Never Give Up

It’s certainly true that many of us have own migration stories. Some stories will break your heart and it’s some of these stories that set who we are as lawyers.

It’s important that we all know these stories so that we can understand humanity and make a better society.

This story starts 30 years ago with a desperate father selling one of his daughters into marriage. The money he got paid a people smuggler to bring his wife and other children to the safety of Australia. This family has lived here ever since building their lives and communities.

We cannot imagine the pain of this father’s decision to sacrifice one child to save his other children. Negative narratives about people ‘jumping queues’ and coming ‘illegally’ fall into ridiculousness when we really think about human suffering and the drive of a parent to save their family.

Sadly, the marriage the daughter was sold into was cruel and abusive – still though she was proud to have been able to help her family escape her fate.

This lost daughter escaped her abusive marriage with her three children and ran. Her Australian family made an application for her to join them here on a Subclass 115 – Remaining Relative visa. Three years later, the Minster refused the visa because she was no longer dependent on her father having been married. A terrible situation indeed that seemed helpless. This is where Ray Turner stepped in.

Another year later, Ray won at the AAT. The AAT remitted the application for Subclass 115 – Remaining Relative to the Department for processing.

Still, however, this story is far from over. By this next part of the story, it is 2022 – 10 years after the Department refused the application. At this point, we were sent a request from the Department to establish dependence – a difficult complex legal argument against the tide because by this time – the daughter’s own children were adults and therefore a different legal argument had to be made – and we succeeded.

The visa was approved, and this lost daughter, and her children can finally be with their family and be safe.

In all, Ray fought this case for 11 years with the tenacity, courage and heart of the family making this story an inspirational story of no surrender.

Today the family were reunited when the daughter and her children arrived in Australia 

At Ray Turner Immigration Lawyers we will keep fighting for you until you tell us to stop.