Media in Australia are reporting that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is about to announce curbs on the ability of intending family visa applicants to apply for visas in Australia if they have a visitor visa.

Minister Burke was scheduled to deliver a speech at the National Press Club today where he was expected to unveil significant changes to Australia’s migration settings in a bid to head off political challenges to the Federal Government arising from increasing public concerns over Australia’s migration intake.

This speech has been postponed, but the likelihood of changes by way of increased limitations on applications by parents and partners are real. 

More specifically, Minister Burke was expected to announce changes that will prevent the spouses, children and parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents from applying for family visas while they are in the country as tourists.

This has been a common strategy for many families seeking to stay together in Australia while they wait for their permanent visas to be approved, with the increased numbers applying when in Australia being a direct consequence of processing times for offshore family visa applications increasing significantly.

The number of family visa applicants substantially exceeds the number of permanent visas the government makes available each year, creating a backlog of many years – now 15+ years for Contributory Aged parent visa applications under subclass 864, and 30+ years for Aged Parent visa applications under subclass 804.

As many readers will be aware, parents who apply for onshore visas such as subclass 804 Aged Parent and 864 Contributory Aged Parent while they are in Australia as the holders of visitor visas move onto Bridging Visas so they can remain lawfully in Australia for the long period it is taking for their visa application to be processed to a decision.

We anticipate the delay in delivering details of restrictions on the ability to apply for onshore parent and partner visas is linked to the political uncertainty of whether the Federal Government has the numbers it needs to get the changes through the Parliament; some readers might recall that some 12 years ago efforts were made to abolish subclasses 804 and 103 for new visa applicants.

This was effected via what is called a Legislative Instrument – which was subsequently the subject of a successful Disallowance Motion in the Senate (Australia’s Upper House).

With both Houses in the Federal Parliament sitting again next week – and with the political reality that there are domestic concerns in Australia over the net annual migration intake, manifesting in the rise in the opinion polls of One Nation – we consider there is presently a significant risk of these onshore parent and partner visa pathways being closed to those who are in Australia with visitor visas.

In short – don’t delay lodging your onshore parent visa application, assuming you are in a position to do!