DONNA Copland from Altona Meadows wants something that most of us take for granted.
She wants to call Australia home.
For the past four and a half years Ms Copland, originally from the United States, has been fighting the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) to stay in the country with her Australian husband, George.
In a David and Goliath struggle, the couple took the department to the Federal Magistrates Court in October last year, but are yet to hear a verdict on their case.
The court process can be excruciatingly slow and it may take many months before the Coplands learn their fate.
The battle to remain in the country has come at great expense to the Coplands, who have already spent around $30,000 on the case.
Ms Copland said it was a “terrible feeling” to be facing an uncertain future and said the experience had “taken a huge toll” on the couple, in every way.
“All I ask for is permanent residency here so my husband and the rest of our family can move on with our lives,” she said.
A DIMA spokesperson said the department would not comment on individual cases.
