09/11/2022
IT security specialist still waiting for visa decisionafter 30 months
David Salamanca says he’s “lost the best years” of his life trying to navigate Australia’simmigration system.
Mr Salamanca applied for a 491 skilled work visa in May 2020 and is still waiting on a decisionfrom the Department of Home Affairs.
The 35-year-old Colombian IT professional has completed three diplomas, fi lled out countlessforms, done multiple police and medical checks, had overseas qualifi cations recognised, andhanded over thousands of dollars in application fees to the federal government, all in the hopeof building a life in Australia.
But more than two years after sending off his visa application, he remains in limbo.
I’m very disappointed because I have lost the best years of my life
trying to get something thatis benefi cial for Australia and for myself,” Mr Salamanca said.
Amid promises from the Albanese government to conduct
a “gutsy” review of Australia’simmigration system
He fi rst arrived in Australia in 2015 to improve his English and suss out longer-term jobopportunities. In Colombia, he had been working as a director of an IT company where heimplemented a security system in line with the internationally recognised ISO 27001 leadauditor standard.
Although the work restrictions on his student visameant he was unable to secure steady work in hisfi eld of IT, Mr Salamanca said he “fell in love” withAustralia after settling in Perth. He picked up part-time work as a cleaner, labourer, barista, a fooddelivery driver and a computer repairman.
“It’s a beautiful country,” he said, noting he could earnmore as a barista in Australia than he could as an ITprofessional in Colombia. “I was able to buy my stuffand live well and peacefully, even with those casualjobs.”
With his sights set on permanent residency and acareer in IT, Mr Salamanca applied for a graduate visa but was knocked back after his caseoffi cer judged that the diplomas he had completed in Australia were not relevant to hisspecifi ed profession.
The rejection meant he could not apply for another substantive visa while remaining in thecountry, and so he left Australia in early 2020, leaving his belongings in the share house herented in the Perth suburb of Bayswater.
In May 2020, he applied for a 491 skilled work visa after being nominated and invited to applyfor the visa by the West Australian government. In August 2018, the Australian ComputerSociety had assessed his skills as being suitable for migration under 262112 (ICT SecuritySpecialist) of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classifi cation of Occupations code.
Mr Salamanca thought he would return to Australia on a bridging visa soon after he applied forthe 491 visa from overseas. But Australia’s prolonged border restrictions meant he was unableto return to the country before his bridging visa expired.
And now he can only return if and when his 491 visa is granted – despite receiving multiplemessages from recruiters trying to fi ll IT jobs based in Perth.
His migration agent, Reza Aein, of Perth-based Home Migration Services, said Mr Salamancahad provided up-to-date health records and police clearances after receiving requests for moreinformation from Home Affairs, but the department had still not made a decision.
“You fi nd so many good people in Australia trying to help you. But the main barrier is the visa,”Mr Salamanca said.
“You become like a slave of your own project. If you don’t get the job, you don’t get a life.”
A Home Affairs spokesman said the department did not comment on individual cases due toprivacy reasons, but noted almost 2.8 million temporary and permanent visas had beenprocessed since June 1, “reducing Australia’s visa backlog as the volume of new applicationscontinues to surge”.
“Over 2.5 million of these applications involved applicants who are outside Australia,” thespokesman said.
“The focus is on fi nalising temporary and migration applications lodged outside of Australia,particularly visas for temporary work, study and visiting Australia. This will enable morepeople to enter Australia more quickly, to contribute to the economy and help address skilledlabour shortages.”
On its website, the department says that 90 per cent of applications for the 491 skilled workvisa are fi nalised within 12 months if the applicant is nominated by a state or territorygovernment.
