Australian immigration cracks down on spouse visa fraud

July 27 2009 by Mark Johnstone

Australian immigration cracks down on

A specialist unit of the Australian immigration authorities is concentrating on exposing sham marriages between immigrants living in Australia on spousal visas.

An increasing number of Australian marriage visas are being applied for and the unit has been set up to try to find out if couples are genuine. If a couple are suspected they will be interviewed separately and questioned about their lives together. This is called an ‘intimacy test.’

Some 40,000 spouse visas were issued in 2007/2008, up from 26,000 ten years earlier. Of the 40,000 visas issued, some 1,150 couples were questioned over ‘irregularities' in their Australia visa applications.

Among the couples investigated, 220 spouse visas were cancelled after the couples failed the intimacy test, while a further 3,146 visa applications were never granted in the first place.

Sandi Logan, the spokesperson for the department, says, "We might ask them for the floor plan of the house they're supposed to live in together.” “Or we might ask what they did on birthdays together for the last couple of years. Or what they gave each other for Christmas or Ramadan.”

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