‘I’ve been here 10 years’: Green family’s 11th-hour twist to stop deportation

A top-level phone call has bought an Adelaide family precious time to fight a bureaucratic decision set to turn their lives upside down.

A Scottish family who were facing deportation tonight after a lengthy battle with the Immigration Department over their visa rights has been given an 11th-hour reprieve after a last minute phone call from Premier Peter Malinauskas.

Electrician Mark Green emigrated to Australia from Scotland in 2012 after he was headhunted by a local solar company for his specialist skill set but after working and paying taxes for a decade he was told he would be deported after his bridging visa was not renewed.

But tonight he, his wife Kelly, 45, and their daughter Rebecca, 19, were given an extra month in Australia to plead their case by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles after Mr Malinauskas made a phone call to the minister on behalf of the Green family.

Mr Malinauskas said he was “happy to play a role and greatly appreciate Minister Andrew Giles’ willingness to look into this matter”.
His call came fter SA Best MP Frank Pangallo asked the Premier to add his voice to the effort.

“All credit must go to Frank Pangallo for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the family and for bringing it to my attention,” Mr Malinauskas said.

Before the reprieve the Greens were set to board a flight from Adelaide Airport at 10pm tonight after trying desperately to secure residency in Australia.

Shortly after being given the good news, Mr Green said he was “overwhelmed” by the support his family had received.

The Green family will be forced to pay $32,000 to ship their labradoodle Masie back to Scotland. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“We’re going to stay and fight,” he told The Advertiser.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of people that have shown their support to us.

Mr Green said he had received job offers overseas but would be staying put in Adelaide.

“I’m not interested in going over the world, this is my home,” he said.

“And I’m just so glad the Premier has helped us out … I’m just overwhelmed … it’s just fantastic.

“We’ve got a long way to go from here but hopefully things will prevail so we can continue living life instead of stressing every day.

“I just can’t thank Australia and the public enough for all their support, there’s just no words there that can say how overwhelmed I’m feeling.”

The Greens are not guaranteed permanent residency and Mr Green said he would work with his lawyer over the next month to try and secure his family’s future.

A change.org petition calling for the Greens to be given permanent residency has more than 20,000 signatures.

In June Mr Green told The Australian he hoped Immigration Minister Andrew Giles would exercise special powers to let him stay.

“I am so grateful this country gave me a chance and I feel like I have repaid it in full,” Mr Green said.

The Green family – Mark, Kelly and their teenage daughter Rebecca – who came to Adelaide from Scotland a decade ago searching for a better life. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“I just want my family to have a sense of security and safety and to know that we can stay.

“I have been working solidly since I arrived. There have been just four months in the past 10 years when I haven’t worked and that was only until I found new work on account of those firms going under.”

He said he had renewed his 457 visa on seven occasions since arriving in Australia, copping a $4000 bill each time.

On top of that, he has had to pay immigration lawyers $5000 each time to handle the application.

All up he said the process has cost him over $150,000.

Mr Green said he was the victim of bad luck with companies he worked for either going bust or botching the visa applications they were completing on his behalf.

On top of the cost the Green family has already paid, they will be forced to pay more than $30,000 to ship their beloved labradoodle Maisie back to Scotland with them if they are deported.

“She’s like a second wife to me, I can’t just leave her behind,” Mr Green told the Australian.

Mr Green’s only option now is to return to Scotland and complete his visa application from outside of Australia.

Migration Solutions chief executive Mark Glazbrook, who has worked as a migration agent for 25 years, said this was a common obstacle for skilled migrants looking to relocate to Australia.

“It doesn’t make sense for people to have to leave just to lodge an application to come back.”

Mr Glazbrook said some skilled migrant visa applications were taking as long as five years to be processed amid an “unprecedented” skills and labour shortage.

SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo, who has advocated for the Green family since learning of their ordeal last year, accused the federal government of operating under “double standards”.

“All they want is a fair go and to be able to lodge their visas in Australia,” he said.

“They were let down by employers here. They didn’t do anything wrong, it was others who let them down.

“It just sends a bad message to others who want to come here under some sort of … skilled workers program … the visa system is broken in this country.”