A father received the best gift of all just in time for Christmas, after being granted permanent residency to stay in the country with his son after months of tireless campaigning.
Andrea Tindiani, 37, left Italy for abroad in 2012 and was deported earlier this year after being granted a slew of temporary visas to stay with his Australian-born son Marley, nine.
The Castlemaine local campaigned tirelessly for months to stay with his family before an appeal to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles resulted in Mr Tindiani being granted permanent residency on Thursday.
“Dear friends and supporters… I wholeheartedly share with you all that Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has decided to intervene in my case and granted me permanent residency!” the doting father shared online.
Andrea Tindiani, 37, was granted permanent residency by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on Thursday.
“We are delighted to hear such incredible news… it means I can continue my life here and honor my ongoing commitment to be a present father to my son Marley.
“This has been an incredible journey and I could never have done it without your support, compassion and encouragement,” he continued.
This journey would have been much more difficult without the support of his immediate family, Mr. Tindiani added.
“We all learned a lot from this experience, but above all, it confirmed once again the important role that FAMILY, COMMUNITY, RESILIENCE, BELIEF, LOVE and COMPASSION play in everyone’s life,” did he declare.
“After 11 years, I can finally find comfort in saying that I belong here, in Australia, with my son and our family.”
The Italian-born father campaigned tirelessly for months after being threatened with deportation following an unsuccessful application for a 2021 confirmation residency visa.
Mr Tindiani (pictured left) moved to Australia from Italy in 2012, before having his son Marley (pictured centre) with the child’s mother Emily (pictured right) in 2014 .
The father initially moved to the country on a working holiday visa, before securing sponsorship from his employer in Victoria the following year.
He had his son Marley in 2014 before splitting from the child’s mother, Emily.
Mr Tindiani was made redundant in 2016 due to a restructuring of his company and quickly went through a cycle of student visas until 2021, when he unsuccessfully applied for a confirmatory residence visa.
A change.org petition launched in May quickly gained traction with more than 18,000 signatures and $11,000 raised to support its cause.
