A friend and former colleague of Regarn Simbwa has joined calls for the Wagga father to be approved for the visa he needs to return home to Australia.
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John Cook coached boxing alongside Simbwa at PCYC Wagga and he described him as a humble and great man.
Simbwa is still unable to return to Australia as he awaits his Australian Partner Visa application to be approved.
Cook had a pretty straight forward response when asked if he would like to see Simbwa be allowed to return home as soon as possible.
"Of course, who wouldn't," Cook said.
"He's a man who's been living here and giving back to society by working not bludging.
"Yet they haven't done anything about getting him back, or they are doing very little about getting him back."
Cook first met Simbwa when he became their new boxing coach a couple of years ago and he said he always had the respect of the students in his class.
"We both got our Boxing Australia Level One accreditation together," he said.
"I used to fill in for him, he was the main man and I was just filling in.
"I still carry on what he's shown us, I do the schoolkids of an afternoon and that's one thing he couldn't do.
"But when he finished his work he would come in and he'd stay there for about three hours I think.
"The guys loved him because he knew what he was talking about and he had that humble, down to earth and I'm the same as you attitude.
"There was no I'm it or I'm the best, he's very humble and just a great man."
Simbwa finished up coaching at PCYC at the end of last year to focus on his Olympic Games ambitions.
Cook noted that a couple of Simbwa's students followed him out to Barefoot Boxing where he was training, out of the respect they had for him.
An exact return date to Australia for Simbwa is still unknown following a response from The Department of Home Affairs.
The Daily Advertiser inquired about the status of Simbwa's Australian Partner Visa application and received the following response.
"The Department of Home Affairs does not comment on individual cases," the statement read.
"The Government promotes family unity, social cohesion and cultural diversity and is committed to delivering visa outcomes that facilitate family reunification for Australian citizens and migrants settled in Australia.
"All visa applicants, including Partner visa applicants must meet all requirements in the migration legislation such as relationship, character, health and security requirements before a visa can be granted.
"Visa applications are generally considered in the order in which they are received to ensure fairness and equity to all visa applicants. The Department assesses applications on a case-by-case basis and processing times can vary for a range of reasons.
"There are many factors that may impact the processing time of individuals applications including the quality and completeness of the applications, the applicants' responsiveness to requests for information and the complexity involved in assessing genuineness, character, health and security requirements."
