Ebrahim worked with our National Immigration Support Service team to make his settlement journey a smooth one.
Image: A barber wearing a blue shirt and black apron shaves the head of a client wearing a smock.
Ebrahim has finally found safety and stability after spending seven years in offshore detention and a further three years in residence determination* in Australia.
His perseverance to build a new life, free from fear, paid off when Ebrahim finally received his bridging visa and could enter the community. He was thrilled about the visa grant, but he now faced the new challenge of navigating unfamiliar processes to set up his new life.
Luckily, he did not have to do it alone. The Life Without Barriers' National Immigration Support Service (NISS) team partnered with Ebrahim and supported him to enroll in Medicare, obtain a tax file number, find accommodation, connect with employers and emergency relief services, and access funding to help with his bond and rent costs. Most of all, his NISS team was there to support him when he needed someone to turn to.
In his home country, Ebrahim worked as a barber and he opened a barber shop in Nauru when he lived in the community. Determined to find similar work in Sydney, Ebrahim visited several barbers before finding a job. He drives an hour each way to work and is happy to be using his barber skills again.
"I am proud to work again as a barber. I am excited about the next chapter of my life,” he said.
Ebrahim also recently got married, and this has been another highlight since receiving his bridging visa.
“I feel hopeful about my future, especially since receiving the visa grant and marrying my wife." He said.
Ebrahim is one of 1,150 asylum seekers who were supported by Life Without Barriers last year.
In 2009, Life Without Barriers started supporting people seeking a life free from terror, and in 2014 we began providing Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS). Life Without Barriers is one of two National providers of the SRSS program across Australia and in Western Australia, we partner with MercyCare to provide SRSS Services.
Having practice models, frameworks, and relevant policies allows us to innovate and meet people’s needs in different ways. We leverage the benefits of operating at a national level while working at the grassroots level in partnership with people to meet their needs and milestones, empowering and equipping them to live well independently in the community.
*Under a residence determination, a person in immigration detention is permitted to live at a specified residence in the community instead of being held in closed immigration detention facilities such as immigration detention centres, people can be permitted to live in the community while their immigration status is resolved.
