Australian visitor visa processing time has changed due to the enormous backlog.
Naveen J. applied for Australia’s visitor visa (Subclass 600) for his parents from India on 22 February. The status of his application still shows – received.
“It is frustrating. I have no information about my visa application. I don’t know how long it is going to take. It was not like this earlier. I have received the same visa for my parents within a week earlier,” says Naveen J.
Australian Department of Home Affairs has recently updated processing time to a maximum of 12 months for 90 per cent of the applications. However, 25 per cent of the applications are being cleared in 15 days, while three months is the processing time of 75 per cent of the applications.
Australia opened its international borders to all visa holders on 21 February 2022 after almost two years of Covid related restrictions. All visa holders who are fully vaccinated for international travel can travel to Australia without a travel exemption.
This has led to a surge in visitor visa applications. Migration expert Chaman Preet of the Migration and Education Expert Melbourne says the backlog is huge.
“There has been a massive backlog in the visitor visa processing. Ever since the opening of borders was announced, files were lodged and are still in the queue. Every day, we get questioned regarding the expected timeframe within which the department would respond, and it’s very hard to comment since there is no concrete response for that,” said Ms Chaman Preet.
However, many have received their visitor visa within a week also. This year 156,742 people have entered Australia on a visitor visa.
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