Original article by Luke Kinsella
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Jan-26

The federal government is under scrutiny over the growing backlog of visa applications for the partners of Australian citizens. This reached a record high of 96,839 in June 2025, and it has increased by 72 per cent since Labor took office in May 2022. Both Labor and Coalition governments have capped partner visas, but migration expert Peter McDonald contends that this is illegal and applications for such visas should be processed when they are received. Former immigration department bureaucrat Abul Rizvi says the government will eventually have to abide by the law on partner visas; however, he concedes that this would result in a higher permanent migration intake and an increase in net overseas migration.

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