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Thousands of would-be migrants are being told their visa applications have been deemed to have never been made
In one of her final acts as assistant immigration minister, Michaelia Cash struck her pen through the aspirations of thousands of migrants to settle in Australia. Her decision affects people overseas who met the criteria for permanent skilled migration to Australia under three visa subclasses that have since been discontinued. Although their applications remained valid, they were deemed low-priority by the government and consigned to a bureaucratic backwater while more recently lodged applications were processed.
Close to 18,000 of these “priority five” applicants have waited four years or more for a decision, watching in frustration while other migrants jump ahead of them in the queue. All along, the government refused to give any indication of when the visas might be granted. Now the wait is over, and it has ended in disappointment…
