Exclusive | Processing times for some visa applications have blown out by months as the Department of Home Affairs is flooded with people wanting to visit family in Australia. Covid19 Christmas katinacurtis
to travel from England to see her three children in Australia for the first time in two years.
Two days earlier, it showed 75 per cent of visas in the type available for short visits by people from the UK and Europe were processed within 30 days. This has now blown out to seven months. “There has been a large increase in exemption requests and visa applications from parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents, and the department is working through them as quickly as possible,” a Home Affairs spokesman said.
The spokesman said the update to average waiting times would give people “more visibility on expected processing times” as they lodged applications.
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