My name is Thanh Duc Nguyen, owner of Anam, the one-and-only Vietnamese restaurant in Bathurst, NSW. 
My family which consists of my parents, my younger brother and I are at risk of losing our small business and our residency status in Australia.

We are seeking your urgent support to retain our livelihood in Bathurst and be allowed to remain in Australia, a town and a country that we love and have called “home” for almost 10 years. Owing to circumstantial errors made by the sponsor of our visa, we are facing the expiry of visa and living in constant worry and fear of being deported from Australia. We had no prior knowledge of their mistakes and do not have control of their company business matters. Our sponsor has abandoned us, leaving us to fend for ourselves in our quest to work and stay in Australia. 

We have been in Australia for nearly a decade. Anam Restaurant has given us purpose, pride and joy, offering authentic Vietnamese cuisine at reasonable prices to appreciative locals and visitors. We have worked hard, almost 7 days per week for many years, to build up the reputation, viability and success of Anam. We absolutely love being in Bathurst. We always aim to ensure customer satisfaction and we contribute positively to local and state economies, always using local products and supporting local events and charities. Many of our regular customers have become friends, supporting us over the years, good or bad. We managed to survive the difficult Covid pandemic years, without government funding. 

The thought of being sent back to Vietnam is very stressful. It is on our mind constantly even though we put up a brave front.  It will be devastating for us. We will lose everything we have worked hard for almost 10 years and have no recourse to recoup from sponsor who has refused to co-operate with us. My parents are now in their late 50s. My younger brother came here as a young child and did his schooling in Bathurst. He just turned 20 and would be the first to face cultural shock and displacement, if forced to return to Vietnam. I am 30 now and have devoted myself to co-management of Anam with my parents. Mum is the Head Chef and Dad helps in the kitchen. We all love Australia and have worked honestly here and did not expect that our sponsor would make mistakes and abandon us. Our family visa extension is running out soon and we will be forced to leave Australia. We are not asking for sympathy or donations, just a fair go. We should not be penalised for a mistake we did not make. 

Please help us urge the Federal Minister for Immigration, The Hon. Mr Tony Burke, to intervene in our application. 

Your kind support is our only hope to remain in Australia and to continue running Anam restaurant in Bathurst. Every signature gained would give us the chance to change the devastating outcome of deportation and losing our livelihood. 

We sincerely thank you for your time in reading our story and signing our petition. Please share this petition with your network to save us and to save Anam Restaurant.