Every three minutes someone gains permanent residency in Australia but every year more than 40,000 are rejected. For the first time, a documentary series captures the life changing moments when men, women and families are told whether they can call Australia home, or whether they will be asked to leave.
Premiering at 8.30pm on Wednesday 1 July, follows the lives of 13 migrants and their families who want to settle in Australia. They’ve come here for love, family, work or for safety. The road to permanent residency is long, complex and challenging. This series follows people whose applications have previously been rejected and are in their final appeal to stay in the country.
In an Australian television first, SBS cameras were granted privileged access inside the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, where applicants and their lawyers make their case directly to a single judge. The series captures the key moments as applicants prepare their cases, subject themselves to the scrutiny of the system and ultimately receive the news that will change their lives forever. For some of the applicants, these are life or death decisions.