As local tourism and hospitality businesses continue to suffer an ongoing staff shortage, Australia has, more than ever, become a paradise for the backpackers who remain.

With plenty of job opportunities and their home countries being unsafe, many backpackers don’t want to go back. But what if they can’t get a visa extension?

Visa workers have always been the backbone of the hospitality industry in Australia, especially in remote areas like Far North Queensland.

However, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, many backpackers were forced to go home after losing their jobs. Furthermore, Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised all visa holders unable to support themselves to go back to their home countries.

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Numbers from the Parliament’s Immigration Committee show that in June 2020 the number of people on working holiday visas in Australia dropped from 135,000 to 80,000 when compared with the same time in 2019.

The Covid-19 crisis painfully showed that the Australian tourism and hospitality industry can’t survive without foreign workers.

Last month, Newsport reported that tourism businesses in Port Douglas were desperate to find workers. Well-known establishments such as Hi-Tide restaurant and The Court House Hotel were not able to run their businesses at full capacity due to shortage of staff.

The backpackers that were fortunate enough to be able to stay after the early days of the COVID outbreak, now have the opportunity to find jobs in a blink of an eye and enjoy the benefits from the job abundance.

Dutch backpacker Lonneke de Bot had minimal experience in hospitality, but easily found a job as a waitress in a well-known resort in Port Douglas.

“Back home I worked in a different field but while I’m here in Australia I want to broaden my horizons,” she said.

“This job also looks very good on my resume. Also, in the pre-pandemic world, my chances of getting hired would’ve been much smaller with many more workers to compete with.”

Home is not an option

While most of the countries worldwide are suffering the third wave of COVID-19, Australia remains one of the safest countries.

“With currently thousands of new cases per week, it is simply too dangerous to go back to The Netherlands,” said Ms de Bot.

“Australia is the best place to be right now as it has one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 cases and less restrictions. I don’t want to take the risk of not being able to return to Australia soon, or at all.”

While she still has six months to go on her working holiday visa, her partner’s visa situation is a lot more uncertain.

Like many other backpackers, Robbert de Laat wasn’t able to reach the six months of farm work required to obtain his third working holiday visa due to the lockdown.

“A student visa is expensive and has working right limitations, so my only option was to apply for a COVID-visa”, he said.

COVID visa

Backpackers who work in so-called critical sectors have since April been given the option of applying for a COVID visa to extend their stay for another twelve months.

These sectors include agriculture and food processing, aged and disability care, health and childcare.

As Mr de Laat works in hospitality, which is not classed as a critical sector, he has had to provide a larger amount of evidence, including a letter from his employer that an Australian or permanent resident cannot do his work.

“Once I get my visa granted, I can stay in the country for another three months, instead of the twelve months when working in a critical sector.” With a well-paid job in hospitality, he would, “Prefer to stay here with my partner,” rather than, “A more remote area outside of Port Douglas.”

Mr de Laat says there is still a lot of uncertainty and haziness around the new COVID visa.

“I did a great deal of research online and I have looked on the government’s immigration page for days, it was really frustrating,” he said.

That was when he heard about a Facebook group called ‘Australia Backpackers info’.

“Thanks to this group I discovered there are actually three different types of COVID visas.

"A twelve-month visa when you’re working in critical sectors and three-month visas with employment in hospitality or if you’re unemployed, as long as you can prove that you’re unable to return home. However, you get no working rights.”

Fellow traveller Victoria Vaira from Argentina wishes she had known earlier about such groups.

When her second working holiday visa was about to expire a couple of weeks ago, she still had no idea if she was able to stay in the country on a COVID visa.

She decided to call a migration agent in Sydney who could tell her more about her options.

“I had to book an appointment and it took around ten days before they called me. I also had to pay $150 to speak with him,” she said.

Just like Mr de Laat, Ms Vaira works in hospitality.

“The migration agent told me it is possible to reapply for the COVID visa within ninety days of your visa expiring. However, that doesn’t mean the extension will be guaranteed.”

Despite that, she remains positive

“I have good hope that my visa will be granted. It is more than clear the country needs us to help sustain the tourism industry. Now all I can do is patiently wait.”