Families in Australia and Canada are grappling with heartbreaking delays in parent visa processing, with thousands waiting decades to reunite with loved ones.
In Australia, reported by the Guardian, nearly 2,300 parent visa applicants have died over the past three years without seeing their visas approved, while in Canada, delays have prompted a suspension of new applications as the backlog swells.
In Australia, the contributory parent visa costs $48,495 and takes 14 years to process, while the general aged parent visa, at $5,125, requires a staggering 31-year wait. Despite raising the annual cap for parent visas from 4,500 to 8,500, the Australian government has seen pending applications grow from 140,000 in 2023 to over 150,000.
Similarly, Canada has paused new parent and grandparent visa applications to address its own backlog of over 40,000 sponsorships as of the end of 2023. The Canadian immigration ministry plans to process only 15,000 applications in 2024, despite having invited over 35,000 sponsors to submit their applications. Processing times, which once averaged 24 months, have become increasingly unpredictable.
Experts in both countries warn of the emotional toll and limited political appetite for reform. Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasised the need to balance family reunification with economic priorities, suggesting that the pause on new applications would help clear the backlog.
Both nations are exploring temporary visa options as stopgap measures. In Australia, the longer-stay parent visa allows up to 10 years of temporary residency but offers no pathway to permanency. Similarly, Canada’s focus has shifted to clearing existing applications while limiting new entrants under its Parent and Grandparent Program.
For families, the delays are devastating. Submissions to migration reviews in both countries reveal the mental health strain on parents left overseas and children separated from their loved ones.
A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Department told the Guardian that he delays to limited resources and high demand, stating,
“All visa programs are subject to limited resourcing, leading to application assessment delays during periods of increased demand.”
As parent visa backlogs grow, the human cost of delayed reunions continues to mount, prompting urgent calls for both countries to find fair and efficient solutions.
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