A 10-year-old boy and his mother who were facing deportation to the Philippines because the boy has autism have been granted a permanent visa by the immigration minister, Peter Dutton.
Maria Sevilla trained and works as a nurse in Townsville, Queensland, but an application to renew her skilled provisional work visa was rejected because of her son Tyrone’s diagnosis six months after their arrival in 2007, when he was two.
On Monday the immigration minister told media the pair had now been granted a permanent visa. “I’m pleased we can provide assistance to a young boy who is in need of medical and educational support – as a generous country that’s what we do,” said Dutton.
Last month Dutton said in assessing the visa application the department would have to examine “whether or not accepting people in that circumstance would displace Australian children from the programs being provided from state and territory governments, as well as a commonwealth government”.
The family’s case received national attention after Tyrone’s 11-year-old friend, Ethan Egart, posed a question on ABC’s Q&A program.
“He can read and ride a bike, but he has autism,” Ethan said. “I went to after-school care with this boy and he can’t speak, but he can use sign language to communicate with us. If he can get along with us and we can get along with him, why does he have to leave?”
A change.org petition attracted more than 125,000 signatures, and was delivered to Dutton in person by Tyrone and Sevilla.
Sevilla told Guardian Australia last month that most of her family was in Australia. If she and Tyrone were forced to return to the Philippines she would have no support network. “We’d have to be able to start all over again,” she said. “Tyrone would need to learn everything – from communicating, getting used to the environment and getting used to people around him.
“I’m hoping Tyrone has more chances for a better future if we stay here in Australia. If we stay here I am able to work here as a nurse and able to provide support for him.”
