Tasmania-based Sharanjeet Kaur was looking forward to celebrating her 35th birthday in the company of her parents, but an unprecedented delay in obtaining a visa for her mother has dampened her plans.
Ms Kaur told SBS Punjabi that she had applied for a visitor visa for both her parents on August 18th, 2018.
While her father Nirbhai Singh’s visa was approved within ten days of lodging the online application, her mother Surinder Kaur’s visa approval is still pending.
“It’s been nearly six months and we have received no correspondence whatsoever from the Australian High Commission in New Delhi,” Ms Kaur told SBS Punjabi.
“Every time I call their helpline, they ask me to fill an inquiry form,” she added. 
So far, Ms Kaur has filled at least six inquiry forms but none have pushed the case in any direction.
Sharanjeet Kaur (centre) with her parents during their previous visit to Australia. Source: Supplied
But the case is not as simple as it appears.
“My Mom’s case has been unusual since the very beginning,” told Ms Kaur.
“When we were filing her application, we would get a message that the applicant already has a valid visitor visa, but when we’d check VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online), till date it shows that she doesn’t hold any such valid visa,” she added.
But despite the confusion over Surinder Kaur’s visa status, Ms Kaur succeeded in filing the application for her mother, for which she even got a confirmation from the Department.
At the time of writing, processing times for the subclass 600 visitor visa takes anywhere between 48 hours to more than 20 days depending on factors such as peak processing periods and completed application form with all necessary supporting documents, as per the Department of Home Affairs website.
A snapshot of acknowledgement received from the Department of Home Affairs Source: Supplied
“Typically, it takes about 20 to 33 days to process 75 to 90 per cent of the applications in this category,” Immigration Agent Subhash Khattar told SBS Punjabi.
“But sometimes factors like travelling for the first time, or medical history can also cause unprecedented visa delays particularly in cases involving elderly visa seekers,” he added.
But Ms Kaur said that her mother is neither a first-time traveller nor she has any medical history that can seemingly impact her approval.
“Both my parents have travelled to Australia in the past. They stayed with my family in Hobart for three months in October 2014 and they are absolutely healthy," insisted Ms Kaur. 
Meanwhile, refusing to sit and wait, Ms Kaur has filed multiple complaints to the Australian High Commission in Delhi but while most times she got a response saying that the matter was under investigation, this one time she was told that the department was “unable to retrieve your application details.”
Surinder Kaur with her daughter Sharanjeet Kaur and granddaughter during her previous trip to Australia Source: Supplied
“I don't know what to say or do anymore. I feel totally harassed,” said Ms Kaur.
Now crestfallen, she is contemplating if withdrawing the application would be a step in the right direction.
“But then I feel ‘why should I do it?’ I need answers,” said a frustrated Ms Kaur who is now looking forward to at least her father’s arrival next week.
"I, my husband and especially my kids were hoping to spend some quality time with their grandmother. But now just dad is coming while my mother will stay alone at our house in Punjab till the time my father would return," she added.
A recent report by Australia’s Tourism Export Council (ATEC) indicates that delay in processing times for Indian visitor visas is costing Australia’s Tourism Industry $500 million a year and is at the same time bucking a trend where tourists have started to look for other locations with faster visa systems.
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