The Ethnic Communities’ Council of New South Wales (ECCNSW) today called on the Federal Government to reassess the announced language preconditions for partner visas delineating English proficiency required by both applicants and their sponsors.
“The function of partner visas is to unite Australians with their families and facilitate spouses’ fundamental roles in supporting everyday locals; these requirements will make this harder and only burden Australians” said ECCNSW Chair Mr Peter Doukas. OAM.
“The Government should absolutely make English language classes available to new migrants; telling a partner that they can’t stay if they don’t reach a certain standard will only make it harder for willing prospective citizens to acclimatise to life in Australia,” continued Mr Doukas.
“Partner visa costs are already prohibitive without this added burden – let’s facilitate ways for migrants to strengthen their English and contribute to life in Australia rather than making it an onerous and unnecessary precondition which will have the effect of undermining rather than bolstering local families,” concluded Mr Doukas.