A young Sydney woman who has spent half her life in Australia is pleading to be allowed to stay in the country, claiming she faces homelessness if she returns to Romania.
Maria Duminica was just 10 years old when she arrived in Australia with her mother and stepfather, who is an Australian citizen.
Ms Duminica had travelled to Sydney on a tourist visa with her mother, 9News reports.
When her mother married her stepfather, they applied for a partner visa, with Ms Duminica listed as a secondary applicant.
While they waited, the young woman and her mother were placed on a series of temporary bridging visas.
However, things took a turn when Ms Duminica’s relationship with her mother and stepfather began unravelling at home.
“I was dealing with that for years and years,” she told 9News.
At 16, she left home, staying with friends before eventually securing a place to live at a youth refuge service in Sydney’s inner west – Stepping Stone House.
While living in the refuge, Ms Duminica continued to study.
But weeks out from her 18th birthday, while completing her HSC trial exams, Ms Duminica was given ‘shocking’ news.
Her mother, who was still waiting on the approval of her partner visa, had taken her daughter’s name off her application as a dependent.
As a result, Ms Duminica’s bridging visa was cancelled.
“The department didn’t even notify me, it was my solicitor at the time, she did a visa check,” she said.
“I was very scared … I was kind of in shock as well because I didn’t know what steps I could take to fix that.”
Unable to get a study visa as the application would need to be lodged offshore, Ms Duminica’s solicitor applied for a protection visa.
But it was refused in September 2022.
An attempt to appeal the decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was also unsuccessful.
However, in a rare move, her case was referred to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles in June last year after the tribunal member overseeing her appeal decided it could meet the special circumstances required for a ministerial intervention.
A year on, the 20 year old is still waiting to hear if Mr Giles will step in.
In the meantime, she’s been living month-to-month on a bridging visa – which has given her working rights but not permission to study – as the threat of being deported looms over her.
“There are things I can’t even plan for, like getting a car. If I spend the money on a car, and I get sent back, that’s money gone,” said Ms Duminica, who has moved out of Stepping Stone House’s refuge and now living independently.
“I was looking at living with a friend but I’m scared to get a place and sign a six-month contract.”
If she was to be deported, Ms Duminica fears she doesn’t have any connections in Romania.
“I don’t know anyone in Romania and I don’t know how to speak the language.”
“If I do have to go back, I will be a young woman on the streets. I will be homeless.”
Staff at Stepping Stone House have created an online petition calling on the minister to grant her a permanent visa.
“Currently, Maria is an active and valuable member of Australian society, living and working in the community,” the petition, which has amassed over 10,000 signatures, reads.
“However, she is currently on a bridging E visa, facing a high risk of deportation back to Romania where Maria has no support system and does not speak the language”
Ms Duminica’s immigration lawyer from Crossing Borders, Sally Jackson, told 9News she wants Mr Giles to know her client’s case is unusual.
“When you’re a child, your whole family unit is what supports you, and she didn’t have that,” said Ms Jackson.
A spokesman for Mr Giles told the outlet the minister’s office was aware of Ms Duminica’s case and was looking into it.