity Visitor visa."
Many migrants and migration experts have criticised the visa which comes with a price tag of $5,000 for a three-year stay and a five-year visa for $10,000, for its high cost. But the minister defended it.
"It is important that the government is able to run a sustainable migration program where the cost of running the program is not only born by the taxpayers but also by the people," Mr Coleman said.
"So we think it's a reasonable charge and the initial indications are that it's going to be very well subscribed."
While a standard visitor visa is valid for 12 months, parents of Australian citizens and permanent migrants under the existing concessions are able to avail a three-year visa which allowed them to stay in Australia for 12 months in each period of 18 months.
Visa holder parents will have an opportunity to renew the visa once with the number of visas to be issued each year capped at 15,000.
The visa was first promised by the Turnbull government in June 2016 during the run-up to the previous election.
Labor has vowed to overturn the visa, calling it a “broken promise” by the Coalition government, if elected in this year’s federal election.
“They did not talk of a cap, they did not talk about the fact that you have to pay a fee. They talked about a bond. They did not make it clear that you have to choose which set of parents come,” Shadow Immigration Minister, Shayne Neumann told SBS Punjabi last month.
“I imagine our policy will be very different from the current government’s policy because our policy in the last election was different from what the current government is saying.”
