Australian couples separated by borders are demanding the Albanese government reverse July’s decision to deprioritise offshore partner-visa applications after wait times blew out to 39 months for 90 percent of subclass 309 cases. An ABC News investigation published at dawn on 26 September profiles several families facing multi-year separations and escalating travel costs as they attempt to maintain relationships across continents. Under Ministerial Direction 119, issued in July and reaffirmed in last week’s migration-strategy speech, onshore partner-visa applicants are processed ahead of offshore cases so that net-overseas-migration numbers remain below Treasury’s 225,000 target. Home Affairs data cited by the ABC shows more than 10,000 offshore applications have been pending for over a year, and 2,500 for more than two years. Applicants say the disparity is ‘fundamentally unfair’. Lawyer Sasha Bellamy, who helped coordinate a submission to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, argues that genuine relationships are being penalised simply for following departmental advice to apply offshore. Academic observers warn the policy could face legal challenge because the Migration Act requires individual merits-based assessments, not blanket queue manipulation. For employers the backlog has hidden costs. Staff asked to relocate to Australia must often leave spouses behind, increasing assignment refusal rates and mental-health risks. Some companies now advise recruits to apply for onshore visitor visas first, then lodge partner applications once in Australia—an approach the government is simultaneously trying to curb. Mobility teams should factor the extended timelines into talent-planning models and offer additional support, such as funded reunion trips or temporary remote-work arrangements, to retain key hires experiencing visa-related family separation.
Source: ABC News
