More jail time for corrupt visa officer

A corrupt border protection officer who took more than $560,000 in bribes to give visas to dozens of people from the Philippines and Vietnam has had his jail sentence increased.

Alex Escala Allan was last year sentenced in the Brisbane District Court to at least eight months behind bars for unlawfully approving general-skilled migration visas to 59 people who didn't satisfy the requirements to enter Australia.

Allan initially gave the visas to 17 family and friends from the Philippines but was later approached by Minh Huy Lam, who bribed him and threatened to expose his crimes if he didn't do the same thing for 42 people in Vietnam.

The offending went on for eight months until March 2014 when an immigration inspector at Brisbane's international airport noticed the language skills and occupations of two people did not match visa requirements.

Allan pleaded guilty and admitted he accepted bribes out of temptation and to ease his financial burdens.

The court heard Allan at least ensured the people he granted visas to had no criminal history, and "clear medicals" although were likely unskilled and could not speak English.

Of the more than $560,000 Allan took in bribes about $142,000 is yet to be recovered.

Allan's sentence was this year increased to at least 15 months' imprisonment after the Commonweath Director of Public Prosecutions successfully argued in the Court of Appeal that the original punishment was manifestly inadequate.

In her reasons published on Tuesday, Justice Margaret McMurdo said Allan seriously betrayed the trust of the community by accepting bribes, despite his secure and reasonably paid employment.