Risky Business: Migrant workers in Australia face deportation risk

Increasing waiting times for permanent residency visas are putting migrant workers in Australia at greater risk of exploitation and deportation, unions and migration agents say.

Wei 'Mira' Chen Avustralya'da bir gelecek planlıyordu. Source: SBS News

Migrants who are relying on an employer to sponsor them to gain permanent residency, face up to two years in limbo while their visa applications are processed.

And that can be a long time in business.

“When businesses collapse - which is fairly frequent, particularly in some industries - they leave behind the carnage, and it’s particularly hard on workers on visas,” United Voice ACT secretary Lyndal Ryan said.

Applicants are left scrambling to find alternative sponsorship and start the costly process again.

But if they fail, or as some have discovered, the rules have changed in the meantime, they must return home.