Immigration Minister reviews case of family facing deportation after migration agent scam

A hardworking family facing deportation after being cruelly scammed by their migration agent have “fresh hope” of staying in the country following a breakthrough in their case.

Husband and wife, Wonsang Lee (left) and Soonyoung Park (middle), along with their two adult children Sojung (middle) and Donghoon (right) have lived in Melbourne’s east for almost 20 years. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A hardworking family facing deportation say they have been given “fresh hope” of staying in the country after they were told the Immigration Minister was reviewing their case.

Husband and wife, Wonsang Lee and Soonyoung Park, said they had received a call from the Department of Home Affairs on Wednesday afternoon and were told Immigration Minister Andrew Giles was “looking closely” at their case.

“This is a positive step forward. We hope it brings us good outcomes,” Ms Park said.

“This has given our family fresh hope.

“We thank the minister for looking into our case.

“We also thank everyone for their support during this very stressful time, we hope our family can stay in this country that we love so much.”

Deakin Federal Liberal MP Michael Sukkar, who is assisting the family with their case, said he wanted to thank everyone in the community for helping to raise the issue, which has helped the department and minister consider this case more closely.

The family is facing deportation to South Korea after being scammed out of $20,000 by a migration agent who never submitted their visa documents to authorities.

Mr Lee and Ms Park, along with their two adult children, Sojung, 25, and Donghoon, 23, have lived in Melbourne’s east for almost 20 years.

But they say their lives have been “torn apart” after their migration agent Shannon Leigh Wood fled with $20,000 of their money after writing up fraudulent visa forms that she claimed to have submitted with the Department of Immigration.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is reviewing their case. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

The family had pleaded to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for ministerial intervention through Park & Co Lawyers, but if the minister chooses not to intervene, they will be forced to leave the country within a fortnight of his decision.

Since moving to Australia in 2005, the family has spent almost $100,000 on legal fees and other costs incurred for applying for visas.

A change.org petition, which calls for the minister to urgently help, has also gathered almost 12,000 signatures.

Ms Park and her daughter both worked long hours as nurses during the Covid pandemic, while Mr Lee was a bus driver before he switched to a career as a travel agent.

Donghoon has completed an accounting degree and works in retail full time.

In March 2016, the family applied for Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visas – a pathway to permanent residency – through Ms Wood, who was based in Glen Iris.

But after several unanswered calls and emails to the agent about these visa applications, the family realised something was wrong.

Ms Park said she was then told by the Department of Immigration that the family’s visa application forms were never lodged.

They later found out Ms Wood had her registration cancelled due to another incident shortly after they paid her to do the visa paperwork.

Ms Park said they had all been left “distraught” and “angered” by the ordeal.

“As a family we thought we were going through the correct process to apply for ENS visas through the migration agent but this was not the case,” she said.

“A few months had passed and we tried to get in touch with the agent, but she didn’t respond to our emails and calls.”

The family has been left ‘distraught’ and ‘angered’ by the ordeal. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The allegedly falsified visa documents created by Ms Wood have been seen by the Herald Sun.

The Department of Immigration’s Professional Standards and Integrity Office cancelled Ms Wood’s registration in April 2016 after she acted fraudulently in another case in 2014.

The department said in the 2014 case that Ms Wood created “fraudulent departmental correspondence”, with the agent demonstrating behaviour of “extremely serious nature”.

In 2018, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal rejected the family’s application for visas because they did not have sponsors.

Then in 2019, they also applied to the Federal Circuit Court for their visas, but they had not heard back and discontinued their applications this year.

In the past, the family had applied for various other options including a temporary 457 work visa, which was granted to Wonsang in 2013.

Ms Park said her daughter Sojung was granted a permanent residency visa last year, but she could not maintain a life in Australia without the assistance of her family.

“We are dependent on each other for mental and social support, and it would be a difficult situation for my daughter to remain in Australia alone,” she said.

“Our lives have been torn apart by this whole ordeal. We are experiencing constant stress and anxiety.”

Ms Park said she urged the minister to intervene and grant them permanent visas.

“We are calling on the minister to consider our case with compassion and empathy, so we can continue living in Australia, a country we love so much, as a family.

“This is our last hope and chance, our future as a family hangs in the balance.”

Deakin Federal Liberal MP Michael Sukkar called on the Labor Government to have compassion and step in to allow the Lee family, who reside in his electorate, to stay in Australia.

“I am pleased to be assisting the Lee family, and I know the government has the ability to step in and stop this injustice,” he said.

“Wonsang Lee, his wife Soonyoung Park and their two children have called Australia home for almost 18 years and should be allowed to continue to build the life they have worked hard for here in our community.”

A Home Affairs spokesman said they did not comment on individual cases but the minister only intervened when there were “unique and exceptional circumstances”.