Budget 2021: Partner visas to remain a priority and borders to stay closed for the next financial year
With the COVID-19 pandemic still casting a long shadow over Australia’s economy for the foreseeable future, the Australian government made some interesting announcements in their Federal Budget last month. We will summarise the key takeaways from the Budget and what it will mean for Australia’s immigration programme in 2021-22.
Maintaining the higher intake of partner visas
All reports in the past 12 months indicate that the processing times have generally shortened for partner visa applications. This may well have to do with the fact that partner visa applications have been allocated to various teams across the Department of Home Affairs. Australia’s border restrictions have resulted in lower numbers of visitor and student visa applications being processed. In an effort to reduce the backlog of partner visa applications, the Australian government increased the annual intake of partner visa grants for the 2020-21 financial year. This has also helped with the faster processing of partner visas.
In the recent Budget, the government announced that the higher annual intake of partner visa grants which is set at over 70,000 will remain for 2021-22 with a strong focus on finalising onshore partner visa applications. This means that despite Australia’s borders being closed, partner visa processing will remain a key priority for the next year.
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Temporary sponsored parent visa will be valid for longer
For many parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents, the current border restrictions have locked them out from entering Australia even with a granted Subclass 870 temporary sponsored parent visa. The Federal Government has announced that temporary sponsored parent visa holders who have been unable to use their visas to enter Australia due to the border restrictions will have an extra 18 months validity on their visa to give them enough time to enter Australia and maximise the time they spend with their families here in Australia.
Increased working hours for international students working in specified sectors
To support industries that are currently struggling due to the pandemic, the Federal Government is temporarily permitting certain international students to work more than 40 hours per fortnight if they work in the tourism, agriculture or hospitality sectors. This relaxation also extends to those who are enrolled in a health care related course and are supporting COVID-19 health efforts, are employed by a registered NDIS provider or by an aged care provider before 8 September 2020. Students must maintain their course enrolment, ensure satisfactory attendance and course progress during this period of work flexibility.
Adjustments to the COVID-19 pandemic event visa
There have also been some changes to the requirements for the Subclass 408 COVID-19 pandemic event visa. The tourism and hospitality sectors have been added to the list of critical sectors for the purposes of this visa. Applicants who have a visa that is expiring within 90 days or expired less than 28 days ago can apply for the COVID-19 pandemic event visa to remain in Australia for an extra 12 months, if they are employed in one of the critical sectors. The visa is also available to those who are not working in a critical sector but are unable to depart Australia before their visa expires or within 28 days after their visa expires. These applicants must also show that they are unable to apply for any other visa subclass.
Support for migrant and refugee women
One of the other key takeaways for Australia’s immigration programme is the funding that will be provided to support migrant and refugee women, particularly in relation to their safety and well-being. The purpose of this is to support those women who hold temporary visas and have experienced family violence. The funding will help eligible visa holders to pay for necessities such as food, accommodation, bills and medical expenses. Assistance will also be provided in the form of funding to various Community and Women’s Legal Centres who provide legal services and migration assistance to vulnerable women.
Border to remain closed until middle of 2022
The budget papers also indicate that Australia’s borders will remain largely closed until mid-2022. This is based on the plan to keep the quarantine program in place for the next financial year and the assumption that international travel is expected to remain weak until mid-2022. Although the Budget did not specify a date on when the borders will reopen, we can assume that mid-2022 is the earliest reopening date based on the commentary in the Budget papers.
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About Peter Chang
Peter Chang is a registered migration agent based in the Western Sydney hub of Parramatta, Australia. He is the co-founder of Titan Migration, a consultancy specialising in providing Australian immigration advice and visa assistance services.
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