Afghan Families in Brisbane Fear New Visa Uncertainty: 'We Don't Know if We Belong Here'

On a humid Monday afternoon in Fortitude Valley, Zahra sits in the cramped office of the Brisbane Refugee and Immigration Legal Service on Wickham Street, refreshing her email for the hundredth time. She's been waiting eight months for news on her brother's skilled migration visa application—a process that has become increasingly uncertain as political tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalate.

"Every time I see the news, I feel sick," says Zahra, who arrived in Brisbane five years ago and now works as a nurse at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. "My family in Kabul wonders if Australia still wants us. Nobody explains what's happening."

Zahra represents a growing concern among Brisbane's estimated 3,500 Afghan-Australian residents. Recent military strikes across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have triggered renewed discussions about visa processing, humanitarian intake, and the stability of migration pathways—conversations that resonate deeply in suburbs like Inala, where many Afghan families have rebuilt their lives.

The Brisbane Multicultural Community Centre in Sunnybank has fielded dozens of inquiries this month alone, according to community liaison officer James Chen. "People are asking practical questions: Are processing times changing? Will political instability affect my case? Can I bring elderly parents?" he explains. "But there's also deeper anxiety—a sense that their status as permanent residents or visa holders might be questioned if the broader region destabilises further."

Statistical uncertainty compounds these fears. Australia's Department of Home Affairs processed 2,847 Afghan visa applications in the 2025-26 financial year, down from 3,124 the previous year—a decline that some community members attribute to geopolitical concerns rather than policy changes. Processing times for skilled visas have stretched to 18-24 months, compared to 14 months two years ago.

Mohammed Hakimi, who runs a kebab restaurant on Stones Corner and sponsors two employees on temporary skilled visas, feels the weight of responsibility. "My workers worry constantly. One asked me last week if I thought he'd ever be able to bring his wife here. How do I answer that honestly?"

Advocates say Brisbane's Afghan community—many of whom fled conflict themselves—deserves clarity and transparency. "These aren't abstract policy questions," notes Dr Patricia Okonkwo of the University of Queensland's Migration and Social Cohesion research unit. "They're about people's fundamental sense of security and belonging in a city they've chosen as home."

The Department of Home Affairs has indicated no changes to current visa settings, but community leaders say reassurance must go further—with culturally appropriate communication, extended processing timeframes, and genuine engagement with affected families.

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