Long Awaited Visa announced | Sponsored Parents Program

Minister Coleman made a welcome and long-awaited announcement on 1st March 2019. He announced that new visas would be available for parents of Australia under the Sponsored Parent program. The application will be launched on 17th April 2019.

The Migration Amendment Bill was passed in 2016 which allowed migrant communities to have temporary visas for their parents. As per the immigration minister, this bill, and subsequently the new permit, will allow for migrant communities to reunite with their families from back home.

It will allow parents of migrants to visit their families in Australia easily. At the same time, it will deliver social benefit to the community of Australia as well.

The history

When the bill was bought up in the assembly, the labor party voted against this legislation. As per the labor party, they were concerned about the debt recovery power of the amendment. However, as the recent news suggests, the law wasn’t just passed but is now also on the verge of being implemented.

Many might consider this to be a win for all those migrant communities that effectively ran campaigns for such visas during the last federal election. It was due to their efforts that Turnbull’s government promised to sponsor parent visas for immigrants, which will be valid for five years.

Sponsored Parent Program

According to the minister of immigration, every year, 15000 of sponsored parent visas will be made available. This will allow the masses to reunite with their families. Various measures have already been put to place to make the framework strong and safe. This includes the requirement of an Australian sponsor as a guarantor. This makes sure that taxpayers are not burdened by the additional health cost of allowing the families of the migrant communities into Australia.