A large number of temporary visa holders will be cut off from their families this Christmas despite the planned easing of border restrictions, causing further pain and insecurity for those stuck in Australia.
Restrictions are set to ease for some temporary visa holders in time for Christmas, including those on international skilled, student, humanitarian, work holiday and provisional family visas. This will allow them to leave and re-enter Australia without exception from 15 December.
But for holders of other types of temporary visas, there is still no end in sight.
It has left people like Italian citizen Giorgia Di Girolamo, who are on a bridge visa while applying for a prominent talent visa, virtually stuck in Australia.
Neither her bridge visa nor the upscale talent visa are listed among those scheduled for exemption-free travel from mid-December.
Di Girolamo has not seen his family, including his dying grandfather, for more than two years.
Without a dispensation that she has been notified of, it is highly unlikely that she will get, she has no idea when she might be able to return to Australia if she chooses to travel.
It would force her to quit her job and give up the life she has built in Australia since 2017.
“I got to the point where I was very angry and I thought, oh, I could give up everything just because I want to see my family,” she said. “But of course it’s irrational, and I actually want to stay here. My job is here, and my life is here. I do not want to … lose everything.”
Di Girolamo said she was deeply frustrated and could not understand why some temporary visa holders were benefiting from the December 15 change, but not others.
Joanne Davis, British citizen. is in a similar situation. She has been in Australia since 2019 when she first arrived on a working holiday visa and she is now on a transition visa.
It’s been three years since she saw her family. Her father has severe glaucoma and is going blind.
“They’re devastated, to be honest,” Davis said. “The other day I had a pretty emotional call with my mom and she said, ‘Look, I’m really starting to lose hope of when I’ll ever see you again.’
Davis recently started a signature drive on behalf of bridging visa holders, questioning why they did not get exemption-free travel. It now has almost 9,000 signatures.
“We pay our taxes, we provide essential skills, received double vaccinations and contribute to the economy,” the petition reads. “It’s discriminatory to prevent us from visiting our friends and families while others can.”
Davis, like Di Girolamo, has been told that her chances of obtaining a travel exemption for compassionate reasons are extremely low.
She is now considering whether to leave Australia and give up coming back.
“It’s a tough one, it’s really a 50:50 situation. Even my employer is really sympathetic to me not being able to go home, which makes it even harder,” she said.
“Because I absolutely love my job and I have a great employer, so for me it’s really hard to leave it and leave behind everything I’ve built and my friends here.”
In response to questions about the inconsistent treatment of temporary visa holders, the Home Office referred The Guardian to comments from the Minister, Karen Andrews, and the Minister of Health, Greg Hunt, on Tuesday.
Andrews said the decision to postpone the easing of border restrictions for some temporary visa holders until Dec. 15 was based on medical advice and uncertainty about the Omicron variant.
“Australia’s response is absolutely appropriate in relation to the risks of the Omicron variant,” she said. “So for the skilled workers, and especially the international students who were looking to enter Australia after 1 December, I would very clearly say to them that Australia is definitely a destination you should look forward to getting to.
“This government has done an enormous amount of work to reopen our international borders. We have not taken a step back with this postponement. We are actually keeping the options in place that we had already announced.”
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