The federal government has turned away thousands of people aspiring to a life in Australia by abolishing a group of visas and telling would-be residents their applications never existed.
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About 16,000 people including families are affected by the decision. Many of them have waited eight years for a response and migration agents say some are now too old to apply for other visas.
In one of her last acts as assistant immigration minister last week, Michaelia Cash ruled that an annual cap of 284 places for three types of skilled migration visas had been reached, and all outstanding applications "are taken not to have been made", or cancelled without a trace.
Senator Cash was promoted to Minister for Employment and Minister for Women by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week.
Perth migration agent Robert Chelliah said the decision was "callous and indifferent".
"With a single stroke of a pen the minister has destroyed … the life opportunity of people who have been waiting patiently," he said.
"They [thought] they had a hope, they have been told to wait and wait, put on hold from doing anything else and they were deliberately made to feel that their application would be resolved."
He said some applicants were now too old to apply for other visas.
The change took effect on September 22 and affected three skilled visa types in the independent, sponsored and regional sponsored categories (subclasses 175, 176 and 475). It also applies to visa cases not yet decided by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The visa types were closed to new applicants in mid 2012 but outstanding applications were being processed. Applicants can apply for a refund on charges paid.
A Melbourne man, originally from Pakistan, who wished to be known only as Mr Khan, said his brother applied for a sponsored visa more than seven years ago. His experience as a banker fulfilled the skills criteria at the time.
The brother, his pregnant wife and child are living in Dubai, and "their whole life has fallen apart" since learning the application had been cancelled, the man said.
"I couldn't believe it. One thing I like about Australia is that there is always justice here … this has been a big shock," he said.
"What hurts is that we won't be spending a lot of time together, except in holidays. We had options to apply for Canada and the UK, but we applied for Australia. It's very, very disappointing."
The Migration Institute of Australia has questioned the legality of the government's decision, and says it raised concerns with the Department of Immigration.
A department spokeswoman said most applications were for occupations not currently in demand, which would affect peoples' employment chances in Australia.
"Many more people want to migrate to Australia than we have permanent places for, but we must prioritise those skills that Australia needs now," she said.
The government believed it was "unfair" to keep people waiting any longer and affected applicants could apply for other visas, the spokeswoman said.
Canberra migration agent Marion Le said applicants were angry and felt "the department has misled them".
"These are highly skilled people who applied believing it would be finalised in a very short time and it's just dragged on and on," she said.
