For those planning to move into Australia, visa applications is probably one of the hardest steps to go to. The process can be quite complicated and tedious. And with the changes that the the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has been making on the various programs, it seems to become even more difficult.
One of these changes that the DIAC has recently announced is the inclusion of biometrics data in all visas to be issued by the department. The biometric visa was initially tested in only a handful of visa types before being finally included as a standard in all visas.
For those not familiar with it, biometrics is essentially the measurement and recording of a person's particular body traits, such as finger and hand prints, as well as iris patterns. The data from these are then used as identification for a particular person, as these are unique to everyone. These data are included in the visa issued to that individual and are then verified during entry.
In order to undertake the changes, the Australian government is expecting to spend more than $68 million within four years to set up the program. The department expects the project to be implemented in the 2010-2011 immigration season. It has also said that it has started initial procedures needed to for collecting data.
One thing that the department noted is that the expansion of the biometric scans to all visa applicants are likely to increase the cost of applications. However, the department assured immigrants that the increase would be, at most, only a minimal one.
Nevertheless, there are still a lot of groups that has raised their apprehension to the introduction of biometric scans. While they do agree that the minor fee increase and slightly longer process is nothing to worry about, they said that there are still other concerns that needs to be addressed. One of these is that the biometric scans might be used to single out applicants coming out from particular countries.
However, the DIAC was quick to allay this fears. Department officials said that the program will be implemented on all applicants regardless of nationality. The department also added that the program is only intended to provide better identification of applicants. Officials also stressed out the security benefits of the project, as it will help in combating immigration fraud that has victimized a lot of visa applicants.
While both sides have started started to look into the pro and cons of biometric scans in visa applications, only time will tell if this one is indeed all that has been said about it.
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