Delay in Partner Visa Application Processing is Straining Relationships!

The Australian immigration department long processing time for Australia partner visa approvals is straining the relationships of Australian citizen or permanent resident married to non Australian due to long processing times.

The processing time of Australia Partner visa applied overseas is up to 26 months, sometimes more than that also, before they can start living together in Australia. Newly married couples waiting to be together say, this is an ‘awfully long time’.

An applicant, Abi Sood who has applied for Australia Partner visa for his wife is awaiting an outcome of her visa application. He adds, “Our lives are on hold just because they [the Department of Home Affairs] are taking 30 months to decide whether a person is good enough to live in Australia with their partner.”

The applicants who are off-shore can come to Australia on a visitor visa before their partner visa application is decided. But, uncertainty of receiving a positive outcome of visitor visa is keeping people like him on verge.

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 “You have to start a family. How does one do it unless they are together and with visitor visas, we don’t know how long they allow the partner to be in Australia,” he tells SBS Punjabi.

But, unfortunately even in visitor visa approvals are getting very difficult!

Bikramjit Singh runs a trucking business in Melbourne and got married to an Indian national last year. His wife, Reena, applied for visitor visa of Australia and side by side also applied for partner visa. Since, she wanted to be with her husband till that time, she applied for Australia visitor visa only to get rejection and that too three times.

Mr. Singh told SBS Punjabi that he never thought getting a visitor visa would also become so difficult and this is hindering their togetherness. He added, “Some of my wife’s relatives are beginning to have doubts about my intentions - whether I really want her to come to Australia because it does happen in some cases.”

He also said that after first refusal in January, he attested all possible evidences to support his wife visitor visa application but to no avail. He further added, “I attached my bank statements showing over $100,000, my offer to pay a bond and my wife’s bank statements. But no.. the visa officer again refused and this time saying she won’t go back because she already has lodged a partner visa application,”

The visa refusal reason given was the applicant has not indicated the presence of any family members in India that could be a reason for her to return after her visit. Though, her parents live in Jalandhar, Punjab.

“I place no weight on [her] family as an incentive to return, and consider her family ties to India to be outweighed by the presence of her spouse in Australia,” the visa officer recorded among reasons for visa refusal. “Due to [her] intention to reside permanently in Australia, by her marriage to an Australia permanent resident, I have concerns that [she] may be induced to remain in Australia for a longer period than the validity of their visa.”

The department also concluded that Reena did not have a strong employment and financial incentive to return to India.

However, the department states otherwise that the increase in demand of partner visa applications has led to an increasing waiting time. “The Department is committed to ensuring integrity in all visa programs and has a duty to thoroughly assess the genuine nature of visa applications irrespective of their background," a Department spokesperson told SBS Punjabi.”

SOURCE: SBS PUNJABI

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