PAGE 1 OF 4

POLICY INITIATIVE

FAMILY REUNION VISASBringing families together, strengthening communities

New citizens and permanent residents who want to bring their parents to Australia are facing wait times that are often longer than their parents have to live. People on humanitarian visas who wish to rebuild their lives in Australia aren’t able to rebuild their families. Balance of family tests do not recognise extended families, or members lost through forced displacements. Fees and charges are excessive and unfair. Only the Greens have a plan for family reunion visas that actually reunite families.

THE GREENS WILL:• Clear the current backlog of parent

visa applications in three years

• Cap wait times for parent visas at 12 months

• Review the unfair balance of family test

• Make costly and unfair contributory parent visas redundant and review the cost of family reunion visas

• Allow asylum seekers who arrive by boat to apply for family reunion visas

Authorised by R. Di Natale, the Australian Greens, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.

PAGE 2 OF 4

Family Reunion Visas

FAMILY REUNION VISAS THAT ACTUALLY REUNITE FAMILIESAustralia has a rich history of welcoming migrants to this country. However, it is extremely expensive and difficult for migrants to bring their family members to Australia, with some family reunion visa categories imposing a thirty to fifty year wait list.1

In addition to long wait lists, family reunion visas require that the sponsor pass an income requirement, which the Turnbull-Morrison Government tried to double, and a ‘balance of family test’ that requires at least half the applicant’s children to be living permanently in Australia.2 This includes children of unknown whereabouts or undetermined living status.

The current non-contributory parent visa has a waiting list of more than 30 years.3 This means most applicants have little to no chance of being accepted within their lifetimes.

The government has also cruelly banned asylum-seekers who arrived by boat from applying for family reunion visas. This has resulted in Australia arbitrarily separating families fleeing persecution.4

The current policy causes social and economic exclusion, and disproportionately impacts women, low income families, and those with children living across multiple countries.

1 Sydney Morning Herald, Mental torture: Australians who want to be with their family must pay $50,000 or wait decades, 25/5/16, https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mental-torture-australians-who-want-to-be-with-their-family-must-pay-50000-or-wait-decades-20160517-gowwkt.html2 Department of Home Affairs n.d., Balance of family test, Australian Government, Canberra, viewed 18 April 2019, https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/contributory-aged-parent-864/balance-of-family-test3 Department of Home Affairs n.d., Aged Parent visa (subclass 804), Australian Government, Canberra, viewed 18 April 2019, https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/aged-parent-8044 Special Broadcasting Service, Calls to change family reunion policy as refugees wait for years to see loved ones, 1/10/17, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/calls-to-change-family-reunion-policy-as-refugees-wait-for-years-to-see-loved-ones

The Greens have a plan to:• Clear the current backlog of parent visa applications

within three years;

• Cap wait times for parent visas at 12 months;

• Review the balance of family test, to make family reunion visas more accessible;

• Make contributory parent visas redundant and initiate a review to significantly reduce the cost of family reunion visas; and

• Allow asylum seekers who arrived by boat to apply for family reunion visas.

Authorised by R. Di Natale, the Australian Greens, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.

PAGE 3 OF 4

Family Reunion Visas

CLEARING THE BACKLOG AND REDUCING WAIT TIMES FOR PARENT VISASDuring Budget Estimates 2019-20, the Australian Greens were able to get unreleased data from the Department of Home Affairs on family reunion visas, which showed 50,000 parent visa applications waiting to be processed, with only 1,500 spaces available this year.5 Because of this, the wait times for processing is over thirty years. This means many parents will have died before their visas are processed. To skip the long waiting times, people can pay around $50,000 per visa, which will reduce the processing time to just under four years: but this is not fair, and it is still too long.

These aren’t family reunion visas - these are family separation visas.

It hasn’t always been this way, and it doesn’t have to stay this way. Under the Hawke and Howard governments, family reunion visas made up two-thirds of immigration. But successive Labor and Liberal governments since have driven that down to one-third.

The Greens have a plan to clear the current backlog of parent visas within 36 months, and cap wait times at 12 months thereafter.

5 Department of Home Affairs 2019, Questioned by Senator Nick McKim on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, 4 April , https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22committees/estimate/a7e92ff2-6a3e-4f04-8597-c90cfed83dfe/0000%22

REVIEW THE UNFAIR BALANCE OF FAMILY TESTCurrent applications for any of Australia’s permanent, temporary, or aged parent visas must pass the balance of family test, which requires at least half the parents’ children or stepchildren to be Australian citizens or permanent residents. The balance of family test punishes families who are already suffering because of members missing, but not declared dead, through forced civil, political, or environmental displacements.6

The Australian Greens’ will review the balance of family test with a view to removing it from family visas. This will bring us into line with countries like Canada.

Keeping families apart, like the current parent visa system does, has many detrimental effects on families, communities, and the economy. It also has a particularly detrimental effect on women, who are often the parent that stays at home to look after children in the absence of extended family.

MAKING FAMILY REUNION VISAS MORE AFFORDABLEFamily reunions shouldn’t just be for the wealthy and they shouldn’t be a way for governments to raise revenue.

With the costs of parent visas ranging from between just over $12,000 (non-contributory) and just under $100,000 (contributory) for both parents, this is prohibitively expensive for many families trying to build new lives in Australia.

By clearing the backlog and capping wait times at 12 months, the Greens will make costly contributory parent visas redundant. We will also initiate a review of all family reunion visa fees and charges, with the aim of substantially reducing their costs, ensuring that they are fair and affordable.

6 Department of Home Affairs n.d., Balance of family test, Australian Government, Canberra, viewed 18 April 2019, https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/contributory-aged-parent-864/balance-of-family-test

Authorised by R. Di Natale, the Australian Greens, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.

PAGE 4 OF 4

Family Reunion Visas

FAMILY REUNIONS FOR PEOPLE ON TEMPORARY PROTECTION VISASTemporary protection for humanitarian entrants is known to cause considerable human suffering7, which is why the Australian Greens have a plan to abolish temporary protection visas and reintroduce permanent protection.8 Temporary protection is made worse for humanitarian entrants because it prohibits people from reuniting with their families.9

By abolishing temporary protection visas, and providing humanitarian entrants with permanent protection, people who arrived by boat will be able to apply for family reunion visas, to help them rebuild their lives as soon as possible, and fully participate in Australian communities and employment opportunities.

7 Legal and Constitutional References Committee 2006, Administration and operation of the Migration Act 1958, Australian Parliament House, Canberra, viewed 18 April 2019, https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Completed%20inquiries/2004-07/migration/report/index8 Australian Greens 2019, Policy Initiative: Compassion for Refugees, Australian Greens, Canberra, viewed 18 April 2019, https://greens.org.au/sites/default/files/2018-11/8.2%20Compassion%20for%20Refugees.pdf9 Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law 2019, Temporary Protection Visas and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas, UNSW, Sydney, viewed 18 April 2019, https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/publication/temporary-protection-visas

GREENS FIGHTING FOR FAMILIESGenerations of migrants and refugees have made Australia home, with every single one of us adding to the social, cultural and economic fabric of our nation. Today, our communities are multicultural, enriched by the breadth of our experiences, hopes and aspirations.

The Greens will continue to celebrate our diversity and work to make Australia a more welcoming and inclusive nation for all of us.

In the last parliament, it was the Greens who:• Stopped increases to ‘assurance of support’

requirements for family reunion visas. The Government’s attempt to effectively double the income requirement for family reunion visas would have put family reunions out of reach for many permanent residents and new citizens in Australia.

• Stopped changes to the Australian Citizenship Act that would have introduced a standalone English language test and increased the waiting period for permanent residents before they would become eligible to apply for citizenship. These university-level English tests and increased waiting times would have prevented many immigrants from making their greatest commitment to our multicultural country – becoming a citizen.

PAYING FOR OUR PLANThe Greens will invest $250 million over the forward estimates and $12.68 billion over the next decade to reunite families, cut the backlog of parent visa applications within three years and cap wait time to 12 months thereafter. These costs take into account additional spending in health, welfare and educational services as well as increased tax revenue.

Authorised by R. Di Natale, the Australian Greens, Parliament House, Canberra, 2600.