Boy denied visa to meet dad in Australia

Canberra, July 18

A 10-year-old Indian boy has been refused an Australian visitor visa for the third time as the Department of Home Affairs feels he does not have “employment or financial incentives” to return back home. A visitor visa for Harmanpreet Singh was applied so that the boy can meet his father and stepmother in Melbourne during his school summer vacation, the Australian media reported on Tuesday.

“It has been three years since I have seen my son. We applied for his visa thrice and they (Australian authorities) have refused the application with the same reason,” his father Harinder Singh said.

Harinder Singh’s wife died in a road accident in India in 2012. He later remarried and moved to Australia in 2015. His son also came to Australia with him, but returned the same year to continue his studies.

Harinder Singh and his wife currently have a restriction on travelling overseas.

Harmanpreet Singh, who currently lives with his grandmother in India, first applied for a visitor visa in 2017. But the visa was refused as the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection wasn’t convinced that he intended to stay temporarily in Australia. He again applied for a visitor visa on May 3 this year; that too was refused. — IANS