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Seventy new visa overstays a week

The government released figures on immigrants who may have arrived in the country legally but who have overstayed their visas and are now living in Australia legally

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2 Aug 2012

Amidst talks of immigrants illegally coming into Australia, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship recently released figures on immigrants who may have arrived in the country legally but who have overstayed their visas and are now living in Australia legally.

There are now around 60,000 illegal immigrants who cannot be located by immigration authorities and almost 70 new illegal visa overstayers go missing every week. The number of immigrants who fail to leave the country once their visas expire has jumped by 3530 in just one year.

A breakdown of the numbers by country reveals authorities are seeking 7930 Chinese, 5090 Americans, 4640 Malaysians and 3650 British. Thousands of others including 3500 Indians, 2760 Koreans, 2620 Indonesians, 2410 Filipinos, 1860 Thais, 1690 Vietnamese, 1460 Germans, 1280 Japanese, 1260 French, 1240 Irish and 1090 Fijians are also at large.

Immigration officials calculate overstayer numbers twice a year, in June and December, but the figures do not show how long they have been in the country unlawfully.

A spokesman for the department said the "vast majority" of overstayers remained in Australia illegally for only a short period, usually less than six months. "Many people who overstay their visas in Australia depart voluntarily without the need for departmental involvement."

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