Arabic version: تأخيرات التأشيرات تترك عائلات الأوبير في حالة من عدم اليقين

According to ABC News, slower processing of first-year working holiday visas is disrupting plans for overseas au pairs and Australian families relying on flexible child care. The Department of Home Affairs began prioritising onshore visa applications in July and said it was managing first-year working holiday maker applications to an average processing time of about three months.

German applicant Johanna Paulina Gorek said a Melbourne host family cancelled a position after deciding it did not want to wait longer for her visa. She applied on September 3 after postponing university for a year and turning down a job in Germany, and said she had spent more than $1,500 on visa and agency fees.

The department said it had slowed first-year working holiday visa processing while prioritising second and third-year visas to manage demand and support the program’s long-term sustainability. Its website advises applicants not to book flights or make travel, work or study commitments before a visa is granted.

Anna Prasad, president of the Cultural Au Pair Association of Australia and inbound manager for the American Institute for Foreign Study, said subclass 417 visas had previously been granted “in a matter of hours”. She said hundreds of AIFS au pairs had faced delays since July. While 30 to 40 arranged through AIFS normally arrived each week during the high season, only 10 to 12 arrived between July and the second week of September.

In Perth, university lecturer Renae Barker said her family had a gap between au pairs because of the slowdown, requiring her to take annual leave to care for her children. She said the arrangement helped with school travel and after-school activities while her husband worked fly-in, fly-out shifts. Japanese applicant Shodai Kitahama, who lodged his visa application at the end of July, said the wait had made it difficult to plan after taking a break from university and quitting his job.