Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Materiel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, upon notice, on 26 June 2012:

With reference to partner visa applications:

(1) How many (a) individuals; and (b) women, are currently on the waiting list for a Partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa

(2) From which countries do these individuals come

(3) What is the average waiting period for this visa

(4) What are the fees paid to the Department for processing applications for this visa

(5) How many departmental staff are engaged in processing the applications

(6) How many applications have been received from Australian citizens

(7) Is priority given to Australian citizens

(8) Is there an internal review process for applications that are rejected at the first instance; if not, why not.

(9) What is the cause of delays in processing applications for this visa.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

As at 30 June 2012, there were 14 245 primary applicants for a Class UF Provisional Partner1 visa awaiting an outcome on their application. Of those, 9 889 are females.

Appendix A provides the breakdown by citizenship for the 14 245 Provisional Partner visa applicants currently awaiting finalisation of their applications.

The average processing time of a Provisional Partner visa application for the 2011 – 12 program year was 204.7 days.

As at 1 July 2012 the Visa Application Charge (VAC) for a combined Partner visa application is $2060. This covers both the subclass 309 and 100 applications.

In February 2012, there were approximately 221 decision makers in the overseas environment making decisions on Partner category visa applications. 126 of these were Australian based officers, while the remainder 95 were locally engaged officers.

The Department cannot report on the number of staff who only process Provisional Partner visa applications. This is because operational demands at posts vary constantly and officers may work on more than one visa caseload at any one time.

Departmental records indicate that for the program year 2011 – 2012, the Department received 12 966 Partner visa applications involving an Australian citizen sponsor.

Priority is not given to Australian citizens. In accordance with Ministerial Direction 43 (the Direction), applications are processed in the order in which they are received. The Direction allows for applications to be given priority processing if compelling or compassionate circumstances exist. However, there is no provision to prioritise an application on the basis that the sponsor is an Australian citizen.

The Department's former internal review body, the Migration Internal Review Office (MIRO), was abolished in 1999, leaving the migration sector with a single tier of merits review. The abolition of the MIRO was the result of a desire to reduce review process times and increase resource efficiency.

The general rule is that a decision of a primary decision-maker to refuse a visa application can be reviewed by the Migration Review Tribunal, Refugee Review Tribunal or Administrative Appeals Tribunal if the application is made in Australia or if the visa applicant has an Australian citizen or permanent resident sponsor.

While the Department aims to finalise applications within the advertised service standards2, a number of factors may delay the processing of a Partner category visa application. These include:

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1 By lodging an application for a Provisional (Subclass 309) (Class UF visa, applicants automatically also apply for the Permanent (Subclass 100) (Class BC) visa.

2 Current service standards, as advertised on the Department’s website are 5 months for Low risk countries and 12 months for high risk countries. ‘Low risk’ applies to nationals from countries which issue Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) eligible passports; high risk countries are those which are not ETA eligible.

Appendix A

Breakdown of Partner visa applications awaiting finalisation (by citizenship)