A family is desperately fighting to stay together in Australia after their Scots-born mother faced deportation because of a government computer bungle.
The Grigg family has lived in Adelaide for three years but mother-of-two Kirsty has spent the past three months under the shadow of deportation back to Scotland after an IT error in an unfinished visa application form escaped their notice.
But since going public about their plight, the Griggs have now been told not to make travel plans for Kirsty on April 9, which was her deadline to leave the country, as her case has now gone for possible ministerial intervention.
The case is the latest looming immigration debacle for the Albanese government, which is bracing for more hardened criminals to be let out on Australian streets if the High Court rules against another 170 staying in indefinite detention.
Kirsty Grigg (pictured right) is facing being deported back to her native Scotland
Kristy, 53, and Australian husband Nick, 56, brought their son, 11 and daughter, 16, from Ayrshire, south of Glasgow in central Scotland, to Australia in 2021 to care for Mr Grigg’s ageing parents and create a new home.
‘We fully intended this was our new life and we were staying,’ Ms Grigg told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.
‘We sold our house before we left and moved everything we owned, including our dog. We were like, “We are moving to stay”.’
‘We have literally nothing to go back to. I have got one sister – that’s pretty much it. I would be going back to nothing.’
Just before Christmas, the Griggs got their first indication something was wrong after getting a letter from Medicare stating that because of Ms Kirsty’s changed visa status she and the children would no longer be covered.
It was only by searching through a spam folder that they found an email from the Immigration Department showing that Ms Grigg’s visa extension had been rejected because it had been processed before Mr Grigg had completed it.
Despite the couple preparing to celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary on Friday, the department said they weren’t ‘financially committed’ to each other because they didn’t have a joint bank account.
They appealed as soon they could on December 27 but were told three weeks later they were six days past the 21-day deadline.
‘Since December 27, it has been a nightmare just trying to understand what’s going on,’ Ms Grigg said.
‘Everything is so black and white. “You didn’t do this, you didn’t do that”.
‘It’s just been brick wall after brick wall.’
The Griggs were told they had the right to submit a statement as to why they their appeal should be considered and spent over $3500 on getting an immigration agent.
Ms Grigg (pictured centre) says her looming deportation has been difficult on the couple’s children
In return they received only a template letter again telling them they were too late.
‘The invitation to make a statement was pointless really,’ Ms Grigg said. ‘The template that came out had someone else’s details in it.
‘It’s just been so stressful, we have been trying to get a hold of politicians to see if we can get anywhere.
Ms Grigg said at no stage have they been able to speak to a person directly and had to deal with the automated bureaucracy.
The dire situation has been particularly hard on the Grigg children.
‘My daughter has been really upset,’ Ms Grigg said. ‘She’s really scared she is going to lose her mum obviously.
‘She’s been really up and down and tearful at school and all the rest of it.
‘It’s been difficult for all of us.’
Ms Grigg said if she was forced to leave the family would have a ‘big decision to make whether they stayed or we all went back’ because she has been advised it takes around 18 months to apply for a new residential visa in Australia.
‘It would mean a year, a year and a half away for me from the family,’ Ms Grigg said.
‘I would struggle to do it. I couldn’t be apart from that long.’
Ms Grigg said if she had to go back to Scotland she would be starting from scratch.
‘It would be a disaster,’ Ms Grigg said. ‘I would have to leave, get a job and find somewhere to live.’
When the family originally moved, it cost around $32,000 to apply for Ms Gigg’s visa, which the children were originally on but are now Australian citizens.
‘We don’t have the money to re-apply,’ Ms Grigg said.
‘We have been paying out appeal fees and agent fees, citizenship fees and I have basically used all our savings.’
Since going public with their plight Ms Grigg said they had received overwhelming support.
‘It would have been nice if we could have sorted something out without doing that but I think it’s been the right decision,’ Ms Grigg said.
Her husband is a self-employed gardener, but is ex-RAAF and also worked as a photographer and photography lecturer, who only started his own business a year ago.
Ms Grigg said he was still building it up, which meant the family were under pressure financially because of the money they have had to spend fighting her deportation.
Ms Grigg said the family felt at home in Adelaide and were keen fans of Port Adelaide AFL team and the Adelaide 36ers NBL side.
‘I like the sun. We get back to Scotland, it’s always cold and raining and wet,’ Ms Grigg said.
Their fate now rests in the hands of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
‘We just have to wait and see what happens,’ Ms Grigg said.
Meanwhile the Albanese government fears that an upcoming High Court hearing, set down for April 17, could lead to the court expanding further on its controversial NZYQ decision, leading to up to 170 further detainees walking free.
The NZYQ decision in November led to 140 asylum seekers, including murderers and rapists, walking free but seven have since been arrested for breaching visa conditions with three remaining in police custody.
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