Foreign students and immigrants in Australia should hear about bridge signatures. Those who apply for a substantial visa from within China can automatically obtain a bridge visa to ensure that the applicant can legally stay in Australia until he or she gets a new visa.
This visa has not attracted much attention in previous years. However, as Australian immigration policy tightens, visa waiting time is getting longer and longer, resulting in a rapid increase in bridge holders, which has more than doubled in the past four years.
At a time of accelerated population growth in Australia, bridge signatures have finally been pulled out and criticized after student signatures, spouse signatures, working vacation signatures, and so on.
The holder of the bridge signature is a liar?
Australian media reported a while ago that there was evidence that more and more tourist visa holders were returning to Australia for humanitarian or protection visas and working and living in Australia with bridge visas, with Malaysians as the most important.
Even if the immigrants do not succeed in the end, they will have little to lose.
In addition to normal visa applicants, a small number of people still submit visa applications knowing they do not meet visa requirements. After being rejected, he appealed to AAT and continued to stay in Australia with a bridge signature, an act that has also been criticized by many people.
A recent report on the AAT appeal said the current backlog of AAT cases was also heavily abused with bridge signatures, and people even suggested canceling visa applicants to automatically obtain bridge-signed rights and leaving the country to wait for visa results.
Shadow Home minister Kristina Keneally also criticized Unionparty for trumpeting the interception of boat people while allowing asylum-seekers to arrive in Australia in other ways, and some even called those who used bridge signatures "liars" and "illegal immigrants".
A small number of visa abuse affects the interests of most law-abiding people, so more and more attention has been paid to it, and of course it is worth investigating.
But when it comes to bridge holders, it is biased to associate them with "fraudsters" and "illegal immigrants".
Because those who say this have not seen the role of bridge signatures in Australia`s changing immigration system, it is also unfair for immigrants who apply for visas in full compliance with the rules.
To know that the vast majority of bridge signature holders meet all immigration law standards, they are just waiting for immigration to process their applications.
For example, in fiscal year 2017-18, more than 125000 people in Australia held bridge visas, compared with 28000 who applied for asylum visas.
Reasons for the outbreak of bridge signing
As of March 31, Australia had 229242 bridge visas, a record high.
Even if immigration sent more people to hear in the first half of the year and even artificially controlled the number of EOI invitations to reduce the backlog of visa applications, by June, more than 200000 of applicants had not received visa results.
Among the immigrants, foreign students, tourists and 457 / 482 workers are the main forces to cross the bridge.
Among permanent immigrants, the main applicants for bridge signing are skilled immigrants and family immigrants, and most of the family immigrants are spousal immigrants.
One of the main reasons for the so-called "blowout" of crossing the bridge is the increasing number of visa applications submitted in China, especially skilled migrants and family migrants, as well as the extension of visa processing time.
Spouse immigrants, for example, had to wait six to eight months to apply for immigration in June 2010, and by June 2018, the temporary housing phase would have to wait as long as two years.
The number of signatures fell to 39799 from 47825 in previous years, and the quota for the current fiscal year was cut directly to 39799.
This has directly resulted in an increasing backlog of applications, which reached 80000 at the end of fiscal year 2017 / 18!
The domestic submission was late to get a visa, so I had to stay with the bridge sign all the time.
In short, the longer the visa review time, the more people the bridge sign holds, the longer the waiting time.
If immigration can process visa applications in time, the number of bridge signatures will naturally decline.
Of course, the trial time of the Migration Board and the integrity and accuracy of visa materials also have a lot of relationship, if you want to sign earlier than others, you must improve the quality of the application as much as possible!
Adverse effects of bridge signing
Although visa applicants can stay in Australia temporarily with a bridge visa, the long wait is not a good thing for holders, especially for their participation in economic and society.
The most obvious of them is employment.
Although many of these prospective immigrants have the skills, local work experience and strong desire to work in Australia, many employers either refuse to hire bridge visa holders or treat them as cheap temporary workers, leading to a range of problems such as skills decline, labour exploitation and economic stress.
Long-term waiting for spouse immigration applicants, especially women, can put them in a disadvantage, more dependent on their spouses, and cannot get enough support in the event of a family violence.
In a study of immigrants from temporary to permanent residence, some would-be immigrants said they could not apply for mobile phone cards, personal loans or rental accommodation because they had bridge signatures.
In addition, the terms and conditions of bridge signing also restrict the holder`s travel abroad or return home to reunite with his family.
If you want to leave the country, you must change to BVB, and come back on time. But not all bridge signatures can be changed to BVB. at will.
epilogue
In short, there is a lot of uncertainty about living in China with a bridge signature, because immigration will not disclose how long everyone`s case will take to finish, and the applicant does not know whether his application will be approved.
In fact, a more transparent and faster trial can solve many of the problems caused by bridge signing, both for those who abuse the bridge signature and for legal immigrants who are trapped in waiting for an indefinite period of time.
