Australian Visas: English test for foreign spouses

[Uncensored]

Partners will now need to prove their English proficiency to gain a visa


Australia will require foreign partners of existing residents to pass an English language test before gaining a permanent visa, its government says.
The controversial immigration requirement, if approved by parliament, would apply from mid-2021.

It would also force the partners of applicants to prove a level of English proficiency.

Critics have called the change "discriminatory", but the government says it will build "social cohesion".

"We will require an applicant and a sponsor to have met functional level English or to have at least made reasonable efforts to learn English," Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said.

In recent years, Australia's conservative government has called for prospective migrants to face mandatory, rigorous testing on their English language skills.

English proficiency is currently a requirement for some other work and study visas. Anyone applying for Australian citizenship must also pass an English test.
More than one-fifth of Australia's population speaks a language other than English at home, with the figure above 35% in the largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

Why has the government announced this?
Mr Tudge said there were about one million people living in Australia with poor or no English skills, which he argued limited their work and social skills.

He said the new changes would also help protect vulnerable immigrants from controlling partners.

"In some cases, the husband will not want his partner or wife to learn English. And in part that's for control reasons," he said.

He said "reasonable efforts to learn" would constitute an applicant taking about 500 hours of English classes which would be available under a free government programme.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said partners could still arrive on a temporary visa, but once in the country they should learn "Australia's first language" to remain permanently.


What's been the reaction?
Some critics say the requirement is "racist", arguing it targets people from non-Western nations and their partners.

They pointed to language tests used in the infamous "White Australia" policy which effectively prevented non-European immigration to the country from 1901 until the late 1960s.

The Labor opposition said the changes "take us back to the 1950s".

"English proficiency isn't a test of someone's love," said Andrew Giles, shadow minister for multicultural affairs.

Couples facing the partner application process have told local media the requirement is an "additional burden" to the existing tests.

Currently there is a two-year waiting period for permanent partner visas, and applications start from A$7,715 (£4,260; $5,500).

About 40,000 visas were granted in 2017-2018 according to the most recent figures, and there were double that number in pending applications.

According to the 2016 census, more than 300 languages are spoken in Australia.

This year, Australia is forecast to see its first drop in net overseas migration since World World Two due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia partner visas: Immigration law 'to require English test'

Foreign partners of existing residents will need to prove their language skills to stay permanently.

www.bbc.com

 

[313ghazi]

I am in agreement with the Australians on this. I am surprised western governments did not bring this in decades ago.

In the UK those who came in the first wave had no choice but to learn English. It was required to survive. Those who came in the 80s and 90s came into developed communities and got away with little to no English by leaning on thier support network to help them.

Ive got a couple of uncles who are here in the UK and still struggle to string together anything but basic sentences, whereas my father who is much older than them is fluent. I have an uncle from Hong Kong who speaks Chinese (Idk which language exactly) and English perfectly. He was forced to because he was immersed in the culture without a support network to abuse as a crutch.

It was the strangest thing to hear him speak to a Chinese lady in her native tongue whilst stood in a Pakistani grocery shop in the UK.

 

[PakFactor]

I am in agreement with the Australians on this. I am surprised western governments did not bring this in decades ago.

In the UK those who came in the first wave had no choice but to learn English. It was required to survive. Those who came in the 80s and 90s came into developed communities and got away with little to no English by leaning on thier support network to help them.

Ive got a couple of uncles who are here in the UK and still struggle to string together anything but basic sentences, whereas my father who is much older than them is fluent. I have an uncle from Hong Kong who speaks Chinese (Idk which language exactly) and English perfectly. He was forced to because he was immersed in the culture without a support network to abuse as a crutch.

It was the strangest thing to hear him speak to a Chinese lady in her native tongue whilst stood in a Pakistani grocery shop in the UK.

Same we came in the 1980s to the United States while their was a Pakistani community it was to spread out to lean on for support, and my mother and father were then forced to learn. My father was English Medium School educated and was able to grasp it easily and mom went to local library classes and 30+ years later they hold their own well.

The other thing this might allow us to control the brain drain as well as not all doctors and engineers are proficient is English. Before the West would just grab them as needed.

Also the quality of immigrants have also dropped as well. Majority we seeing in the states are leeches that abuse the system for free health and food stamps and concealing income to get those benefits meant for the needy and are a drain on the system. They bring over their useless parents who can’t work and siblings as well.

I know families who brought over their mothers and fathers put them on cash assistance, food stamp and social security collect the money and work part time or not at all. It pisses me of when they then flash of new clothes and cars and stuff, and that regressive attitude is passed onto their useless kids who then only talk about these benefits.

 

[313ghazi]

Same we came in the 1980s to the United States while their was a Pakistani community it was to spread out to lean on for support, and my mother and father were then forced to learn. My father was English Medium School educated and was able to grasp it easily and mom went to local library classes and 30+ years later they hold their own well.

The other thing this might allow us to control the brain drain as well as not all doctors and engineers are proficient is English. Before the West would just grab them as needed.

Also the quality of immigrants have also dropped as well. Majority we seeing in the states are leeches that abuse the system for free health and food stamps and concealing income to get those benefits meant for the needy and are a drain on the system. They bring over their useless parents who can’t work and siblings as well.

I know families who brought over their mothers and fathers put them on cash assistance, food stamp and social security collect the money and work part time or not at all. It pisses me of when they then flash of new clothes and cars and stuff, and that regressive attitude is passed onto their useless kids who then only talk about these benefits.

I guess with you guys in the US it's a bigger country. Most Pakistani's who came to the UK tend to settle near others, mainly because when they first came it was the networks who bought them here that faciliated it and nowadays those who come tend to be on marriage visas etc. There are a few educated types who come on work visas etc.

We still have the layabout benefit eating types, especially in the bigger cities, but generally as peoples aspirations have grown, people have started earning more and more, in order to spend more - to keep up with the Joneses.

 

[hualushui]

Isn't this the cultural tradition of eliminating immigrants?
Well, this is not China, it is OK

 

[Hiraa]

Aren't they giving ILETS test before applying visa? I thought it was important.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Aren't they giving ILETS test before applying visa? I thought it was important.

The article refers to spouses, not the primary immigrant