It’s looking more likely that Australia will be able to open its borders to international visa holders by Christmas after arrivals were originally postponed due to the discovery of the Omicron variant.
Speaking on 2GB radio, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that the international reopening plan was supposedly tracking well following his national cabinet meeting with state premiers on Friday.
“The severity of this (Omicron) virus is so far not presenting to be worse than what happened with Delta,” the PM said.
“We’re just taking some final bits of information.”
Morrison’s claims about the health risks of the Omicron variant not being as bad as previous variants were (for once) substantiated by an authority higher than himself, the World Health Organisation. Their data suggests that currently, nobody has died from the variant.
These assurances follow the postponed entry of approximately 200,000 international visa holders who were given the green light for come to Australia at the beginning of December.
These visa holders would have included students, migrants and refugees who were to be permitted entry into the country in a clear effort to boost the national economy after numerous lockdowns in our biggest cities.
However, good old Omicron put a two-week stop on these plans. Greg Hunt announced a delay in arrivals until Dec 15.
Despite the welcome news of a few new mates to welcome over, cracks are appearing in the visa scheme.
Guardian Australia have reported that the visas of many international graduate students who have been trapped overseas for almost two years have lapsed. This means that they cannot regain entry into Australia, despite being enrolled in Australian universities as their study visa expires after 18 months. The article also sheds light on students students are also still paying rent and utilities in Australia despite living in countries where the average income is significantly lower.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has attempted to fix the issue by allowing students to apply for a replacement visa. However, this new visa will set students back another $1680 on top of the $1680 cost their first visa.
Our fingers and toes are crossed that all these folks can return to our shores soon enough. In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye out for an official announcement in the comings days.
