I was approached by a woman who was afraid her husband was going to be deported due to overstaying his Australian visa.
Years prior, the couple had met online and formed a relationship. He initially came to Australia on a three-month Visitor Visa. The couple then married, she fell pregnant and life got busy. Time got away from the couple without thought of visas. (They went on to have another child together, and he legally adopted her first child.)
Now, faced with the potentially devastating consequences of their inaction, the family needed my help.
After finding out more about their circumstances and three children, I secured a Bridging Visa E for the husband to regularise his status prior to his departure. The husband voluntarily departed Australia a week later with a three-year ban on his re-entry to Australia as he had overstayed his visa.
I then helped the couple make a Partner Visa application to be lodged after the husband had left Australia. The application was lodged with submissions to waive the preclusion period and included medical and psychological evidence pertaining to the health of his wife and three children.
I secured his Permanent Partner Visa five months later – a huge achievement given the expected processing standard at that time was 18 months – and he was reunited with his relieved family in Australia.
