Malaysians top list of visa abusers in Australia

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are the worst offenders when it comes to overstaying their welcome in Australia, an Australian daily reported.

According to The Courier Mail, more than 64,000 people are living illegally in Australia with Malaysians topping the list with 9,440 people.

This was followed by China, with 6,500 overstayers while 5,710 come from the United States and 3,680 people from Britain.

Indonesia, India, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand all had between 2,200 and 2,800 people living illegally in Australia.

Also on the list of top offenders were Germany, France, Japan and Fiji.

The Australian Immigration authorities said more than two thirds of the total figure came to Australia on legal visas but have been continuously living there more than two years after their visas expired.

Meanwhile, at least one person has evaded the authorities for about 40 years and it is not known whether that individual is still alive.

The report also said that as many as 20,000 of the 64,600 were believed to be working, adding that the total number of people overstaying has increased 6% compared with five years ago.

More than 70% were there on expired visitor visas, while student visas made up 15% of the overstayers and working holiday visas about 3%.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the daily that some only overstayed their visa by a day or two, while the total number represented less than 1% of the 6.5 million temporary entrants to Australia each year.