TRANSCRIPT
Any year 12 student will tell you that completing their High School Certificate is no easy task.
But, for Sky Camarce, a top student at Sydney's Wyndham College and a member of their Student Representative Council, that task has become a whole lot more difficult.
That's because he's just been told by the Department of Home Affairs to leave the country by the 24th of September before he can finish his HSC and graduate with his friends.
“I kind of found out that my visa was rejected while I was in class. My dad kind of just forwarded me the emails and I saw that all of theirs was approved so at first I was like 'good news' and then I had a further look and I was like, oh no, this is kind of bit unfortunate. And then reading into it further, it just unraveled more and more as well.”
Mr Camarce moved to Australia from the United Arab Emirates in September of 2022 to join his mother Winky Camarce who has been studying nursing at Western Sydney University.
Originally from the Philippines, his family is now based in the UAE.
He says he was excited to experience life in Australia and pursue his dream career of working for the Olympics.
“My original plan was moving for university but I thought I would get a head start, get a feel of the life here, the education, the experience in Australia before taking my higher education studies here. And I was really interested in one of the colleges in Australia, which offers 100 hours of work experience and internships through event management. And I still do really want to continue pursuing a career in event management and hopefully working for the Olympics one day.”
Sky began studying at Wyndham College - a public senior secondary school in Nirimba Fields in Sydney's north-west - in January of 2023, living as a secondary visa holder on his mother's student visa.
When their visa expired in March of this year they reapplied for another when Mr Camarce was still 17-years-old.
However, by the time the decision was made, he had turned 18 which - according to the rules around student visas - meant he was no longer considered a dependent of his mother and therefore failed the visa requirements.
Ali Mojtahedi is a principal solicitor at the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre.
He says this policy is inconsistent with the rules of most other visa types such as partner and humanitarian visas which can allow a child to be considered a dependent up until 23-years-old.
“For most other visas, once the child does turn 18, there's considerations around what they refer to as dependency. So is the child dependent on the primary applicant or mum or dad needing to be supported in relation to housing, food, clothing. But for student visas, the regulations don't allow for those factors to be taken into account. When Sky was 17 years and 11 months, Sky's dependency on mum was no different to Sky's dependency at 18 years and one months and the department isn't able to take that into account. I can't speak to the logic behind it, but I fail to see it.”
Sky Camarce and his family were unaware of these regulations and were shocked by the outcome.
Because his visa has now been rejected he is subject to the Section 48 Bar of the Migration Act which prevents onshore visa applications after a refusal.
This means he'd have to return to the UAE to have the chance to apply for a new visa, a process that could take months.
In the days since this news, Mr Camarce says he hasn't had time to process his emotions as he's been trying to find any way to finish his studies.
“I've been kind of on a fight or flight mode, reaching out to different people, getting quotes from different migration lawyers, consulting with all sorts of people. I don't think I've honestly even have time to think about missing out for my year 12 graduation. It's just kind of trying to figure out what I can do right now and putting off feelings for later because there's just no room for feelings at the moment, especially since my time here is very limited and every day is very precious.”
Sky's best friend at school, Morgan, says she didn't believe the news at first.
“To be honest, I thought he was just joking at first. I was like 'there's no way this is real'. But, now I've learnt it is real. Very stressful times. But, I'm just trying to be there for him now and help support him through it.”
She says he's been an incredibly accomplished student during his two years of study.
“Sky's a very smart student, he takes all advanced classes with me. We get good grades together. He's in one of the SRCs at school, like one of the leaders at school. So, obviously it's disappointing to know that he won't be there in the exam hall with us.”
Mr Camarce says despite their limited options for advocacy, Wyndham College has been very supportive of him through this period.
“They've been incredibly supportive. I know that I don't have to go through this alone. And Wyndham College has also emphasized from the start that they are there for me, I'm part of the school community and they're willing to support me in any way they can, even if it's in a very limited way.”
While the school was not able to be interviewed for this story, a New South Wales Department of Education spokesperson gave SBS this statement.
“Sky has been a valued and active member of his school community since he enrolled in Wyndham College in September 2022, resulting in him being elected to the Student Representative Council early in 2023. We appreciate this is a difficult time for him and we will continue to offer Sky support as he manages the situation to ensure he can achieve his best in his HSC.”
The Department of Immigration says they do not comment on specific cases but have advised Mr Camarce to engage with a migration agent.
Dr Abul Rizvi, the former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration says if Sky were to appeal the rejection of his visa to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal he could be able to extend his stay in Australia.
“The volume of the student refusals at the AAT is huge. While the AAT considers the appeal, there's no way the decision would be made this year.”
This appeal, if rejected, could then be taken to the Immigration Minister who has the power to overturn that decision.
But it's a process that generally takes years and there's no assurance of a positive outcome.
While the time frame to lodge an appeal has not yet expired, after consulting with a number of migration lawyers, Sky says he believes it would be unethical to pursue this path.
“They informed me that lodging an appeal would be an unethical process in my case as I would really have no grounds for appeal due to the clear regulation. They have informed me that it is an option if I really wanted to continue my HSCs in Australia and go to my formal and go to my year 12 graduation, this is not an option I am currently exploring because I don't believe in exploiting such processes as well.”
He says his efforts to canvas his local member Michelle Rowland, the Immigration Minister Tony Burke and others have been part of an effort to get the student visa legislation re-examined and amended.
Lawyer, Ali Mojtahedi, says the inability for decision makers to consider circumstances of those in Sky Camarce's position is evidence of a poorly-designed law.
“I think any law that doesn't give a decision maker flexibility to take into account circumstances like Sky's experiencing now is not good law. Giving decision makers the ability to consider these circumstances at this lower stage is so much better than having the Visa refused and then putting a person in a situation where they have to fork out thousands of dollars and years of their time to get to the minister so that the minister can decide whether or not they're going to exercise this broad power. I think it's better for the Visa system and I think it's better for people.”
In preparation for his likely departure from his friends and mother in Australia, Sky has pursued the New South Wales Education Standards Authority or NESA for an option to potentially sit his exams abroad.
While there is no guarantee, a spokesperson for the authority said the following.
“In exceptional circumstances a student may apply to sit exams outside of New South Wales...NESA considers the evidence of each application and works with the student to arrange invigilated exams from a suitable location.”
Sky Camarce says regardless of if this request gets granted, he's disappointed he will likely miss out on the small moments of connection with his peers.
“I really did look forward to attending formal with them and walking the stage with all my friends. I think it's just kind of a significant milestone for me, something I've been working towards. Even doing my HSC exam overseas, there's kind of that experience of sitting in with your friends and seeing all your friends focus on their work, it kind of motivates you, pushes you further. It's the tiny things of speaking to them after like, 'oh, how did you do?' and all of that. It's just unfortunate that I'll have to miss out on all of that.”
