It took Australian immigration officials a decade to process the visa applications for Wendy Van Breda and her daughter Paige.
Paige was 15 when the couple first arrived in Australia in 2011. She is now 25.
Last March, Wendy and Paige finally received a response from the Department of the Interior, but it was not what they expected.
Wendy Van Breda (center) pictured with her daughter Paige (right), her brother Stephen (back) and her mother (left). (Supplied by: Wendy Van Breda)
The couple were told that since Paige had already grown up and was not considered dependent on her mother, both visa applications had been rejected.
“We were so surprised. I had a feeling our whole world was falling apart,” Paige said of the decision.
Wendy and Paige were born in Zimbabwe, but political and economic unrest in the African nation caused most of her family to move abroad, first to the UK and then to Australia.
Wendy’s only surviving father, her mother and all of her siblings, three siblings, live in Queensland, having obtained permanent residency. Hoping to be close to her family, Wendy, who is a single mother, and Paige moved from the UK to Brisbane in 2011.
The couple applied for a remaining family visa, which is open to immigrants whose immediate family members live in Australia.
The remaining relative visa has the longest processing time of any Australian visa.
When Wendy and Paige applied for the visa in 2011, the waiting time was 10 years.
It has since skyrocketed to 50 years.
Wendy and Paige have been living in Australia with temporary bridge visas for the past decade.
After appealing the department’s decision to refuse their visas last year, they are still here with a bridge visa, but have the possibility of being sent back to the UK if their appeal is unsuccessful. .
“We just want to be with our family, that’s all we want. It’s going to destroy us if we had to leave. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Wendy said.
Wendy said she and Paige had spent the last decade building their lives in Australia and now considered her their home.
Both she and her daughter had willingly made sacrifices to stay in Australia in hopes of receiving permanent residency, Wendy said.
Wendy Van Breda and her daughter Paige face an uncertain future after their remaining visa application was rejected. (Supplied by: Wendy Van Breda)
Their bridge visas have allowed them to work and study, but they still have restrictions.
“It’s been very difficult because, with Paige, we had to pay international school fees – it cost $ 13,000 a year to go to a public high school,” Wendy said.
“Paige always dreamed of being a teacher, but she can’t go to college here because she would have to pay the full fees and she can’t get a student loan or anything like that.”
After graduating from high school, Paige went to TAFE to get an early childhood diploma and now works in a daycare.
“It was the closest option I could have to being a teacher. It’s been hard for me to take some options, but I’m grateful to have been able to live here with my family,” Paige said.
Wendy said she always waited for her visas to finally be approved and was surprised when they received the notice of denial in March last year.
“It’s always been a bit in the back of our minds the hope of the visa, but we weren’t that worried and we never thought it would be denied,” Wendy said.
“Our immigration agent was also surprised.”
In its rejection notice to Wendy and Paige, seen by 9news.com.au, the Home Office said that since Paige was no longer dependent on Wendy, they both had a close relative who was not an Australian citizen. nor permanent resident, among them.
“It’s crazy, we have to be with our family,” Wendy said.
“Also, if the department hadn’t taken so long (to process our visa application), that would never have happened.”
Visa waiting times are “a matter of urgency”
Last week, 9news.com.au reported on the desperate situation of other remaining family visa applicants facing a decades-long wait to get an answer on whether they can stay in Australia permanently.
Although the remaining relative visa has the longest waiting time, at 50 years old, the processing times of many other visas have also been exhausted over the last decade.
According to the Department of the Interior, parental visas take about 30 years to process, orphan visas 6.3 years and caregiver visas 4.5 years.
There are many visas with extended waiting times, but the remaining relative visa takes longer to process, about 50 years. (New: Tara Blancato)
The long waiting times for family and couple visas were the subject of a Senate investigation last year.
The final report of the investigation, published in April this year, recommended that the Department of the Interior develop a “long-term strategy to update its visa processing system” as a “matter of urgency.”
While Labor Immigration Minister Andrew Giles declined to comment to 9news.com.au on the remaining relative visa waiting times, he said addressing the visa delay left by the coalition government was a urgent priority.
“In terms of the extraordinary delays we have seen in visa processing, this is a real priority for me and an Albanian Labor government,” Giles said.
“Whether it’s humanitarian, family reunion or specialized visas, we have to do it much better.”
Nicola Clements has been waiting eight years so far for her remaining family visa to be processed, having applied in 2014 after leaving the UK.
“This was the only visa I could apply for as I did not qualify for the specialist visa,” he said.
When Nicola first applied for the visa, he was told the wait would be 16 years. She said she was dismayed when she was informed a few years ago that the wait was now 50 years.
“I’m 53. If I have to wait 50 years for my visa to be processed, then I’ll be dead.”
Nicola Clements (left), pictured with her mother Sheila and sister Cheryl, both permanent residents in Australia. (Supplied by: Nicola Clements)
Since then, Nicola has become the caregiver of her 84-year-old mother, with whom she lives in Bunbury.
He said he had considered applying for a caregiver visa, but it would involve re-starting the visa process and waiting the 4.5 years it takes, on average, to obtain a caregiver visa.
Nicola, who works in the healthcare sector, said living with a bridge visa meant he had not been able to buy his own house, despite having a deposit ready to do so.
“My immediate problem is housing, because it looks like I can’t get a long-term rent,” he said.
“Every year or two, my mom and I have to move in. My mom is 84 and she has a hard time keeping moving.
“She keeps asking me, ‘When do you think we’re going to have to move again?'”
Nicola said living with a temporary visa was stressful and weighed on his mind.
“If they cancel my visa, I would have to go back to the UK and leave my mother, I would be stuffed,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have a job, a house, a family either. I’ve lost touch with everyone.
“I try not to walk away from it and not think about it because I get very depressed thinking about it.”
Contract journalist Emily McPherson at emcpherson@nine.com.au