The limited quota and the high demand for some family visas led to half a century of waiting time.
Indian immigrants, Punit. Mittal (Puneet Mittal) brought his parents to Australia to live with his family. This year, he applied for a non-contributing parent immigration visa (Non-Contributory Parent visa).) for his parents However, the immigration department will not make any decision on his visa application until 2048.
Mittal's father is old and old, and his mother is too old. Although they have been granted a bridge visa and can stay in Australia, they will not be entitled to Medicare benefits until their immigration visa is decided.
Mittal said the 30-year waiting period was "hilarious".
"by the time they begin to process my parents' visa applications, they will certainly not be as strong as they are now, so the authorities may think they do not meet the medical requirements for granting visas." He told SBS news.
"I'm pretty sure they won't get permanent residency. I just applied for a permanent residence visa so they don't have to repeat it. "
The Ministry of the Interior has recently released current timetables for the processing of some family visas. According to the department's website, while parental visa applications may take about 30 years, the (Aged Dependent Relative and Remaining Relative) for processing elderly relatives and survivors visas is scheduled to be "up to 50 years."
These applications are evaluated in the order in which they are submitted and queued accordingly.
Once the visa quota is full in a given year, the remaining applications are scheduled for the next year.
According to information released by the Ministry of the Interior on the level of the immigration program, it will grant a maximum of 1500 parental visas, 7175 contributing parent visas and 500 other family visas this year, including those for survivors and elderly relatives. Other family visas are capped at 500, down from 900 last year.
Bajwa Migration's Bawa (Jujhar Bajwa), an immigration agent in Melbourne, said some family visas, especially parental visas, were in great demand.
"since the annual immigration program allows only a small number of visas to be applied for by category of parents, but the demand is on the rise, there is now a huge queue that will take decades to complete."
While parental visas are popular because applicants can stay in Australia with their children during the application process, other family visas, such as family visas, are not very popular among his clients, he said.
"I've been in this business for years, and I've never seen a client get a bereaved visa. The last time I heard that someone got this visa was in 2003. " Bahua told SBS News.