I am a settled Australian Citizen, father of 2 children and currently living and working at the Goldcoast. I am the eldest son of 2 siblings. My sister is also a settled Australian Citizen currently residing and working in Melbourne.
Our parents aged 70 and 59 have recently submitted a Contributory parent (subclass 143) visa application. Date of visa application was the 10th of March 2021 and they received the Post-lodgement acknowledgement on the 17th of March 2021.
Our parents have followed all the process, they have also already paid the initial (non-refundable) AUD$ 5,555.00 application fee and provided all the supporting documents required on application.
However, based on the above facts and number of applications on-hand, my parents still don’t have a place in the queue and it appears that wait times for the applications final processing will extend to 10-12 years. This waiting time is despite the nearly AUD$ 100,000 visa cost and additional $ 14,000 bond required for the Contributory parent visa 143.
This is a very unfair and slow process that only adds to the suffering of our family and other thousands of families that continue to live separated from their loved ones for extended and unreasonable periods of time due to the inefficacy and continuous delay on the processing and granting of parents visa applications.
If our Parent’s visa is granted after 10-12 years, my father will already be 80 years old and we worry that the 24 hours flight trip from Colombia to Australia will be very hard on him as long-haul flights can be a significant risk factor for susceptible people, especially the elderly.
Grandparents play a vital role in families and my children deserve to enjoy a wider family network. This has been highlighted in research on grandparenting and intergenerational relationships for families in Australia.