Highlights
- The temporary concession - which would mean applicants don’t have to leave the country for their visa applications to be granted - will apply to a series of Family visa subclasses including partner visas, prospective marriage, and some child, adoption and dependent child subclasses
- Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge says these are common sense changes to reduce the impact that the travel restrictions are having on Australia's immigration program
- The uncertainty of when this change takes effect means many couples with expiring visas are now facing a tough decision
The change comes after months of campaigning for the rules to be changed during the pandemic but some fear the change won’t come soon enough for some families.
Federal Labor MP Julian Hill isn't impressed.
"Well, sometime early next year, I’ll make these changes. Some time. There's no details no clarity of who will be covered. There's no sense of exactly when this will happen, and so it still means that there are thousands of Australian couples here, right now, in Australia, facing an uncertain Christmas."
