Government urged to explore partner visa loopholes
An Indian couple was jailed last week for running a marriage visa scam, which involved paying Australian women to marry Indian men desperate to obtain permanent residence in Australia.
The scam prompted debate on Australia’s partner visa program, with One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson raising her party’s concerns regarding international students marrying Australian citizens to obtain visas, and that loopholes in the system were allowing teenage women to be brought into Australia as ‘child brides’.
Dr Bob Birrell, head of the Australian Population Research Institute said there should be minimum age requirements for sponsors and their partners and a minimum income to be able to sponsor a partner. Currently, partners and their spouses applying for a partner visa can be as young as 16 and their sponsors do not have to have a job.
Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton responded to the call for greater scrutiny over partner visas by confirming Government changes to the system would be considered to eliminate the alleged misuse.
“We are open to looking at any sensible ideas that will help stamp out corruption,” Mr Dutton said.
Australia’s current partner visa program enables nearly 50,000 people to move to Australia to be with their partner each year. The number of partner visas are capped by the Government each year.
To read our post on the recent partner visa scam, click here.
Immigracious provides professional advice on your visa options. Contact our friendly and experienced migration agents on 08 6263 4406.
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