Family plea to be reunited
A Cowes family, separated for over a year, is pleading for help to have its visa situation resolved.
It’s over a year since Tracey Bell has seen her husband Francis.
For the past 25 months, the family has been waiting for a permanent partner visa for Francis to be approved.
Back in February 2020, the young couple who met in Kenya and married in Australia in 2016 appealed to the Federal government for help, via local MP Russell Broadbent.
The family was living in Cowes, but Francis was on a tourism visa, which required him to leave the country every three months while his partner visa application was processed.
On top of the financial burden, mounting uncertainty over the outbreak of COVID-19 meant the couple who have a small son, were desperate to resolve the visa issue and keep the family united.
In 2020, Tracey and Francis approached the Advertiser to tell their story, however decided not to proceed after Mr Broadbent promised to take up their case with the Immigration Department. At the time, he suggested the publicity would do more harm than good.
Fast forward 18 months and the situation has gone from bad to grim.
Francis is now stranded in Kenya and the family have been separated for over a year.
Tracey is facing a serious health battle that requires week-long trips to Melbourne for chemotherapy and believes they’ve been let down by the government.
“We respected Mr Broadbent’s suggestion not to publish the story,” she said.
“In return, we received a form letter from the Immigration Department saying they are aware of our visa application.
“I feel that Mr Broadbent did not advocate for us. I've been in communication with his office and there's been no result.”
Abandoned
Tracey said the family’s original plan to all return to Kenya in July 2020 and wait out the visa processing time there together had to be abandoned due to Covid.
“The Australian government was not allowing citizens (me and our son) to travel. So last September Francis returned to Kenya alone to pack up our lives there. We thought the visa would be granted by the end of 2020 so he would only be away a few months. It's now over a year since we've seen him.”
With Tracey frequently in hospital and Francis stranded in Kenya, their son Gabriel is staying with Tracey’s parents, saying good night on a screen to both his mum and his dad.
“Chemo sucks, but the impact of not having his daddy to cuddle is terrible for a four-year-old,” Tracey said.
“We were told that having a son in his early formative years would accelerate the visa process because the government recognises the importance of a stable home.
“It's all rubbish. They don't care.”
Before Francis returned to Kenya last year, he was an active member of the local Cowes community, volunteering at PICAL and with church groups.
The family has also made firm friends with other parents at Gabriel’s kinder.
Tracey is hoping the local community will support their calls to have the visa situation resolved quickly so the family can be reunited.
Anyone who knows Francis, can vouch for the family as part of the local community, or is concerned about the visa process, can contact Russell Broadbent’s office on 5623 2064 or email Russell.Broadbent.MP@aph.gov.au.
When contacted last week about the family’s dire situation, Mr Broadbent’s office said it had “enquired with the department about the status of the visa”.
