Canberra sidesteps transparency by leaving thousands of visas off the books

The Government insists nothing has changed as a silent visa regulation leaves thousands of permanent residents unaccounted for. Dr Abul Rizvi reports.

PACIFIC Engagement Visa (PEV) It is a permanent residence visa issued to citizens of Pacific countries based on the lottery system.

This is Australia’s only permanent visa that relies on the lottery system (a stupid way of selecting permanent immigrants), but more importantly, it is Australia’s first permanent resident visa that does not count towards the permanent visa. Transition Program at any point. This is an effective way to increase the size of the current 185,000-person migration program without telling the Australian public.

Last week I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs (DHA) how many PEVs were given and why they were not included in the 185,000 permanent Migration Programme.

DHA reported that 1,000 PEVs will be awarded in 2024-25. In the statistics for 185,000 results of the 2024-25 Migration Program (see data.gov.au), these 1000 permanent resident visas are not mentioned. Moreover, there is no mention of 3,000 places of PEV at the planning level of 185,000 for 2025-26.

I asked why these permanent visas were not included in the Permanent Immigration Programme.

DHA recommended:

‘Decisions about what will be included in the Migration Program are the government’s job.’

Instead of providing a reason why these permanent visas are not counted in the Permanent Immigration Programme, DHA sidesteps the question. Undoubtedly, DHA would recommend that PEV be included in the official Migration Programme, consistent with long-standing practice. A minister would make the decision not to do this.

Moreover, it appears that the Minister did not explain this decision to DHA or tell DHA not to use any explanation.

Three thousand visas is not a lot, and the Government may claim that I am just being meticulous. But this is a very slippery slope.

When the government makes a new statement permanent visa The 280 places for this visa for Tuvalu citizens were also not included in the planning level of the 2025-26 permanent Migration Programme.

The Government should make this clear and either include 3,280 places for these visas among the 185,000 places in the 2025-26 Migration Program or increase the size of the Program by 3,280.

For full transparency, the Government should also make a public commitment that all permanent residence visas will always be counted in the official Immigration Programme.

Given the focus on immigration levels, this is not the time to play visa counting games.

Dr Abul Rizvi Independent Australian columnist and a former Deputy Secretary of the Immigration Service. You can follow Abul on Twitter @RizviAbul.

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