Coronavirus: Visa restrictions are a bar to career prospects for migrants

Even though German migrant Heather Eiswirth is married to an Australian, she doesn’t have the right to permanent residency.

Heather Eiswirth, venue manager at the Auburn Hotel in Melbourne, is still waiting for her permanent residency. Picture: Aaron Francis

German-born Heather Eiswirth has run the gamut of visa types in her nine years in Australia. But even though she is now married to an Australian, the 28-year-old still doesn’t have the right to permanent residency.

Instead, she is one of the tens of thousands of non-resident spouses waiting an average of three years for their permanent residency applications to be processed.

With 270,000 fewer ­migrants expected due to the ­border shutdown, a polarising ­immigration debate is emerging between those arguing to remove restrictions on visa holders already in the country to help fill the skills gap, and those who want the COVID-19 pandemic to be the circuit-breaker on the nation’s high immigration intake­.

“I came to Australia at 19 on a working holiday visa and spent a year in hospitality waitressing and managing,” Ms Eiswirth said. “After that, I obtained a student visa and studied event management at a TAFE in Melbourne.”

She was then sponsored by hospitality company Australian Venue Co on a 457 temporary skilled migrant visa, under which she continues to work as venue manager at the Auburn Hotel in Melbourne’s Hawthorn East.

In the meantime, Ms Eiswirth has recently married and she and her husband want to make Melbourn­e their forever city.

“But simply getting married to an Australian doesn’t give you the right to stay in the country,” she said. “I’ve got my 457 visa running in the background, but since getting­ married I’ve applied for a partner visa, and once I get that the next step is to apply for PR (permanent residency).”

Demographer Peter McDonald argues that permanent residency is a definite lure for employers, so spouses of Australian citizens on bridging visas and the almost 100,000 international graduates who remain in Aust­ralia after completing their degree are not competing for jobs on a level playing field.

Fortunately for Ms Eiswirth, her job allows her to fully employ her training and skills. “I’ve been fortunate with my employer, but overall I do think it is harder to find career-type jobs if you are on a visa rather than having permanent residency,” she said.

With restaurants and bars beginning­ to reopen, Ms Eiswirth is reasonably optimistic about the future. “I’ve been here all my adult life, and if I didn’t love it I wouldn’t have stayed,” she said.