There are fears dozens of Vanuatu citizens stranded in Australia amid COVID-19 border closures are at risk of becoming unlawful, with their visas due to expire within weeks.
Melanie MacFarlane is a migration agent based in Australia, and grew up in Vanuatu as a child.
She has been assisting Pacific islanders stuck in Australia during the pandemic, who are unable to return home because of border closures.
"My concern is that their visas are expiring very shortly," Ms Macfarlane said.
"In fact when I spoke to one just recently his sister's visas actually expired over a month ago...she is unlawful at the moment which is not a good position to be in at all."
Ms MacFarlane says many of them may be unable or unwilling to pay for visa extensions, and is calling for the Australian government to waive the fees so they can stay in the country lawfully.
"Perhaps the government could see fit to allow them to extend their visas free of charge".
Photo source RNZ Pacific