paddy234

https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/green-family-visa-adelaide-deportation-scotland/ed94ea54-d72c-4ed5-abcc-3bb4b9d87dab
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/andrews-says-scottish-deportation-case-very-different-to-biloela-familys/news-story/b72f57be29bb251685d3fd0a8d486ac1

Andrews says Scottish deportation case ‘very different’ to Biloela family’s

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews has weighed in on the case of a Scottish tradie fighting deportation.

@catiemcleod
2 min read
August 11, 2022 - 7:10PMNCA NewsWire
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Adelaide electrician Mark Green, father of the Scottish family facing deportation, has asked for a “fair chance” to be able to stay in Australia and for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to look at his family’s case. Mr Green and his family were scheduled to be deported on Wednesday night despite being brought to the…

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews has denied there is a contradiction in her support for a Scottish family fighting a deportation ruling in Adelaide.

Adelaide electrician Mark Green and his family are using the precedent set last week by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles in granting permanent residency to the Nadesalingam asylum seeker family to argue they should also be allowed to stay.

Ms Andrews has said the decision to grant the “Biloela” family permanent visas undermined the immigration policies of previous Coalition governments and set a high-profile precedent for similar cases.

Ms Andrews told the ABC on Thursday she thought the two families’ cases were different.

She denied her support for the Green family risked potentially dismantling visa compliance systems in Australia.

“No, the circumstances are very different,” she said.

“And my encouragement is for the (immigration) minister to have a look at the circumstances to see if there is a way in which this particular family can stay.”
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews has reiterated her support for the Green family. Picture: Mike BatterhamThe Greens moved to Australia in 2012 after 44-year-old electrical expert Mark was headhunted by a solar installation company amid a shortage of electricians.

Mr Green, who has been on successive bridging visas, is facing deportation after a former employer bungled his visa paperwork and then misled him about the error.

The Greens were set to be deported on Wednesday but were handed a last minute, one-month extension for their migration lawyer to argue their case.

Ms Andrews said she would encourage the immigration minister to consider allowing the Greens to stay.

“My reasons for saying that are that we do need skilled workers; the individual concerned does have skills that are needed in Australia,” she said.

“If there is an opportunity for these people to be able to stay here, they came to this country legally.”

SA Best upper house MP Frank Pangallo, who is advocating for the Green family, responded to Ms Andrews’ remarks with scepticism.

“Well, that’s nice of Karen Andrews,” he said.

“But it’s a pity that her previous (immigration) minister (Alex Hawke) didn’t express the same support for the Greens when I wrote to him on a number of occasions.”
Mark Green, his wife Kelly and daughter Rebecca were scheduled to be deported from Adelaide at 10pm on Wednesday but have vowed to remain in Australia to fight for their right to stay. Picture: SuppliedMr Pangallo said the issue went beyond the “appalling treatment” of the Green family.

“It is also indicative of our complex, complicated and expensive visa system,” he said.

He is calling on Anthony Albanese to streamline Australia’s skilled migration program as part of the federal jobs summit in Canberra next month.

“The enormous costs that are imposed on applicants can be a deterrent and (the Prime Minister) needs to recognise this and fix an archaic and broken visa system,” Mr Pangallo said.

“Things need to be made easier to get these skilled people here, not place enormous hurdles in front of them, including the prospect of being booted out of the country when they get dudded by unscrupulous and incompetent employers.

quoll

Why would that put someone off Australia? Because they arrived on a temporary visa but didnt seem to understand the word temporary then did nothing about it for years and decided to blame the government for their inaction?

paddy234

That wasn't the case at all. They did do something about it however some employers he had applied with PR through kept folding and opening under a new name or simply not advancing his visa application putting the family back to square one. This could happen to anyone. In fact i do know people who have been lured in by employers promising sponsorship only to pull out at the last moment. To have this happen continuously for almost 10 years is incredibly sad however and one can easily empathise with this family being put through this who are providing skills this country desperately needs and have lived and paid taxes here for 10 years.

paddy234

3 days ago
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Copy linkPage URLA Scottish family living in Australia have avoided deportation after an eleventh-hour decision by the country’s federal immigration minister.

Electrician Mark Green was hired for his solar installation skills and flown to Australia with his wife Kelly and daughter Rebecca, a nurse, in 2012.

He was brought to Adelaide on a 457 visa, which governs temporary skills, with the promise of permanent residency by employers.

However, six businesses the 44-year-old has worked for have since gone bust, leaving the family without any way of obtaining a sponsor.

Mark told STV News that the process of moving back would be extremely expensive and distressing, adding that “this is our home”.
STV NewsMark told STV News of the immense stress and pressure the family has been under.Having to relocate back to the UK would also mean the family would have to leave behind beloved pet dog Maisie and 12-year-old pet rabbit Marmaduke because of the $35,000 AUD cost of flights and quarantine fees.

“We had to either fight this, or make the decision to leave,” he said.
AdvertisementThe 457 visa requires the holder to stay in the country for three continuous years before they can apply for permanent residency.

His most recent former employer reportedly lied about applying to sponsor the Green family, following which the company shut down and the family were asked to leave the country.

Embroiled in a legal battle with the immigration department for weeks, the family finally breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday when, hours before they were set for deportation, the minister made the decision to personally look over their case and offer them a month-long extension to their stay.
SuppliedRelocating to the UK would force the family to leave their beloved pet dog Maisie behind.“We left everything back home…to come here, to start a new life, for our kids basically,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Scotland…Scotland will always have a very special place in my heart, but my daughter has spent most of her life in Australia and this is her home, which makes it my home – it makes it home for my family.

“We started a life here, got a dog and a rabbit, bought a car…now basically, we’ve lost it all.”
AdvertisementMark, originally from Prestwick in Ayrshire, said he would do anything to avoid uprooting the family’s home to move back to Scotland.

They have now been granted a respite period during which, immigration officials will deliberate on whether they will have to move back and reapply for a visa or if they will be allowed to remain in Adelaide.

“We’re still not out the water as of yet, but it’s one step closer. You wouldn’t believe the amount of stress that was lifted just in the past hour or so,” he said.

“Just hearing that someone was actually looking at our case, it’s not just sitting at the top of a pile being looked at by someone who can’t help us.

“We needed to get our story out there, so that the only person for the job could actually help us. We are still pleading with him to make the right decision, to come to our aid and let us apply for a visa without leaving.”

An online petition to keep the Green family in Australia has more than 20,000 signatures and Mark said their story has gained resounding support from across the world, not just Scotland and Australia.

The Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs has been contacted for response.

christmasoompa

There's already a thread running on the same subject…….The Green family

HTH.

paddy234

Sorry i didn't see it, i'll let a moderator just merge this thread into that one for ease

quoll

So it wasnt the government's fault and why did he not apply for a skilled visa in his own right? People still seem to think that temporary visa doesnt mean temporary. Crying crocodile tears because you like it here and dont want to go home is not really grounds for letting them stay. Either he has the skills and applies for his own skilled visa or he doesnt - he's had a long time to do that. Why he brought his family on a temporary visa and didnt apply for something permanent in the first instance is also questionable. Saying that you have an employer who will do everything for you really isn't the answer. The only thing the employer is obliged to do is to pay their fares home.

Pollyana

Thats my take on it too, he had long enough to sort out a permanent visa, and never bothered, seems to have just expected the employers to do it for him, and they are under no obligation to do that. Plenty of people on a 457/482 don't have the option to apply for their own PR, but he clearly did, and then wasted the opportunity.

paddy234

To be honest I'd love to know the circumstances because if you are right it seemed like his employers unnecessarly put them through Hell when there was an easier option. I'd be keen to know the details why they didn't go this route. There must be a reason

old.sparkles

Reading the stories linked above, it looks like the wife is/was a nurse - I really don't understand how they got to this point. Surely with the multiple failures to get a PR visa through 457 route they would have looked at alternate routes.

Moses2013

I don't see the problem and surely the rules were clear. As tragic as it might be, when you move to a country where a Visa is required there's always a risk you won't become a permanent resident. Meanwhile millions of people are starving and how many people get rejected every day? The sad thing is that they are probably making money from their story and are now better off than before. It would be the same for me in Spain and when I only have a basic project licence and then start to build without the major licence, I shouldn't be surprised.

brits1

I agree, I think some people who think any visa will do In the hope that it will to permanent are taking a risk what I cannot understand is that if the “trade” Mr Green has been working in for 10 years has such shortages they need people from over seas then surely in the ten years the family have been here
the skill would of been made a PRV,? I am all for skilled workers but only if “locals” cannot do the skill themselves.

paddy234

What ridiculous assumptions clearly made from a position of little understanding, at the end of the day none of us know the entire details on this case to make such assumptions. Have you even read much about the case? They aren't fighting to he granted PR, they are fighting not being sent back to Scotland when their entire life has been here the last 10 years. They want their bridging visa to allow them to stay. This is why so many are on their side.

As for assuming he had long enough to get a 189/190 Visa. According to the media which i take with a grain of salt anyway this family have spent Over $150,000 to try and stay, much of that on immigration lawyers. Why do you think these immigration lawyers didn't advise them of this easy route? Wouldn't they knowing more details than us have given them the best advice? I know I was when speaking to immigration agent's.

Also he was headhunted by an employer. His family perhaps weren't seriously considering moving to Australia until he was approached and asked to work. For many overseas this would be a dream come true. MANY use the sponsorship route to later get PR, he then tried to get PR but it fell through. Again though they aren't petitioning for PR but for a bridging visa that allows them to stay rather than be sent home financially crippling them setting up a new life only to be potentially told they can come back anyway after a few years. It makes no sense

old.sparkles

The bridging visa they are on is BVE, which generally means they are currently unlawful.

They are asking to change to a different visa that allows them to apply for PR - which assumes that they are in a position to do so. Why wait until last minute, and when already unlawful?

LinkedIn suggests he has been with current employer for over a year so if he is going for 186 it would not be the temporary resident transition stream which would require him to be employed by them for 3 years +.

For direct entry he would need a skills assessment, which would suggest he could go for 189 / 190 (or 489 if he's short of points). Not sure how they've spent $150k on immigration advice - maybe fighting deportation because a PR visa would be $20k tops including skills assessment and visa fee.

LinkedIn profile may not be accurate, but he does appear to be active there. It does also show him with additional employer since 2015 and that company does appear to have been trading in 2019 although not sure it still is. It also shows a gap in employment of over 12 months before that job which would have made him unlawful since 2014 if that's true. That might explain the immigration advice costs.

Back to the headhunted role - that lasted over 2 years but not long enough for transition to PR. Changed jobs with no gap, so maybe next employer wasn't eligible to sponsor - don't know. Maybe being unlawful was the reason for not previously going for PR.

Anyway - not a lack of empathy, more trying to understand a puzzle with too many unknowns.

paddy234

True, I'm not 100% sure myself but one can hardly say that a family spending over $150,000 to stay in Australia using immigration agent's haven't been trying. What is the most used advice given on here when someone asks for immigration advice? Speak to an immigration agent who will be able to answer all your questions which is correct. My assumption is that with so much money spent and immigration lawyers being used they are using every available means and are given the best advice.