Mario & Rumeshi Fundraiser Port Fairy

PORT FAIRY
A LOCAL FAMILY NEEDS OUR HELP
An appeal authorised by
Emma Watty, Maggie & Ralph Leutton, Peter Sanderson, Kate & Matt Dempsey, Fiona & Heather Hampson
 
 Mario, Rumeshi and family came to Australia from Sri Lanka in 2015.
Over the past three years they have become part of our Port Fairy community as they lived, worked and studied here.
Mario is a chef at Conlan’s and The Belfast. Rumeshi (Fernando) has recently completed her childcare qualifications and works casual part-time at Port Fairy Community Services Centre.
On a Temporary Work Graduate Visa they have both worked hard towards qualifying for Permanent Residency. Having satisfied the education qualifications, English language skills and passing government Skills Assessment, Mario was very confident of meeting the last hurdle  –working the required hours with one employer over a specified time.
When COVID hit everything changed. Work hours in the hospitality industry diminished and they were ineligible for any COVID  government support or even Medicare. For the past 9 months they have struggled to keep their heads above water, depleting their savings and relying on the help of friends.
Now their plight is dire and urgent.
Due to COVID, changes in visa legislation and the slowdown of government responses over the holiday period, their time has just run out.
In order to remain here they have now been required to apply under different categories for Student and COVID visas. Having already paid $14,000 towards Visas, Skills Assessments, medical and legal fees, they are now up for a whole new set of costs and the money set aside for their Permanent residency has been swallowed up by a bureaucratic nightmare.
Mario has just completed the final work hours requirement but as soon as processing opens up for them again they will need to have on hand another $20,000 to cover Visas and all the associated costs.
 
Lets show them what our caring Port Fairy Community can do to help!