Long road ahead for former Belmont mum and daughter Eysha and Deb Tellis stranded in India

But for many Aussies stranded overseas, the nightmare is far from over.

The Newcastle Herald reported in July that former Belmont woman Deb Tellis and her daughter Eysha were stuck in India, and four months on little has changed for the pair.

Ms Tellis, who has lived with Eysha in India for five years, bought tickets on a chartered flight back to Australia in June, but had to miss the flight after Eysha tested positive for coronavirus, which they now believe was a false positive.

When the NSW Government announced that it would start charging for mandatory hotel quarantine, Ms Tellis purchased commercial plane tickets through Qatar Airways for when international flights returned, which would mean she would avoid the hotel quarantine fee.

But commercial flights out of India have not restarted, and Ms Tellis said it did not look like they would until next year. She has opted not to pursue any repatriation flights so she can keep her free quarantine arrangement.

"For us, there's too much money that would need to be outlaid to change whats already been outlaid," she said. "The ducks are just not lined up in a row at the moment.

"My daughter is just about to start year 11 exams - we'd have to travel through four airports and quarantine to get home, which would be too much disruption."

Related: More Aussies back from India, quarantined

Ms Tellis considers herself lucky that she is able to keep working at her job teaching remotely at a school in China and her daughter is able to study online at a Chinese School too.

But the situation has left the duo in limbo.

They have had to move four times since giving up their lease before the chartered flight - having found temporary accommodation and house sitting arrangements to keep a roof over their heads.

"It's a little unsettling, we don't really have a base," Ms Tellis said.

"We will have to pay rent on a property soon but there's so much red tape when you're a foreigner. You have to have residency, a secure income, which for us are all temporary. I don't have a job here, we have a month by month visa.

"Landlords are very reluctant when your visa is only for 30 days."

Ms Tellis said most lease arrangements in India also require 10 months payment up front, and she is hoping to be back in Australia before then.

China has also recently cancelled work visas, so even when international flights return, she can't go there for her job nor her daughter's schooling.

But for Ms Tellis, the worst part of the situation is the uncertainty.

"I get very emotional about it because I have no control over any of this," she said. "There's nothing I can do except live in the moment.

"It's a real test of character this sort of stuff.

"I need to be strong but inside I just feel like there's no certainty, not that there ever was in life but its just magnified 100 times.

I'm keeping it together but I've had certain moments. It doesn't take much to make me cry these days which never used to be the case

"I'm constantly playing out the scenarios in my head - if commercial flights start up, we've got these things we've got to line up, if visas open up for China, we've got these things we've got to line up."

She said the country was also bracing for a second wave as it goes into the winter months.

"I'm reluctant to meet people, you have to be very cautious everywhere you go," she said.

Ms Tellis moderates several social media groups for Australians stranded overseas.

She said things were slowly happening with repatriation flights, but it had been a long process.

"It seems like things are starting to move with DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) but it's not enough while ever there are caps on entries to the states.