Australian man facing deportation over late application

An Australian man who has lived in the UK for a decade faces being deported just months before he is due to wed his British fianceé.

Devastated Jamie Geale, 36, risks being ‘kicked out’ of Britain because he filed his visa application a month too late.

The joiner, who owns a home in south London with partner Jennifer Sutton, has lived in Britain for ten years on an ancestry visa. His grandfather was born in Manchester.

But due to a simple mistake, he accidentally filled out the extension form four weeks later.

Devastated: Jamie Geale, pictured above with fiancee Jennifer Sutton, faces deportation from the UK just months before he is due to marry the love of his life 

The couple, who became engaged in May after meeting on Tinder three and a half years ago, said the situation has turned their lives upside down

He has been ordered to report to the Home Office on January 16 where he fears he will be deported for ‘overstaying’ his residency.  

The pair had been planning on marrying in France in August but may have to postpone their wedding.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Jamie Geale, 36, said he has been left amid a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’. 

Lawyers advised Mr Geale and fiancée Jennifer to marry immediately after he was rejected.

But they were knocked back at the registry office because the Home Office still had Mr Geale’s passport.  

Mr Geale has been ordered to report to the Home Office on January 16 where he fears he will be deported for ‘overstaying’ his residency 

The couple, who became engaged in May after meeting on Tinder three and a half years ago, said the situation has turned their lives upside down.   

What is an ancestry visa? 

An ancestry visa is available for Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man who wish to work in the United Kingdom.

You can apply if you: 

:: are a Commonwealth citizen

:: are applying from outside the UK

:: are able to prove that one of your grandparents was born in the UK

:: are able and planning to work in the UK

:: meet the other eligibility requirements

He told the Evening Standard: ‘I feel a bit betrayed. I’ve paid my taxes for 10 years, I’ve done everything right, I’ve got a home, I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong apart from filing a piece of paper a month late. Now my whole life has been turned upside down and they’re kicking me out of the country.

‘The Home Office are so difficult, they’ve got so many different departments and they don’t talk to each other.’

Mr Geale filed his application for indefinite leave to remain on August 10 — 29 days after his July 12 deadline. The ‘grace period’ for late applications was reduced from 28 days to 14 days in November 2016.

Ms Sutton, 36, development director for social enterprise Fashion Enter, said the late application was ‘just a human error’. ‘He genuinely got the date wrong. It’s quite a daunting letter, it says you can’t work and you’ve got to leave the country.

‘We just cannot communicate with the Home Office and time is running out. It’s really scary. He can’t work now, we’re in a really difficult situation. 

‘James has legally lived here, paid his taxes, and we are genuinely in love but have now found ourselves in an impossible situation.’ 

The Home Office has been contacted for a comment.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk