A young girl who lost her mother in the devastating NSW floods is facing deportation after her bid to stay in Australia was rejected.
Tran Kha Han, 10, and her mother Pham Huyen Trang, 36, were just months away from applying to become permanent residents of Australia when Trang died on October 23, 2022.
Due to her mother’s death, Han is now no longer eligible to remain in Australia and could be deported back to Vietnam within days.
Trang was one of three others traveling in a vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters in Mudgee, 270 kilometers northwest of Sydney.
However, the 36-year-old woman was the only one who did not survive after the others managed to escape.
Tran Kha Han (pictured left) could be deported after her application for permanent residency was rejected following the death of her mother Pham Huyen Trang (pictured right)
Trang died after the car she was riding in, along with three others, was swept away by floodwaters in Mudgee, western NSW (2022 NSW flood is pictured)
Trang’s body was found the next day by emergency services near Cooyal Creek, 26 kilometers north of Mudgee.
The mother and daughter moved to Sydney from Vietnam less than two years before she died.
Trang married her partner Linh Hoang, an Australian, in 2018 after the couple started seeing each other in 2016 and the trio planned to start a new life Down Under.
In 2020, Trang and Han were granted provisional visas, allowing them to come to Australia, but a year after her death, there is a chance that Han could be sent back to Vietnam.
Mr. Hoang told Nine news that Han’s application has been ‘suspended’ by the Ministry of the Interior.
Han (pictured left) and Trang (pictured right) were granted provisional visas to come to Australia in 2020 after Trang married her Australian partner Mr Hoang in 2018
Han’s (pictured left) father Linh Hoang said the Home Office has not indicated when his daughter might be deported, but the 10-year-old wants to remain in Australia
“They haven’t given any details yet about what’s going to happen. She could be told to go back to Vietnam tomorrow, or in six months, no one knows,” Hoang said.
He said that Han doesn’t want to go back and that there is no one to take care of her in Vietnam.
“Han’s biological father was not involved in Han’s upbringing at all and her grandparents are old and cannot care for her,” he said.
‘I’ve spoken to her grandparents and they want her to stay here. They think Australia will provide her with a better education and a better life.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.
This was said by a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles Nine news that ‘the minister’s office is aware of the matter, but cannot comment further for reasons of privacy.’
Rescue volunteers patrol the flooded homes next to the old Windsor Bridge along the flooding Hawkesbury River in the Sydney suburb of Windsor on March 9, 2022
Several communities in regional parts of NSW were ravaged by the floods that hit NSW in 2022, severely damaging homes and properties (pictured)
Flooding affected most areas in inland NSW in 2022 (pictured) as persistent periods of heavy rain damaged land and infrastructure
The minister can only intervene in the case if Han’s family can provide for her care. However, according to the family’s migration agent, the issue of the girl’s custody is not up for discussion.
Mr Hoang started a petition change.org is appealing for support to keep Han in Australia, which has received around 11,000 signatures so far.
The Permanent Partner Visa (under subclass 801) allows a partner of an Australian citizen or permanent resident to move to Australia without restrictions on their residency.
This visa can only be granted to them if they have a temporary Partner Visa (subclass 820).