Workers worry it would affect their employment opportunities
Skilled migrant workers applying for an 887 visa felt they were being “used” after their long agony of waiting for the outcome of their visa application.
The 887 visa grants people to “work and study anywhere in Australia, sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence, or apply for citizenship.” ABC News reported that the delays in visa application have left the skilled workers worried about being shifted to bridging visas, and they will likely struggle to find work because the temporary visa status is “less enticing” to potential employers.
“Lost hope” for applicants
Irene Teo, who moved from Malaysia to Australia in 2013 to finish her bachelor’s degree and then her master’s, applied for an 887 visa in December 2020 but has never been assessed, according to ABC News.
When Teo’s graduate visa expired, ABC News said that she successfully applied for a 489 skilled regional worker visa, which requires her to live in designated areas of regional Australia. According to the news outlet, her visa is bound to expire in December this year.
“It’s pretty horrible. We are all just waiting for two years,” Teo told ABC News. “If I didn’t meet my husband, I think I would move back because it’s just taking too long, and I’ve been waiting for two years, and there’s no contact or anything.”
Moreover, ABC News said that if her 887 application is not processed before December, she needs to have a temporary bridging visa to stay in Australia and would even risk becoming unemployed given the visa’s precarious status.
Registered nurse Kerry North shared the same dilemma with Teo, who has also been waiting two years for a response to her 887 application, ABC News reported. She described the process as “dreadful” and “mentally draining.”
ABC News reported that North applied for an 887 visa in October 2020 and is yet to be assessed. It also said that North tried to contact a local Member of Parliament (MP), but she only received a generic response that they would only look at visas in emergency-type circumstances.
“I feel like we have a skill … I feel we’re being used, you come here with your skill and you work the same as Australians and pay the same tax but you’re just left in limbo,” North told ABC News.
The government’s response
ABC News said that the Department of Home Affairs is now evaluating a backlog of 887 visa applications submitted before September 2020.
Based on the Department’s data, it is currently processing 16,467 applications for skilled workers visas as of March 2022, ABC News reported.
Moreover, the news outlet said that the home affairs spokesperson assured that one of the Australian government’s priorities was reducing the number of on-hand visa applications to fast-track Australia’s economic recovery by supporting mobility for international workers.
“To further assist in the reduction of on-hand visa applications, the department is developing a surge capacity to boost visa processing capacity,” the spokesperson told ABC News. “This will draw on staff from across the department and Australian Border Force.”
The spokesperson also told the news outlet that officers previously focused on processing travel exemptions concerning Australia’s border restrictions were redirected to visa processing to hasten the application process.
“Consideration is also being given to a number of legislative, policy and processing adjustments to streamline visa processing,” the spokesperson told ABC News.
