Thousands of skilled migrants living in Australia want to know why their valid applications for permanent residency have not been touched for several years.
The Federal Government has said the Immigration Department is dealing with a large backlog of cases.
Those people at the very bottom of the skilled migration queue are classified as “priority five”.
They have spent thousands of dollars on their applications, which appear to be on hold indefinitely.
One of those applicants is Sydney man Syed Sakib, who desperately wants to be a permanent resident in Australia.
Mr Sakib, 30, applied for a skilled migration visa in 2010 and after five years of waiting, he cannot get an answer on when his application will be processed by the Immigration Department.
“Our situation is we [are] doing everything right, we paid the money, we’re working full-time, we work for the Australian community,” he said.
Mr Sakib moved from Bangladesh in 2007 to study in Wollongong and now works full-time helping refugees to get work placements.
When the former Rudd government was dealing with a backlog of cases in 2009, it changed the rules to cherrypick some occupations over others, instead of processing applications by the date they were lodged.
That meant Mr Sakib’s application was put at the bottom of the pile.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-19/skilled-migrants-waiting-years-for-permanent-residency/6481916?WT.ac=statenews_nsw
