Penuela family granted permanent residency

One bridging visa and many ups and downs later, Mr Penuela was informed Tuesday afternoon that he and his family were granted permanent residency.

"Finally after 13 years, seven months and one day we heard the news about permanent residency," Mr Penuela said.

"We're very happy - or over the moon as we say here in Australia."

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The Penuela's story swept the nation last year when Mr Penuela brought his plea to The Examiner in November.

On October 13, 2022, a letter from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal revealed that it had refused to grant his family visas due to a lack of documentation from his previous employer.

Mr Penuela's plea rallied politicians from different backgrounds, including Labor senator Helen Polley, Bass Liberal MHR Bridget Archer, and Bass Liberal MHA Lara Alexander.

The Penuela family was granted a Bridging visa E which came as a sigh of relief, but time was still running out as the visa was due to expire at the end of May.

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Now, the light at the end of the tunnel has finally been revealed as the much loved family is here to stay.

Mr Penuela said it was something they had been dreaming of for a long time.

"We've worked really hard to achieve it and it's finally here," he said.

Mr Penuela said he never expected the community to rally behind himself and his family so strongly.

"My initial idea was just to get from my end to the government with the media, but thanks to the The Examiner and the media sharing my story, the people we have met over the past 13 years came forward and started supporting us," he said.

"It's amazing and something I'll never forget; myself and all my family will be grateful for the rest of our lives."

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Mr Penuela said his oldest daughter, Maria, was brought to tears when she heard the news.

"She is going to be 15 years of age in July so she has a good understanding of the situation," he said.

Tasmania Labor senator Helen Polley said it was good news not only for the family, but for Northern Tasmania.

"They've been so fully embraced within the community," she said.

"It's been one of those cases that was decided on merit, but there's a very important message here and that is you have to get a reparable and really good immigration agent.

"Quite frankly, it's a reflection on the former government that they dropped the ball in 2019 and let this family linger."

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Senator Polley thanked Bass Liberal MHA Lara Alexander, who worked closely with her on the case.

"We've been doing this in a bipartisan manner because we fully supported the integration of this family into our community on a permanent basis; it's just fabulous news," she said.

She said since Labor came into office, they'd found an enormous backlog of visa applications.

"It'd be wonderful If I could just say that this was the only family that had been left in limbo, but unfortunately, it's not," Senator Polley said.

"So there's been reprioritisation through the department from Immigration Minister Andrew Giles."

Mr Penuela said their next step was to buy a house.

"We were waiting to jump this obstacle to start taking on new challenges and the next one for us is to finally secure a home," he said.

"Now we can go back to Colombia with the security that we can return to Australia with no need of applying for a visa."

Mr Penuela thanked his wife for following him and supporting his dream.

"Now my wife can visit her family in Colombia, it's been seven years since she was there," Mr Peneula said.

"She left her family just to follow me on my dream which became her dream as well.

"Finally, we have succeeded."

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