A number of foreign nationals who entered into fake relationships with Australian citizens have had their visas taken away after a crackdown by the Australian government. It is estimated that more than 1,000 partner visas have been cancelled since 2010. Reasons for cancellation include false claims, incorrect information provided to authorities, and bad character references. Supporters of the crackdown believe that some foreign nationals try to obtain residence by entering into fake relationships, and that new rules should be imposed when it comes to Australia immigration and acquisition of the Australia partner visa.
The vast majority of the cancellations involved those people who were on a temporary or permanent visa, but were outside Australia. Scott Morrison, the immigration minister, told reporters that these latest figures reflected the efforts of the Abbott government when it came to stopping people who abused the system. Morrison went onto say that the “threat” was not limited to Australian borders.
Statistics reveal that the number of applications for partner visas in Australia has increased two-fold since the early 1990s. It is believed that 50,000 applications were processed in the period from 2012 to 2013, and there were a further 58,000 applications ready to be processed as of June last year. In the state of Victoria alone, there were 12,000 applications for spouse and partner visas which were approved and issued; 2,000 of these visas were for applicants born in India, 1,245 for applicants born in China, and 1,000 for applicants born in the United Kingdom.
It is believed that more than 100 partner visas were cancelled during the six month period up until December of last year. A further 228 applications were cancelled in the period from 2012 to 2013, and 713 applications were cancelled from July 2010 to the end of June 2012. Statistics also show that around a third of all marriages in the country involve a partner who was born outside of Australia.
Despite the recent visa cancellations, the partner visa scheme was seen as an effective way for individuals in a genuine relationship to apply for Australian permanent residency. Since 1945, it is estimated that more than 7 million people have migrated to Australia, and this has been a contributing factor to the increase in the country’s population, which has risen from 7 million at the end of the Second World War to just over 23 million in 2013. Statistics provided by the Australian government revealed that one in four people in Australia were born outside the country. 17.7% of settlers from July 2012 to June 2013 were from New Zealand, 12.1% of people were from India, 11.8% from China, and 7.7% of people were from the United Kingdom.
There were 1,053 cancellations in total during the crackdown; 31 partner visas were cancelled because authorities found that incorrect information was provided during the application process or bogus documents were used. A further 108 partner visas were cancelled by the Australian government for people who held temporary visas in Australia, or people who held permanent visas outside the country. In addition, 809 partner visas were cancelled by authorities for visa holders who had a temporary or permanent visa and lived outside Australia. 33 partner visas were cancelled because of bad character references.
Eugene Liu works with Move Migration, a team of migration agents in Sydney known for their simple fee structure and exceptional service standard in facilitating applications for Australian permanent residency.
