Gold Coast-based Parminder Singh and his family has been asked to leave Australia after their Visa application was rejected.
While staying in Australia for the last 15 years, Parminder Singh never considered returning to India.
“Australia has been my home for the past 15 years. I picked this wonderful country as my residence, and my child was born here. I haven’t been to India since 2013. Leaving this country never crossed my mind,” he told Indian Link, his voice choking with emotion.
Parminder Singh, who resides on the Gold Coast, has been instructed to leave Australia with his wife and 8-year-old son. His working privileges have been revoked, and he has until May 31 to leave the country he calls home.
“Our hopes for permanent residency in Australia were shattered when our application was denied in 2016, despite my years of hard work and dedication as a restaurant manager,” Mr Singh said. “We did everything we could, but our appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was unsuccessful, and even our request for Ministerial intervention was rejected after two years.”
Mr Singh arrived in Australia on a student visa in 2008. After earning a Bachelor of Social Welfare from Southern Cross University, along with a Diploma in Community Welfare and Advanced Management, he began working as a Restaurant Manager on the Gold Coast.
In 2016, he applied for the regional sponsored visa (Subclass 187), which allows skilled employees nominated by their employer in regional Australia to live and work there permanently. However, his visa application was denied. Following this, Mr Singh applied for ministerial intervention, which was also unsuccessful.
“I had no other choice but to transition into social welfare,” he explained. “Luckily, I was able to secure a position as a youth worker during the COVID pandemic. However, upon applying for a skills assessment, I was informed that I needed two more years of experience in the field.”
Mr Singh is now on a bridging visa E that permits him to stay in the country lawfully until he makes arrangements to leave. He has filed a petition asking for public support for their campaign to be allowed to stay in the country permanently, which has received significant support, with over 13,000 people signing it and leaving supportive comments. However, their visa status has not been affected. He is still waiting to hear from the minister on his second appeal of intervention.
“I can’t imagine living outside of Australia. I haven’t been to India in the last 10 years. My son was born in Australia in 2015. If we are required to leave Australia, we are concerned for our son’s future. He has never known any other home. It would be heartbreaking for us to leave after having spent so many years here, leaving behind our friends, our community, and everything we have worked so hard for. I understand that you know what it means to have a place you call home,” Parminder Singh said, his voice filled with emotion.
Despite their situation, Parminder Singh and his family remain hopeful. “We believe that this is the greatest country in the world. The community values hard work and honesty, and we have always abided by those values. We still hold onto hope that the country will accept us as its own. That hope is what keeps us going,” he told Indian Link.
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