The Turnbull government has backed down on Assurance of Support (family reunion) changes that would have delayed visa processing for people seeking to sponsor relatives to come to Australia.
This step is seen as a great win for multicultural Australia, and for migrant families who want to reunite in our country.
The backflip comes following weeks of mounting backlash from migrant communities and will completely reverse the changes, just a month after they were introduced by Social Services Minister Dan Tehan.
The new rule forced poorer migrant families to earn more if they wished to support visa applications financially.
Source: youtube screen shot- DanTehanMP
The change made in early April that changed the assurance of support income threshold from $45,185 to $86,606 for single people or a combined $115,475-a-year for a couple.
The measure sparked a fierce backlash from migrant communities.
Greens senator Nick McKim was intending to move a motion against the changes in the upper house on Wednesday and had the support of Labor and Senate crossbenchers Derryn Hinch, Tim Storer, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick.
“The government’s changes restricted family reunions to the very wealthy by massively increasing the amount of money that people had to earn before they could come to Australia,” Greens Immigration spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
Source: SBS News
Social Services Minister Dan Tehan acknowledged that had Senator McKim's motion succeeded it would have resulted in the processing of visas ceasing immediately.
"The government wanted to ensure these visas continued to be processed, so in discussions with Senator McKim reached an agreement to avoid an unwanted outcome," Mr Tehan told AAP.
“The government will introduce a revised determination that addresses Senator McKim’s concerns,” said Mr Tehan
Senator McKim described the backdown as an “important win for multicultural Australia”.
“I thank him [Tehan] for his change of heart and commitment to go back to the previous, far more generous requirements,” McKim said.
“Importantly, he has given me a written assurance that anyone who had their application for family reunion visas assessed under the recently changed rules will have their application reassessed under the old rules.”
The changes would have impacted a range of visa categories, including the parent, aged dependant, contributory parent and remaining relative.
