An Indian family staring at a grim prospect of being torn apart has been given a much-needed last-minute reprieve by the Department of Immigration.
80-year-old Florence Allen and her autistic daughter Sheryil (50) have been given an eight-week extension to continue their fight to stay in Australia after their applications for permanent residency were rejected.
The earlier deadline for them to leave Australia ended on Tuesday.
Their family is relieved at getting a visa extension and are hoping they would be able to get things moving during this time.
“It was cutting it a bit fine, we had to go in for an interview at the visa office, but we’re thankful.”
Ms Allen and Sheryil moved to Australia in 2012, where all her family members have been living, some since 1991. With no family left in India, Ms Allen’s daughter Jackie Vanderholt applied for her mother and autistic sister’s permanent residents’ visas.
However, the visa application was rejected due to the disability suffered by Sheryil, on the grounds that she will be a burden on taxpayers. Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said it would not be in Public interest to intervene in this case.
Ms Vanderholt says returning to India where her mother would have no support means her autistic sister will be required to be sent to a mental institution.
“This would cause her great trauma, despair and inconsolable grief as she has never lived a life without her family,” she says.
Before the family received the news of visa extension, the family had begun to work on the logistics of caring for Ms Allen and Sheryil in India, which for them would mean taking turns to travel to India.
requesting the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to intervene on “humanitarian grounds” has so far gathered nearly 65,000 signatures.
