More than 27,000 people have signed a petition to keep two Gold Coast students in Australia, as they face deportation despite living in the country for more than 10 years.
Phillip and Amy Choi, 21 and 19 respectively, are fighting alongside their parents, Leo and Joanne, to retain residency in Australia or else be forced to return to South Korea on November 2.
The family has been in negotiation with Australian immigration officials for six years but time is running out and they are now relying on intervention by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
"I don't know the South Korean culture," Phillip said.
"I don't have any friends there. There is nothing we can go back to."
Phillip arrived with his family as a baby in 1995, while Amy was born on the Gold Coast in 1997.
The family returned to South Korea between 1998 and 2005 before returning on a business visa.
They were denied formal residency in 2010 but have since lived on visitor's and bridging visas while continuing to undergo numerous checks and procedures.
But when their case was knocked back at an Administrative Appeals Tribunal review earlier this month, they were given four weeks to leave the country.
"This sudden change of decision has left our family absolutely soul-crushed," they told supporters.
"It is nothing more than a slow, tormenting walk towards an inevitable doom - separation of our family, goodbyes to my dearest friends and deportation from the country I proudly call home."
Approximately 27,900 people had signed the petition on change.org by Wednesday afternoon.
The family also claims to have been told their applications for residency have been denied because it was in "the public interest".
