The Morrison government promised refunds for these visas. Where are they?

Eligible Working Holiday Makers and student visa holders were promised the cost of their Australian visa applications would be refunded, but 16 months on, thousands are still waiting.

Adam Jordan is still waiting for his refund. Source: Supplied / Adam Jordan

Thousands of visa holders who came to Australia on what was promised to be a free visa are still waiting for the refund promised to them by the previous government.

In January 2022, the Morrison Coalition government announced Working Holiday Maker (WHM) and student visa holders would be eligible to apply for a refund of their visa application charge.

"We're putting out the welcome mat," then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced.

The move applied to those who arrived between 19 January and 19 April 2022, with the costs being $495 for a WHM and $630 for a student.

It was designed to provide an incentive for those visa holders to come to Australia “as soon as possible” to help address work shortages caused by COVID-19, the government said at the time.

The announcement applied to existing offshore visa holders who came to Australia during the refund window and new applications, which the government said would be “processed quickly”.

The government lost the election the following May, and 16 months on, just over half of the requests for refunds received by the Department of Home Affairs since January 2022 have been finalised.

SBS News understands more than 99,000 eligible student and WHM visa holders arrived in Australia during the eligibility period.

The department received almost 57,000 refund requests following the previous government's announcement. As of 23 May, the department still had 27,500 of these claims “on hand”, according to a spokesperson.

These outstanding requests make up around 48 per cent of the total requests received by the 31 December 2022 lodgement deadline. This amounts to more than $13.5 million in refunds, based on the minimum visa application cost.

“Over 6,000 of these claims are in the process of being finalised, with the remaining requests awaiting further information requested from the claimant,” the spokesperson said.

Claims that are deemed “ineligible” are processed and claimants are notified of the outcome via email.

Adam Jordan, 28, and his partner Olive left their home country of Ireland in March 2022 to come to Australia on WHM visas. Adam works in instrumentation engineering and Olive is an early childhood teacher.

The couple arrived in Darwin and applied for their visa refunds two weeks later.

The following November, Olive received hers, but 14 months on, Adam is still waiting.

In February, Adam received an email from the department requesting more details, which he said was “mainly the same information” he had already provided.

“We gave that back to them, and I haven’t heard anything else since,” he said.

Adam Jordan is still waiting for his refund. Source: Supplied / Adam Jordan

On its website, the department says those who have submitted a claim and have not received a refund may have received an email sent on 17 or 20 February this year. If they have not received an email in February, or have already responded, it says “we do not require any further action”.

“The Department has all the information needed to progress your claim.”

Adam said the whole experience has left him “a bit frustrated”.

“Being told that you’re going to get it back — you go through the whole rigmarole of filling out forms and spending time on it, and then you still haven’t got it — and then they ask for more information. It’s a little frustrating and annoying,” he said.

“You’re being told something and then it’s a lie.”

WHM visa holders eligible for a refund included those on a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) or Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462).

Eligible students were those holding a Vocational Educational and Training Sector visa (subclass 572), Higher Education Sector (subclass 573), Postgraduate Research Sector (subclass 574) or Non-Award Sector (subclass 575).

"The department is working to finalise all outstanding student and Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Visa Application Charge (VAC) refund claims received by the 31 December 2022 lodgement deadline," the spokesperson said.

“To expedite finalisation of outstanding claims, claimants are encouraged to respond to email requests from the department seeking additional information.”

According to its website, the department says there is no standard timeframe for processing a refund request.

“The time required to assess each claim will vary as we process each claim according to the visa holder’s individual circumstances," it says.

It comes as the Labor government released a long-awaited review of Australia's migration program in April, which called for an overhaul of the system. The government has made several announcements in response.

The government also revealed in the federal budget this month that it will increase visa application charges for a number of visas from 1 July. It said it would use the $665 million raised from fee hikes over five years to improve visa processing and “other government priorities”.

'Not a high priority'

Former deputy secretary of Australia's immigration department, Abul Rizvi, suspects the department would be going through the backlog, and issuing refunds as time and priorities permit.

“I can understand people's frustration. I think they just need to understand that the department has a vast array of priorities, and this is not a high one,” he said.

“There are so many issues going on that they will get to this when they get to this … which I think is no comfort to the individuals concerned. But it’s just the way it is.”

Update: Adam has received an email from the Department of Home Affairs advising him that his refund has been awarded and will be paid within 12 weeks.

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