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IN PHOTO: A man shows the Work and Social Security (CTPS) documents of Haitian immigrants, required for foreigners providing professional services in Brazil, at the Nossa Senhora da Paz Catholic church where they are living, in the Glicerio neighborhood of Sao Paulo April 28, 2014. Two years ago, the Brazil government announced the creation of a humanitarian visa that would be exclusively issued to Haitian refugees after the devastating 2010 earthquake on the island. Around 800 Haitians immigrants have arrived in the last two weeks in Sao Paulo looking for work from the northern state of Acre. Picture taken April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

The Australian federal government has reportedly proposed to fast track visa applications of refugees if they agree to pay AU$19,000 and their family in Australia promise to cover health and welfare costs. The plan was allegedly a move to cut resettlement costs.

The measures, which are based on a pilot implemented by the former Labor government, aim at improving the financial conditions of desperate families in Australia, according to refugee advocates. Any suggestion on buying a migrant’s visa was rejected by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. However, the department said the program offers the government another way to reunite refugees with their families.

The proposal talks about a community support program whereby refugees and others who face similar situations could apply for a humanitarian visa only if their relatives or friends covered their resettlement charges, reported Fairfax Media. The pilot, which was established in 2013, would be expanded to accommodate the changes in the fee structure. Presently, a refugee is charged AU$19,124 for the first time and AU$2,680 for subsequent applicants or a total of AU$30,000 for a family of five.

The government, which has earned more than AU$2 million from the charges by March 2015, used the money to cover resettlements costs. For the record, almost 670 people had been granted visa under the pilot -- mostly from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The discussion paper that outlines the measures said that visa applications under community sponsorship programs were treated with high priority by the immigration officials. However, the decision of fast tracking was not applicable to illegal migrants, such as those coming via unauthorised boats.

The paper also said that relatives and friends of the refugees might also have to pay up for some health and Centrelink costs in the first few years of settlement and have to officially validate the government about it. It could involve the payment of a bank deposit. Such guarantees under other types of visas require up to AU$10,000 for a 10-year period for one adult and AU$4,000 for additional adults.

Meanwhile, the paper under the expanded program did not mention how many visas are to be granted, but similarities can be found with a Canadian scheme established in 1978, which aims to accept 6,500 people this year.

Refugee Council of Australia Chief Executive Paul Power, while supporting the concept, said the proposal would help refugees and other entrants to resettle in Australia. However, he said it pushes Australian-based families to pay a large amount of money to the Department of Immigration and gets difficult for families who can’t afford it.

The department refused to comment on the proposal for "privacy" reasons.

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