(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Migrants could be forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to bring their relatives to Australia from overseas, after the government scrapped a number of family reunion visas in the federal budget.
Axing the Non-contributory Parent Visa will save $35 million.
The opposition is concerned that the move will make it harder to attract skilled migrants.
Shalailah Medhora has more.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
It took Vincent Chow 18 months to bring his parents to Australia from his native Malaysia.
He says having them here has practical and cultural benefits.
"We have someone we can trust stay home and look after the kids. Feed them, not only food, but feed them with some cultural and tradition. I think it's very important."
But migrants will find it more difficult to be reunited with their parents and other relatives, after the federal government scrapped the Non-contributory parent visa.
The axed category applies to aged parents, carers and remaining relative visas.
Applicants would pay a visa processing fee for this service.
The Contributory visa stream remains intact.
Angela Chan from the Migration Institute of Australia gives an estimate of how much that could cost.
"People who want to apply for their parents to come to Australia will now have to pay for their mother and father to come to Australia up to $125 thousand dollars for them to be granted their visas."
A spokeswoman for the Immigration Minister says scapping the visas was a budget decision that will save $35 million.
Migration agents like Marion Le are particularly concerned about scrapping carers' visas and moving the economic burden onto the public health system.
"We know that migrant families generally want to keep their families together, so this will cause a lot of sadness and sorrow in the long term, and it's also not cost effective at all to say we're doing away with this visa, and I don't understand the justification at all."
Places are capped to 2150 in the Non-contributory visa scheme, and there are nearly 32,000 people currently awaiting them.
They're safe under these changes.
But new applicants won't be considered.
Former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says the changes will make it difficult to entice migrants.
"If you say to somebody, come with a significant investor visa, or an entrepreneaur's visa if that happens, or a skills visa, but by the way, nobody from your family can ever come and join you from Australia, you're going to struggle to attract them."
Labor will examine the changes in Senate Estimates next week.
Vincent Chow hopes the government will rethink its position and make family reunions as easy as they were for him.
"I've been in this country for nearly 40 years, and I count my lucky stars that during this time the country looked after us very well."
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