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After ten years of living in Queensland's Airlie Beach, Jana Padfield is facing the sickening reality that her life in Australia might finally be coming to an end.
"I'm struggling with the fact that I might have to use every last bit of my savings to fly back to England," Padfield said.
"My heart will be more than broken, I don't know if I will ever recover from it."
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Padfield first came to Australia from England as an 18-year-old back in 2013, with the hope of settling here permanently.
But it is a goal that has painfully eluded the hospitality manager over the years, as she has moved from temporary visa to temporary visa in a bid to stay in her home.
While working steadily in hospitality, Padfield has held multiple working holiday visas, student visas and COVID visas over the past decade.
As a result of the financial fallout from the pandemic, Padfield's long-term employer has been unable to sponsor her for a skilled visa.
"I've worked so hard for the last decade to achieve my dream of becoming a resident of this country I've called home for so many years of my life," she said.
"I've had constant knock backs, worked multiple jobs and had to apply for 10 visas to stay here in Australia over this whole period, paying close to $70,000 in visa fees in total."
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Next month, Padfield's second and final six-month COVID visa will expire.
It's a situation now facing many migrants, with the federal government officially ending its temporary pandemic visa program last week.
So far, Padfield has been unable to secure a new visa, but it's not for want of trying.
In September last year, Padfield applied for a state-sponsored skilled regional visa and a skilled residency visa, both of which offer a path to permanent residency.
It's a financial gamble that has set Padfield back by about $17,000 – including $9000 in visa fees, $1000 to fast-track her skills assessment, $700 for an English exam and $7000 in migration agent fees.
With her skills, Padfield meets all of the points-based requirements for both the visas – but, the problem is, she needs to be issued with an invitation from the Queensland Government in order to be granted either of them.
"I've been told they grant these visas in the last week of every month," Padfield said.
"My visa ends before the end of March so I only have the last week of February to get an invite."
Official waiting times for both of the visas listed on the Department of Home Affairs website show around 50 percent of applicants being processed within 9-10 months.
In a desperate bid to secure attention to her plight, Padfield launched an online petition earlier this month, which has so far attracted 2600 signatures.
New focus on skills and permanent homes
Padfield is far from alone in the temporary nature of her life in Australia, despite the number of years she has lived here.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 1.6 million temporary residents at the time of the 2021 census.
In 2023, a review found Australia's migration system had become too reliant on temporary migrants, who were often left without clear pathways for permanent residency.
The review stated many temporary visa holders were forced to jump from visa to visa, with proportionally fewer gaining permanent residency than in the past.
In response, the new Labor government last year announced plans to help draw skilled migrants to Australia and offer them simpler and clearer ways to gain residency.
The new changes, outlined by Home Affairs minister Clare O'Neil, include making three new pathways for temporary visa holders – a "fast and simple" pathway for high-skilled workers on high salaries, a middle pathway for skilled migrants earning above the temporary skilled migration income threshold, and an easier pathway for lower-earning workers in critical sectors with staff shortages, such as aged care.
By the end of 2023, all skilled temporary workers would be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residency, Claire said last year.
However, the new migration strategy will also see a dramatic reduction in Australia's overall net migration, which is set to be halved from a record post-pandemic high of 510,000 to 250,000 by 2025.
There will also be tougher tests on overseas students and workers with low skills will be turned away.
For Padfield, the uncertainty and very real chance she could soon be facing deportation remains, despite hospitality managers being added to the skills list as a result of post-pandemic shortages
"Regardless of how strong my case and my visa application is, you go into a pool of so many thousands of people that I'm sure apply for these invites – this is what is so frustrating," Padfield said.
Reuben Saul, who is an immigration lawyer and president of the Migration Institute of Australia, said the changes announced last year as part of the Albanese Government's new migration strategy were promising.
"I think the current government has taken steps to address the issue of … people who are permanently temporary in Australia, and that's people who have been on rolling temporary visas for a very long period, which was a feature of the former government's immigration policy," Saul said.
However, it was still "early days", Saul said.
"The devil's in the detail – we want to be able to see what that actually looks like practically when those changes are rolled out.
"We haven't seen quite enough changes yet to be able to make a call on whether or not the strategy has been successful. But certainly the tone and the shift in direction away from having a large, temporary worker population is a positive change."
For now, Saul said, the ending of COVID-era temporary visas would provide a challenge for some migrants.
"There's a number of temporary visas especially over that COVID period that have come to an end, like the COVID visa, where people are now left in a situation where they're now trying to find another visa to remain in Australia," Saul said.
'We don't want pity… just that residency'
It's a struggle Julian Simon and Caroline Thomas know all too well, with their second COVID visa set to expire in April.
The married couple came to Australia from Germany to start a new life nine years ago, in 2015. They have lived in the Port Douglas region ever since.
The pair's eldest daughter, Tira, was just 18 months old when they arrived in Queensland. She is now 11, and has a six year-old sister, Etenia.
Like Padfield, the family have been living on various temporary visas over the years, including a tourist visa, various employer-nominated sponsored visas and COVID visas.
Over the past nine years, Thomas estimates the family has spent roughly $80,000 to $90,000 on visa and migration agent costs.
Despite Simon being a qualified chef – an in-demand skill due to staff shortages – permanent residency has remained out of reach for the family due to a series of unfortunate circumstances.
Over the years, Simon has had several employees willing to sponsor him, however, the visa process requires multiple years of working for the same business.
During that time, many of the businesses have gone belly up.
"I've had so many temporary sponsorships," Simon said.
"Some were lost due to businesses being sold, going bankrupt, or closing down due to COVID."
After many of those setbacks, Simon had to start the costly and time consuming visa application from scratch.
Another challenge faced by the couple included their first migration agent failing to file the proper paperwork.
During the pandemic, Simon kept busy volunteering for the local State Emergency Service (SES) and the couple focussed their work on a cleaning business set up by Thomas.
The business services hotels and also flood-damaged homes.
The work allowed them to be approved for two COVID visas, while their last hope of an employer nominated visa was processed.
Back in 2022, Simon secured a new sponsor, Mirano's Fuel, where he would work as a consultant chef under an employer nominated visa.
However, after paying $18,000 for a migration agent to file the paperwork, the couple recently found out their application was yet to be lodged, years later.
"Our time is running out, we only have three months left," Thomas said.
"It's becoming a joke," Simon added. "We have done so much for our country here.
"We don't want any pity. We just want that residency so we can make a start and have a fair go."
Contact reporter Emily McPherson at [email protected]
