Days after the Australian government removed India from the list of ‘high risk’ countries, international student Rishi Ravindra Naik was among the first few visa holders to receive an inbound travel exemption from the Australian Border Force (ABF).
The research student, who has secured a scholarship to pursue a doctorate in food science and technology from the University of New South Wales, told SBS Punjabi that it took him several months and eight attempts to get an exemption.
But little did he know that the battle was only half won.
Highlights:
- Offers of seats on facilitated commercial flights are made to vulnerable Australians, Australian permanent residents (and their immediate family members): DFAT
- Temporary visa holders with exemptions stranded in India accuse airlines of price gouging
- Many visa holders with exemptions claim they were bumped off government facilitated flights “last minute”
The 28-year-old is now scrambling to find an affordable ticket after discovering that temporary visa holders cannot book government-facilitated Qantas flights despite having a valid visa and travel exemption.
“If you look at the Qantas website, it says ‘any passenger who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident will require a valid visa and an exemption to the travel ban to board these flights’.
“This is contrary to the DFAT email, which clearly states that only Australian citizens and permanent residents or their immediate families can get these flights. And why are they sending out email alerts and flight codes to temporary visa holders if they aren’t eligible for these flights? There is a lot of confusion,” Mr Naik said.
Indian international student gets inbound travel exemption to travel to Australia.
Supplied by Rishi Ravindra Naik
After the New South Wales government slashed its intake of returning travellers to 750 per week, Mr Naik is now worried that his plan to travel to Sydney may get further delayed.
India remains a focus of the government’s facilitated commercial flights program
Ending speculation on the issue, a DFAT spokesperson told SBS Punjabi that offers of seats on facilitated commercial flights are made to vulnerable Australians, Australian permanent residents (and their immediate family members) registered with DFAT.
DFAT’s highest priority at this time is helping vulnerable Australians overseas
“Over 678,000 Australians have arrived in Australia since the Government recommended that people reconsider the need to travel abroad,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
Since the start of the pandemic, the government has facilitated the return of more than 10,000 Australians from India, on 63 facilitated commercial flights, and the South Asian nation continues to remain a focus of the government’s return plan for stranded Australians.
A snapshot of the email received by Ravi Ravindra Naik from DFAT stipulating conditions for travel on government-facilitated Qantas flights.
Supplied by Rishi Ravindra Naik
This means that temporary visa holders stranded in India with inbound exemptions now have one less option to return to Australia.
Abinash Dora is a work visa holder who touched down in Sydney along with his wife on 28 August after receiving an exemption based on his critical skills on his 50th attempt.
He told SBS Punjabi that the exclusion from Qantas flights has left visa holders at the mercy of the airlines which are price gouging airfares during the current financially challenging times.
“There are hardly any airlines which are operating flights between India and Australia at the moment. And those operating are charging ten times the normal price, with a little-to-no guarantee for a refund.
“While Qantas is offering a ticket for approximately $1500, some travel agents are offering them at upwards of $7,000. There is a huge difference,” said the 29-year-old who is currently in hotel quarantine in Sydney.
Abinash Dora with his wife Jayashree Deegala.
Supplied by Abinash Dora
Mr Dora, who flew Emirates, said the government must reserve some seats on every Qantas flight for work visa holders.
“While we understand that the government’s priority is to bring back Australian citizens and permanent residents, I think it would be in their interest to save 10 per cent or even fewer seats for work visa holders with exemptions on each repatriation flight since there aren’t many who are eligible to travel from India,” he said.
‘We were bumped off last minute’
Temporary visa holders Alka* and her husband were booked to return to Australia on the Qantas flight that left New Delhi on 5 September.
As soon as their seats were reserved, they hastily booked domestic flights to touch down in Delhi on 2 September so they could meet the mandatory quarantine criteria ahead of boarding the international flight.
But as luck would have it, just hours before they were slated to hop on to a flight to Delhi, the couple was informed that they were not eligible to board the government-facilitated flight.
“We ended up wasting over $1500 on the domestic flight which will not be refunded. In addition, the money we spent on the Qantas flight is also now stuck.
“My question is, why is DFAT still sending out booking approval codes to temporary visa holders with exemptions if we are not eligible? And these seats that we booked and were cancelled last minute remained unoccupied, which otherwise could have been used by a vulnerable Australian,” Alka said in an interview with SBS Punjabi.
*Name has been changed on request.
‘Repatriation must include temporary visa holders’
The special flights are being operated to fly back nearly 10,000 Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members seeking to return home from India, out of which at least 200 are children.
Neha Sandhu has been providing support to Australians and temporary visa holders stranded in India since July 2020.
Supplied by Ms Sandhu
Neha Sandhu, the admin of the ‘Australians Stuck in India’ Facebook page, also moderates several WhatsApp groups for passengers booked to return to Australia on Qantas flights.
She said the repatriation effort must also include temporary visa holders.
“If ABF approves the exemption, then there should be some seats for temporary migrants who get exemptions based on their critical skills and most of whom are fully vaccinated, especially the migrants and their families who are stuck since the start of the pandemic.
“They also pay tax and contribute to the economy. They will also pay for quarantine,” she said.
Ms Sandhu added that she knows many temporary visa holders who were taken off these flights at the last minute.
“As I moderate WhatsApp groups for Qantas passengers from India, I have noticed that if a visa holder ends up booking a seat on these special flights, they end up getting last-minute cancellation, which further adds to their woes,” she said.
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