My refugee friend was finally granted a permanent visa in May 2025 after waiting 12 years in Australia! He was denied the right to work for a lot of this time, and been through many legal battles (with the help of great pro bono lawyers along the way!).

He hasn’t seen his family for 12 years, and has never held his youngest who is now 12. This permanent visa means he can finally apply for visas to reunite with his wife and three children!

The family visa fee to bring his family to Australia is $18,205. This is the cost for a partner, one 18 year old child, and two children under 18.

(The fee for the same visa back in 2013 when he arrived was about $4000.)

I have known him for 10 of these 12 years. He has never given up, despite so many setbacks. He has always worked whenever he could and sent money to support his family.

He is an amazing Australian. I would love for us to finally be able to welcome his family to Australia by speeding up the visa saving process! How amazing if he could apply for this visa within the next couple of months!

Some of you will know who I am writing about as you’ve heard about his story over these years, when many have gone for so long without visa certainty and family reunion.

Thanks for considering this cause! I’ll keep you updated.