Immigration laws set to hit spouses
WIVES and husbands of Australian citizens will have to queue for spouse visas in order to live Down Under, or face indefinite separation, under tough new measures confirmed in Canberra.
The move will affect thousands of families in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia who intend to emigrate to Australia, forcing many to live apart.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock has warned he will 'cap and kill' applications by spouses to join their partners in Australia unless the opposition Labor Party allows the Government's 'cap and queue' proposal through the Senate.
The 'cap and queue' system means spouses applying after an annual quota has been filled will be given preferential places in the following year's intake.
The harsher 'cap and kill' system would force those spouses to make fresh applications each year on equal terms with new applicants, causing indefinite separations.
Australia currently grants entry to all spouses who meet eligibility requirements, regardless of the quota.
Immigration officials can only influence numbers indirectly, such as by requiring applicants to complete a two-year probationary visa.
Mr Ruddock's announcement comes in the face of a 30 per cent surge in applications for spouse visas from Hong Kong and other Asian countries, including China and Vietnam, in the past year.
Many applications are believed to be from the spouses of the 40,000 Chinese granted refugee status in Australia after the crackdown in June 1989.
The move also reflects the Government's mounting concern over sham marriages.
Mr Ruddock said many people had reported spouses 'walking out the door as soon as they arrive in Australia'.
This year's quota of 36,700 places for spouses is expected to be exceeded by 13,000.
The threatened curb has sparked dismay among opposition politicians, Chinese community leaders and migrants.
Ethnic Communities Council of New South Wales chairwoman Angela Chan, whose state has the largest Asian population, said the measure could punish the innocent.
She attacked the Government's stance on sham marriages, saying it had no statistics and relied purely on 'anecdotal evidence' as to the extent of the problem.
A Hong Kong-born executive, who declined to be named, said he and his fiancee, who lives in the territory, would rush their wedding plans to beat the threatened immigration curb.
'If I am an Australian, I surely have the right to marry who I want and to bring my wife to this country,' the executive said.
'But if I am a gweilo Aussie and not a Chinese Aussie, it wouldn't be a big deal for my wife to come here. If the economy is doing badly, if there are no jobs, the Aussies always criticise the immigrants.'