By Paul Dobbyn
TOWNSVILLE nurse Maria Sevilla started calling herself “an illegal alien” from midnight Monday, April 27.
That was when her bridging visa and that of her son Tyrone expired.
“I’m hoping our bridging visas get approved very soon because I’m rostered to be back at work at Townsville Hospital on Friday,” she said.
“I will certainly be more relaxed when the approvals arrive, although there is still no long-term certainty about our situation – that will depend upon (Federal Immigration Minister) Mr (Peter) Dutton.”
The deadline came at the end of a hectic day for Ms Sevilla who could be forced out of Australia and back to the Philippines because of her 10-year-old son’s autism.
Ms Sevilla visited Mr Dutton’s Brisbane office armed with a 4000-page petition, sparking a storm of media interest.
The pages contained the signatures and comments of more than 122,000 people who had signed a Change.org petition to keep Ms Sevilla and her son in Australia.
The Townsville nurse said Mr Dutton wasn’t at his office when she arrived.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I had met him,” she said.
“Maybe kneel? What could I do to convince him?
“However, I’ve been reading interviews with him and he seems a very compassionate man so I am hopeful there will be a good outcome to our case.”
Tyrone was two when he and his mother Maria Sevilla left the Philippines and legally entered Australia. Tyrone was diagnosed with autism in 2008 while living in Australia.
Their bridging visas expired after the Migration Review Tribunal rejected Ms Sevilla’s application for a skilled working visa.
A tribunal letter said the decision was based on the fact that the cost of treating Tyrone’s autism would be an unnecessary burden on the Australian community.
This decision forced the mother and son to appeal to the Immigration Minister to be able to stay, or to face having to leave family and community support and return to the Philippines.
Mr Dutton, in a media interview, said he reviewed such applications on a “case-by-case basis”.
“But on the details, as they are made known to me at the moment, I think this is a case where we would be able to help the family,” he said.
“I think that is a reason we have ministerial discretion so that we can apply a level of common sense.”
Ms Sevilla’s migration agent Leanne Taylor said she was confident Ms Sevilla and Tyrone would be granted a bridging visa “quickly”.
Ms Sevilla said she owed “much gratitude to so many people who have supported me”.
“But how can I say thank you to so many people?” she asked.
“The Queensland Nurses Union flew me to Brisbane and a representative accompanied me around Brisbane.
“There are all those people who signed petitions which I took to Mr Dutton’s office.
“Then there are the people in my parish of Kirwan … Fr Dave Lancini has been often calling ministers such as Mr Dutton and (Minister for Trade and Investment) Andrew Robb.”
