He was ordered to leave the country just before exams. Now Sky can stay, but faces limbo
In September, as Sky Camarce was preparing to take his Year 12 exams, he found out his visa renewal application had been rejected.
He was suddenly facing the very real possibility of having to leave the country.
He’s currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal he lodged over “significant risk” he would face if he left the country — while also advocating for fairer migration law.
While the appeal is not a perfect solution, he said it was “definitely a relief”.
“There is a lot of uncertainty there, but it does give me a lot of time to reassess my place and do it in a time where it’s not in the middle of my HSCs and a time of a big transition for me,” he said.
“It gives me time.”
Camarce moved to Australia from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September 2022 as a secondary visa holder on his mother’s student visa.
When the visa expired in March, they applied for a renewal, but he had turned 18 by the time the decision was made, which meant he was no longer considered a dependent and therefore failed the visa requirements.
This meant he was subjected to the Migration Act’s section 48 bar, which prohibits non-citizens from applying for most visa subclasses while onshore.
But the prospect of leaving the country was also risky and, coming at the end of Year 12, would mean he couldn’t complete his HSC exams and graduate high school.
He’s originally from the Philippines, but most of his family — including his father — still live in the UAE.
“Going offshore to apply for a visa would be a massive risk for me; my ties to my home country are very limited,” he said.
“I am from the Philippines, but I’ve never really lived there. So in terms of proving that to the Department of Home Affairs, it would be considered a weak tie.
“And my family is based in the UAE, but since they don’t really offer a pathway to citizenship, and it’s mostly just long-term visas, the department also doesn’t consider that as grounds for a strong tie and connection to the country.”
After lodging his appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) with the help of a migration lawyer, Camarce was inspired to lobby for amendments to the Migration Act.
He has lodged a petition to amend the act to standardise the definition of dependency, particularly the student 500 subclass, which he believes should be brought into line with other visa subclasses.
He said while he never intended to become an advocate, he wanted to help others in similar situations.
“It’s kind of something I’ve developed a passion for, it’s something I’ve been enjoying doing in the time I have when I’m not studying or at work,” he said.
“It adds more passion into it knowing that it can potentially help many others.”
He has also been seeking political support and hopes to speak with Greens education spokesperson Mehreen Faruqi about the temporary resident program and how it impacts young migrants.
While he’s allowed to remain in Australia for as long as his appeal is being considered, he doesn’t know how long that will be. He could be in limbo for years.
“Recently the AAT was restructured into the ART, so even my lawyers are very uncertain about how that new tribunal will function,” he said.
“From what my lawyers have said, the original timeframe was around 695 days, but after the transition to ART, it could be significantly longer than that.”
