AJM22

Allocation for migration year 2021/2022 is the same as 2020/2021. 4500 parent visas total of which 3600 are Contributory Visas. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L00511

Submission 60 gives a good account of the situation regarding Contributory Parent Visas however only 64 submissions were made to the Senate Enquiry.

The submissions can be reviewed using the link below. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/FamilyandPartnerVisas https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/FamilyandPartnerVisas/Media_Releases https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/FamilyandPartnerVisas/Submissions https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/FamilyandPartnerVisas/Public_Hearings Chart regarding Contributory Parent Visa Activity from the Office of Home Affairs submission.

The processing time for CPV143 visas based on the cumulative number of outstanding CPV143 visas is only an estimate as of October 2020 assuming that current annual cap of 3600 CPV visas is fulfilled in each migration and would be a best case scenario. If the annual cap of parent visas available in a given migration year are not fulfilled as has been the case since migration year 2016/2017 , 2017/2018 . 2018/2019. 2019/2020 where there has been a shortfall in the number of parent visas granted the estimated time for processing will in fact be much longer. The cumulative table shown earlier for CPV143 visa applications serves to highlight the ridiculous current situation regarding this visa where the whole point of applying for CPV143 visa was to pay the higher amount to fast track permanent residency in to Australia to be reunited with family and where processing would have originally been less than 3 years based on the lower amount of applications in the queue and the higher annual cap for CPV visas. The Law Council of Australia made their opinion quite clear to the Department of Home Affairs in their submission regarding Australia's 2021/2022 migration program planning however unfortunately it appears to have fallen on death ears as the 2021/2022 migration planning level is the same as 2020/2021. https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/publicassets/d393eb00-1c70-eb11-9439-005056be13b5/3960 - Australias 2021-22 Migration Program.pdf You can only hope that the Australian government review parent visas and increase the annual cap significantly to clear the backlog especially for the CPV143 visa where the whole point of paying the higher amount for the visa was to fast track entry and to be reunited with family. As the law council have highlighted this visa pathway is now of very limited value especially if looking at CPV143 applications made in September 2020 where processing time would be in excess of 14 years based on current lower cap levels, The Department of Home affairs did offer the opportunity for individuals to offer their opinions on 2021/2022 migration planning earlier in the year before it was decided and if more people submitted their opinion for 2022/2023 migration planning when it is due there may be the possibility that the policy regarding parent visa allocation may change. migration.policy@homeaffairs.gov.au

Full list of CPV by month

Total CPV 143 applications received in June 2016 was 1874 As of May 2021 CPV visa applications with a queue date up to May 2016 have been released for final processing. This is unchanged from June 2020. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/family-visa-processing-priorities/parent-visas-queue-release-dates

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels 2021/2022 migration level caps shown at above link. 4500 parent visas of which 3600 are contributory visas 143, 173, 884 & 864. The same reduced level as 2021/2022.

Thank you. See response I made to MillieB

Thank you for your kind comment. As LindaH27 replied the shortfall on grant of available visas is likely to be deliberate and connected to increased pension and healthcare costs that Australia as a nation are going to be exposed to due to it having an ageing population and the people living longer. There is a rapid change in the ratio of working age people to those over 65 in Australia. In 1981-82 there were 6.6 people of working age for every person aged over 65. Today there are 4 working people of working age for every person over 65 and by 2060-161 there will only be 2.7 people of working age to every person aged over 65 based on projections. This presents the government with some challenges as the the proportion of Australians in retirement is projected to increase significantly in the next 40 years whilst those or working age shrink. As the life expectancy in Australia is one of the highest in the world and people are living longer more money will need to be spent on health, pension and aged care services putting a greater strain on government finances. There will be a greater strain on finances because there will be fewer people paying income tax (as a proportion of the population) and more people relying on aged care and health spending. This is also probably the reason why annual143 CPV allocation/cap in each migration year has been reduced from 7500 to 3600 unlike the partner visa allocation which has increased by a massive amount from 39799 places in 2019/20 to 72300 places in 2020/21 and 2021/2022 ( increase of 32501 places each year). The reason the partner visa allocation has been increased is to ensure that individuals who have gained Australian residency through job skills/talent route who are essential to growth of the Australian economy remain in Australia by ensuring that their partners can also gain residency as well to be with them. If the timescale for partners to gain entry was too high there would be a greater risk that individuals that had gained Australian residency through job skills/talent route would not remain in Australia which would then have a negative impact on the Australian economy. It is somewhat disappointing that the government does not appear to appreciate that parents being reunited with their children and grandchildren who are resident in Australia would more than likely give positive benefits to the Australian economy due to the fact that they could look after grandchildren allowing both parents to work more. In addition some parents migrating to Australia would still be at an age where they could work which would also contribute to the economy. Parents who were migrating to Australia and of an age where they were retired would still bring with them assets and pensions which would be spent in Australia also contributing to the economy. Ideally the annual allocation/cap for 143 CPV needs to be increased to clear the current backlog in a shorter period of time. Whether this will happen under the current government remains to be seen !! I have a family member who is trying to relocate to Australia to be with his daughter and grandchildren and who applied for his 143 CPV in Oct 2017 and who was anticipating being over in Australia by the end of this year, however realistically based on the outstanding queue and reduced allocation/cap along with shortfall on visa grant it is likely it will be at least another 6 years before his visa may be granted. The frustrating part is that the emigration agent that is handling his case appear oblivious to the number of outstanding applications in the queue and keep being over optimistic. In his case the 3300 143 CPV applications made in May 2017 and 5185 43 CPV applications made in June 2017 have impacted severely as these two months alone will take nearly 2.5 years to clear based on the current 3600 cap.

The Contributory Parent 143 Visa was originally introduced to fast track permanent residency in Australia for parents to be reunited with children already resident in Australia in exchange for a two instalments totalling AUD 47825 per person. Originally based on the annual cap of 7500 Contributory Parent 143 Visa places per annum and the lower number of applications in the queue processing time and grant of this visa would normally have been within 2 to 2.5 years of the application being made. Unfortunately the number of applications for this visa have increased over the years resulting in a greater number of applications in the queue at the end of each migration year. In addition to this the annual cap of Contributory Parent 143 Visa places to be granted each year has fallen from a high of 7500 places in 2009/2010 to 3600 in 2020/21 and 2021/2022 migration years which further extends the time for the visa to be granted. The delays are further compounded due to the fact that since 2016/2017 migration year onwards the number of visas granted in a migration year have been less than the annual cap whereas prior to this visas granted always matched the annual cap. To put this into perspective as of 30th October 2020 49688 Contributory Parent 143 Visas were outstanding to be processed for visa applications made between June 2016 and September 2020. Based on a visa application being made in September 2020 with a queue of 49688 with an annual cap of 3600 to be granted you would be looking at nearly 13.8 years from application being made to visa being granted. (Maybe slightly less if some applications were withdrawn or not approved) . This really is at all odds for applying for Contributory Parent 143 Visa in the first place at a high cost of AUD 47825 per person to be able to gain fast track permanent residency in Australia. The Australian government really need to address this issue and close off any new Contributory Parent 143 Visa applications and commit clearing the current backlog within 2-3 years and introduce legislation after this where new applications made are cleared within 12-24 months of application being made as it is unfair to charge such a high cost for the Contributory Parent 143 Visa and expect people to wait so long to be reunited with their children and grandchildren. Outstanding Contributory Parent Visa applications and outstanding Non Contributory Parent Visa applications at the end of each migratory year used to be reported in the annual report for each migration year published by the government at https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ however since migration years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 they have not provided this detail and now only report the total number of Parent Visa applications outstanding to remove focus that the outstanding queue for Contributory Parent 143 Visa applications is becoming larger year on year. The links for various information are shown at the end of this message. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L00511 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L01496 https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FA-201000222-R1-document-released-1.pdf https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/about-us/blog/ https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/visa-statistics/live/migration-program https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2019-20.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2018-19.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2017-18.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2016-17.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/2015-16-migration-programme-report.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/2014-15-Migration-Programme-Report.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-programme-2013-14.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2012-13.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2011-12.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2010-11.pdf https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-on-migration-program-2009-10.pdf https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/4D9CDCC301C64613A3A5CB3E44308D8B.ashx