Scottish family allowed to stay in Australia after immigration saga

An Adelaide family have expressed their joy at being allowed to stay in Australia after a decade-long immigration fight.

A South Australian family have been saved from deportation after a lengthy immigration saga.

The Greens moved from Scotland to Adelaide in 2012 after dad Mark was recruited for his skills in specialist solar panel installation.

Mr Green, his wife Rebecca and their two children Jamie and Rebecca were on a work-related visa, but his initial employer went out of business in 2014.

Their fight to stay in Australia was hampered when several of Mr Green’s next employers went out of business before he could qualify for permanent residency.

This culminated in the family almost being deported in August 2022 to the point they were booked on a flight back to the UK before an 11th hour reprieve from Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

The Green family were set to be deported from Australia to Scotland.

The family have lived in Australia since 2012.

Months later following a swath of media and public support, the family have finally been allowed to apply for permanent residency.

“It’s fantastic, absolutely brilliant,” Mr Green told 2GB.

“Just earlier last week, we received the news and jeez there were tears everywhere … and it’s thanks to your listeners and everybody else out there who’ve supported us with this journey.”

Mr Green said his family had spent more than $150,000 on immigration lawyers during the saga.

“We couldn’t have done it without everybody else,” he said.

“It (being deported) was the worst news I’ve ever had in my life I think, but sanity prevailed shall we say and the minister came and granted me the visa and I can’t thank him enough.”