Olga Gorbachova-Girdler is an Australian permanent resident, living in Goolgowi but is currently stuck in Poland after traveling there to assist her mother in escaping Ukraine.

Her mother is a 75-year-old Ukrainian citizen, and has lived in Kharkiv all her life. As Kharkiv faces the invasion from Russia and troops enter the city, she left for Poland.

Mrs Gorbachova-Girdler explained the situation.

"My mom left Ukraine and was in Poland on March 5, I have arrived in Poland on March 7 in hope to take my mom back to Australia," she said.

"My mother was not ready to leave the country in hurry, but she made it. She had a phone call and within an hour, she prepared her things and arranged care for her old cat."

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The pair hit a significant problem however, with Mrs Gorbachova-Girdler's mother not having a valid international passport. The Ukrainian government is not currently supplying new international passports to residents, which prevents her from applying for any kind of visa.

"New international passports can't be made because all the state registers in Ukraine are closed and we were told to come back for new passport after the end of the war," Mrs Gorbachova-Girdler explained.

"Me and my husband have done many phone calls, contacted a lot of authorities. They are responsive and try to help us. But outcome is the same - no passport means no chance to go to Australia. Now my mom can't even go out of Poland using her internal Ukrainian passport," she said.

They have been staying at the Ukrainian embassy in Warsaw, but recently moved from the embassy to a village in Lawki, where they can stay for the next three months due to the help of a church group.

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The situation at the embassy grows by the day, with more and more displaced people seeking help and around 1000 people seeking help every day.

One visit to the embassy took over 24 hours just to be seen, with the pair sleeping outside the gates in order not to lose their place in line.

Mrs Gorbachova-Girdler understood however.

"Outside it looks like a complete mess, people are not happy, a lot of arguments and screams, and more and more people arrive every day. But then I finally got inside I made sure that the embassy is doing their best," she said.

They've reached out to an immigration lawyer here in Australia, but the situation changes constantly and they've been left in the dark.

She's urging the Commonwealth to act, not just for her but for all in her situation.

"I believe that we are not the only ones who got into such a situation."

"There are many families in Australia who are able to look after their old Ukrainian parents. I am writing my story to raise up this problem, to call for the immigration department to solve this problem as soon as possible."

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