A family of four who have lived in Australia for five years could be deported to Greece over a minor error in their visa application form, reports.
Nina Christidi and her husband Stefanos Steganoglou have lived with their two children in Melbourne for five years.
While filing for visa, Ms Christidi in their visa application form, checked the wrong box for the question, "do you or anyone else intend to study?"
She believed the question was about her and checked "no."
The couple’s two children study at a school in Oakleigh, Melbourne and therefore the family was caught by Public Interest Criteria (PIC) 4020, which implies that the Department of Immigration was provided with misleading information.
The couple says it was ‘an honest mistake’.
“It was an honest mistake, I genuinely thought the question referred to whether I intended to study or not,” Ms Christidi told .
Now if the family withdraws their application, they face the possibility of their current visa getting cancelled and the re-lodgement of their visa application will cost them anywhere between $5000-$10,000, reports.
The couple’s son has Global Developmental Delay (GDD) and he attends a special school in Melbourne.
“He wouldn’t stand a chance in Athens,” she said.
The couple’s children have not been to a school in Greece and now she is "worried sick" over the idea of being deported.
DIBP: ‘THERE IS NO NEED TO WITHDRAW AN APPLICATION’
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection told that visa applicants could inform the department of an error in the application.
“Visa applicants will be given a chance to provide an explanation regarding what has occurred before the application is decided. If the explanation is satisfactory, there is no need to withdraw an application and it can continue to be processed.”
