Nina Christidi, her husband Stefanos Stefanoglou and their two children aged six and nine are in danger of being deported to Greece for a mistake in Nina’s visa application.

The family of four have been living in Melbourne for five years, with both parents being skilled and well- versed in English.

Now an administrative error could see them leaving the country after a long strike of bad luck.

When Mrs Christidi, 43, was filling out the online visa application, she mistakenly answered ‘no’ to the question “do you or anyone else intend to study”, assuming it applied to her alone.

“Since day one in Australia my children have been attending school,” she says, stressing “it was an honest mistake”, as she thought the government would already have the data concerning the children’s schooling.

“Melbourne is home for them, they’ve never been to Greek school; they don’t even speak Greek. We’ve been working hard for all those years and have sacrificed all our savings on visa applications.”

Indeed, the couple has spent tens of thousands of dollars since 2012. The family was originally on a 457 visa, with the 45-year-old father being sponsored as a mechanic. Mr Stefanoglou’s employer abruptly went into liquidation one week before the visa was approved and left Stefano unemployed with only three months to find a new employer who would agree sponsor him.

“These months have now lapsed,” explains Dimitrios Katsaros, principal migration agent at Katsaros & Associates.

“They were fortunate enough that aged care provider Frondida made them an offer, hiring the wife, Nina, a certified aged carer, and nominated them.
“This meant they had to apply for a new 457 visa.”

Having spent $25,000 in June 2016 to lodge the father’s lost application, the mother of the cash-strapped family decided to lodge her application online on her own behalf, as opposed to hiring an agent.

“It has been an ordeal for us and having lost all our savings, I just couldn’t risk it. It was a mistake,” Mrs Christidi tells Neos Kosmos.

“We ended up paying the sponsorship fee as well for my husband’s 457 and the blow when he lost his job was hard to recover from.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection insists that all visa applicants should assume responsibility for the ­accuracy of provided information and supporting documentation while lodging their ­visa application.

“Visa applicants are given a chance to inform the department of an error or errors in the application and provide a satisfactory explanation in which case there is no need to withdraw an application and it can continue to be processed taking the note into consideration.”

Mrs Christidi was quickly picked up by Public Interest Criteria (PIC) 4020 which, should a refusal on this PIC occur, will also carry a three- year ban for any further temporary visa application as it implies the family has provided the state with misleading information.

“This could almost certainly lead to a cancellation of their current visa,” says Mr Katsaros, from whom Mrs Christidi sought professional advice last week.
Prior to that she was advised by a different agent that given the situation she should withdraw the application to avoid the PIC refusal.
“The problem with this is twofold – if she withdraws, she would have to re-lodge and pay the Visa Application Charge (VAC) again, of approximately $6,500,” Mr Katsaros adds.

“The couple also face a cancellation of their current visa given that it is a condition that Nina’s spouse should have found a new sponsor by now. A cancellation would lead to them being unlawful and possibly be given a Bridging Visa E which has no work rights, and no study rights; not even for the children.”

Meanwhile, the younger child of the family, the six-year-old boy, suffers from Global Developmental Delay and is receiving special schooling not available in Greece.

“Our issue is definitely financial,” says the mother, “but are not asking for money. We are not even asking for permanent residency anymore. We’ve lost our chance.
“We are just asking for a chance to fix this mistake. A chance to keep working and keep providing for our children. We have served this country for five years, lawfully. We have lost all our savings due to my husband’s employment predicament and in that short timeframe of five weeks we have been through more than we could have ever imagined.”