Hardworking Scottish family win fight to stay in Australia after they faced being deported despite paying taxes Down Under for more than ten years
- The Green family can apply for residency
- They moved for work in February, 2012
A Scottish family who have lived in Australia for more than 10 years have finally won their long battle to stay in Australia.
The Green family have been given permission to remain in Australia while applying for permanent residency after an almost year-long legal battle costing upwards of $150,000.
Mark Green, 44, his wife Kelly, 45, son Jamie and daughter Rebecca moved to Australia from Scotland in February, 2012, when Mr Green was headhunted for his specialist solar panel installation skills in Adelaide.
However, in May, 2014, Mr Green was forced to change jobs after the solar company he worked for went broke – putting his visa in jeopardy just one year before he qualified for residency.
The Greens family have been granted permission to apply for permanent residency (pictured, Mark Green, 44, wife Kelly, 45, and daughter Rebecca, 19)
Mark Green (pictured with his wife Kelly) moved his family to Adelaide in 2012 after he was headhunted by a solar panel company
The family were desperate to stay in Australia but were let down by another seven employers who folded before their visa paperwork could be filled.
Mr Green’s son, Jamie, had to fly back to their former home in Ayrshire in 2015 after the family’s visa struggles prevented him from working in Australia.
In June, 2022, the Greens made a public appeal for help from the newly-elected Labor Government after seeing the Tamil asylum seeking Murugappan family was allowed to stay in Biloela, regional Queensland.
They said they’d given up their entire lives in Scotland to build a home in Australia and sold everything they owned.
Mr Green’s UK electrical certification had also expired since he’d moved to Australia – meaning he faced unemployment if he was forced to move back.
The family were set to be deported and were booked on a flight to the UK at 10.20pm on August 10, 2022, but were granted a last-minute reprieve from immigration minister Andrew Giles.
Just shy of a year since their public appeal, the Greens have finally been given approval to apply for permanent residency.
Mr Green told 2GB’s Ben Fordham: ‘The Minister has given us a 600 visitor visa which allows us to apply within the country.’
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