Guest The Pom Queen Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Citizenship, visa waiting times could increase amid staff cuts at Immigration Department People may have to wait longer for visas or Australian citizenship to be granted because of cutbacks at the Immigration Department. Key points: Mike Pezzullo says it is more concerning if counter-terrorism units are under-equipped 355 staff have gone from department's visa and citizenship section Growth in visa applications has bigger impact on waiting times than staff cuts, Mr Pezzullo says Department secretary Mike Pezzullo told Senate Estimates he would give no guarantee that waiting times would not increase for citizenship, refugee or permanent migration visas. He indicated some visa applicants might have to wait longer but he took an aggregated view. Mr Pezzullo said it would be of more concern to him if foreign fighters returned or counter-terrorism units were not properly equipped. The Prime Minister says Australia's new citizenship test will be even more stringent than it already is. "If people died as a result of a terrorist attack and there was an issue around our borders, I'd be deeply concerned about that," he said. "At a human level, you don't want anyone to wait for a government decision any longer than is absolutely necessary. If some folks have to wait a little bit longer then so be it." The department has revealed 355 staff have gone from the visa and citizenship section since the beginning of the financial year. Mr Pezzullo defended the cuts saying that area of the department's work was most suited to automation. "In a circumstances of constrained resources which applies to all government departments — because the Government's got a strategy around deficit and debt reduction — all agencies have to then make choices about potentially growing some areas and then cutting other areas," he said. He said rapid growth in all categories of visa applications had a bigger impact on waiting times than staff cuts. Mr Pezzullo earlier told the estimates committee his department would need to make nearly $1 billion dollars in savings over the next four years. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/citizenship,-visa-grant-waiting-times-may-increase/8548012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 [emoji30][emoji30][emoji30]Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
path2aus Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Hope Australia don't go the US way. I just came here after experiencing ridiculous wait times there. Hope they fix things and get it back to reasonable processing times for all types of visas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Is citizenship time increased? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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