Ying-Hsi Chou’s family faces an uncertain future, teetering on the brink of separation.

Born in Myanmar during the 1980s, Chou was denied the right to adopt a Chinese name due to restrictions imposed on her ethnic Chinese heritage. This limitation was a reflection of the broader oppressive policies of Myanmar’s government at the time.

At the age of 18, Chou made a life-changing move to Taiwan in 2002, where she embraced a new identity and citizenship, finally adopting the Chinese name she had long desired. This choice was a bold assertion of her cultural roots and a stand against the constraints she had faced in her homeland. Little did she know, this decision would later bring unforeseen challenges.

In 2012, Chou embarked on a new journey to Australia, where she took on work as a fruit picker. This venture marked the beginning of yet another chapter in her life, one that would intertwine with her past decisions and shape her family’s future.

In 2012 she made her first trip to Australia, working as a fruitpicker.

She travelled back to Taiwan, but then in 2014 she moved back to Australia, met her husband Ben and had three children.

It was these trips that caused the current paperwork headache.

Her lawyer, Gordon Chang, said Chou now faces deportation within days because of a passport form she completed, in 2012.

“The new passport and old passport had different names, and she has made a very big misjudgement in her life,” he said.

“She had forgot to fill in the form that she previously come to Australia as well, as that is the crucial part, because later, the Home Affairs say that when you come back to Australia in 2014, you did not declare that you did not come to Australia before.”

‘I don’t know what to do’

If Chou is deported back to Taiwan, she faces a three-year waiting process for a new Australian visa, and there’s no guarantee her application would be successful after it is submitted.

For her eldest son, Chou says the news has been particularly hard.

Without certainty over what will happen next, she says she doesn’t always know how to answer his questions.

“He says to me ‘Why can’t I stay and my mother stays with me, I don’t need to change schools, I don’t need to lose my friends.’ He just told me that and I don’t know how to answer. I say, if I really don’t try, I don’t know what to do.”

Ying-Hsi’s husband Ben Cox told SBS News that without the necessary language skills, he and his children would struggle to adjust to life in Taiwan.

“I don’t even know where to start with speaking Mandarin, and then find a job over there.

“It would take us months, maybe years, before we can get anywhere, plus we have a house and a mortgage we’re paying off.”

An online petition launched by Murray Bridge locals asking for Ying-Hsi to remain in the community has surpassed 3,000 signatures.

A separate legal petition by Chou’s lawyer is being submitted to Immigration Minister Tony Burke, calling on him to intervene.

The Home Affairs Department told SBS News it doesn’t comment on individual cases, but all non-citizens must satisfy migration legislation and rules.

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