Kenyan mother Leah Wambui Sore faces a December 1, 2026 deadline to leave Australia, raising fears that she could be separated from her six-year-old son, Thanasi Kuzeff.
Leah travelled to Australia in January 2026 on a visitor visa to reunite with Thanasi after spending years apart from him. Her extended visitor visa now expires on December 1, leaving the family seeking an alternative pathway that would allow her to remain with her son lawfully.
Thanasi is an Australian citizen through his father, Daniel Kuzeff. He was born in Kenya and lived with Leah until he was four before moving to Australia in 2024.
The family now fears that another separation could come just months after mother and son finally reunited. Thanasi has already made clear that he wants his mother to stay.
“Because I really love her and I don’t really want her to leave,” the six-year-old told ABC News.
Leah’s current situation follows several unsuccessful attempts to obtain an Australian visa.
Between 2022 and 2025, she applied for a student visa once and visitor visas four times. She eventually secured a visitor visa after an appeal through Australia’s Administrative Review Tribunal.
After arriving in Australia in January, Leah was able to spend time with Thanasi again. But her current visitor visa does not provide a permanent solution.Leah said the prospect of leaving her son again has become increasingly difficult to contemplate.
“I’m living a day at a time as a mum,” she said.
She also questioned how she would explain the impending separation to a young child.
“How do you explain to a six-year-old boy that you’re packing your bags and you don’t know when you are going to be back?” Leah said.
The family has lodged a Subclass 143 Contributory Parent Visa application for Leah.
The family paid about $50,000 for the application, equivalent to roughly Sh 6.5 million. However, the application does not provide a quick solution to the December deadline.
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs says parent visas are subject to capping and queueing because demand exceeds the number of available places each year. The department’s current estimate puts the processing timeframe for new Contributory Parent visas at 15 years.
The department’s figures show the scale of the backlog. As of May 31, 2026, Contributory Parent applications with queue dates up to November 2018 had been released for final processing.
Home Affairs also estimates a 33-year processing timeframe for standard Parent and Aged Parent visas.
For Leah’s family, however, a wait stretching into the future does not address the immediate question of where she will live when her visitor visa expires.
Leah said the decision to allow Thanasi to move to Australia in 2024 was made jointly with his father and his father’s partner. She described letting her son leave Kenya as a painful decision made with his future in mind.
“It was a big sacrifice, but something any mum would do,” she said.
Now, Leah is asking Australian authorities to consider the impact of the visa system on her young son.
“All I’m asking for is to look at this case differently and allow Thanasi to grow with both mum and dad and family around,” she said.
“Please don’t make him have to choose between me and his life here.”
Daniel has similarly appealed for immigration authorities to consider the age of Australian children affected by parent-visa delays.
“His childhood is happening now,” he said.
“I just hope there can be some thought about this type of situation, that there is a pathway when a young Australian child is involved.”
Australian immigration rules do not automatically give a parent permanent residency simply because their child is an Australian citizen.
The Department of Home Affairs said it recognises the importance of family unity and the interests of Australian citizen children, but decision-makers must consider the relevant legislative requirements and information provided with each visa matter.
Home Affairs also states that parent visa applications are processed through a capped and queued system. While the department allows limited prioritisation in cases involving special circumstances of a compassionate nature and compelling reasons, such decisions are considered individually.
The family is therefore seeking special consideration as Leah’s December deadline approaches.
Ministerial intervention is another discretionary mechanism available under Australia’s Migration Act. Home Affairs explains that a minister can intervene and grant a visa where the minister considers it to be in the public interest, but ministers are not required to intervene and there is no guaranteed timeframe for such requests.
If no alternative lawful arrangement is secured before then, Leah could be required to leave Australia while the family’s parent-visa application remains in the lengthy queue.
That leaves the family asking Australian authorities to consider what a long wait means for a six-year-old boy whose childhood is already underway.
