Cakes made by Heike are a huge drawcard to the Coraki cafe by Richmond River.
Heike’s cafe has been going for a year, serving Black Forest cake, apple strudel, strawberry roulade, blueberry cake, almond pretzel, baked cheesecake, almond cherry strudel and so many more – all created by Heike.
Reto and Heike Bodenburg have been through a lot to get to the point where they are stable, have a thriving cafe, and are part of the Coraki community.
After going through the floods at Wardell, moving to the pod village at Coraki and then finding the cafe with a house attached – it was like they had finally landed and could build their business and future together. And Heike could keep making the cakes everyone loves.
All that is on hold, with an immigration tribunal looming and the threat of Heike being forced to return to Switzerland and leave all they have built behind.
Reto is from Switzerland too but he has a New Zealand passport.
Heike and Reto married in 2021 in New Zealand and when the couple came to Australia in 2021, Heike had a 12-month visitor visa.
After three months in Australia we asked for an 820 visa, Reto said
It cost $8000 for that visa.
(An 820 visa allows you to live and work in Australia temporarily or permanently with your partner).
Eight months later, things got more complicated.
Home Affairs said I was not a valid sponsor for Heike and she needed a 461 visa, not the 820, Reto said.
(A 461 visa is a temporary visa for members of the family unit New Zealand citizens, who are not New Zealand citizens themselves. This visa is valid for 5 years.)
The 461 was a paper application, Reto said.
Things got messy from here.
The 461 was sent by tracked post to the immigration department in Brisbane.
Reto was concerned because they were getting close to the 12-month deadline for the original visa. The 461 could not be done electronically.
“To make sure Heike was not in the country unlawfully, I put in for a bridging visa,” Reto said.
This could be done electronically and was approved overnight.
The bridging visa was valid for six months.
“After six months, we put in for another six months,” Reto said.
This was repeated six months later.
Then the wheels started to come off the immigration journey they were on. It was June 2023.
Heike could not get a third bridging visa and there was no word about her application for a 461 visa – the one where she could stay for five years.
Reto found out he should have sent the 461 application to Sydney, not Brisbane.
The original application had apparently disappeared.
Reto put in a new application for Heike. He sent it to Sydney.
Two weeks later it was refused. He had not paid the $280 for the visa. He paid the money.
Then two weeks later he was told the visa was refused because he didn’t pay the full $385.
He did it again and included the exact money required.
Two weeks later, Reto and Heike got a six-page email. They couldn’t understand what was in the email.
“It was a huge mess,” Reto said.
Immigration wanted proof of the original 461 application sent to Brisbane.
Reto knew he had it somewhere but because they had been caught up in the 2022 floods in Wardell, he couldn’t find the postal tracking receipt.
Heike was told she had 35 days to leave Australia.
Reto and Heike were so distressed.
“We didn’t want to leave everything,” Reto said.
“We decided to take it to the tribunal.”
They went to Visa Assist in Alstonville – the process had dented their confidence and they needed help if they were heading to the tribunal.
A piece of good news came when Reto found the tracking receipt in his flooded wallet which will prove he made the original application.
Right now, Heike can remain in Australia until the tribunal. She has no Medicare and cannot apply for Centrelink.
She’s also not allowed to do a food handling course which is essential for the running of the cafe.
“If we breach that, we have to leave immediately,” Reto said.
The immigration issues are a weight on their lives.
“I am the sole trader of the business,” Reto said.
“I am responsible.
“We could lose everything.
“Every morning, I get up with a sword over my head.”
Reto is frustrated. A simple 461 visa now takes three weeks or so since the Federal Government changed the rules.
“I tried to do the right thing,” he said.
“If it had been electronic this wouldn’t have happened.”
Heike is still baking, but the immigration process “makes me sick” she said.
They have appreciated the community support. There’s been a petition and local artist Laszlo Biro and children’s author Gwen Gray have donated items for sale in the cafe to fund immigration and visa costs.
As of today, April 1, the application has cost a total of $11,000, Reto said.
Visa Assist has estimated a timeframe of the tribunal being held – it could take between two to four years, Reto said.
Heike and Reto believe that they have done everything possible to get the visa earlier so they could start planning the next steps and to be able to fulfill the requirements to run their cafe legally.
“We can’t wait for four years, hoping to get the visa or to find out that we must leave Australia within 35 days,” Reto said.
It’s frustrating and depressing to run a business under these circumstances, Reto and Heike said.
“Maybe it’s time to close the cafe and to go to New Zealand and offer our cakes to the Kiwis,” they said.
It’s difficult for the couple to build a future with such uncertainty.
IndyNR.com published this story about the opening of Heike’s Cafe in March 2023.
This article appeared on indyNR.com on 7 April 2024.
