Family’s permanent residency denied despite over a decade in Australia

A family has been ‘near-on destroyed’ after they were given 35-day marching orders to leave Australia despite one of their children being born in the country.

Nathan and Emma Mills have been ‘absolutely devastated’ over their immigration wrangles in the country they have called home for the past 13 years. 

The pair arrived in Australia from the UK in 2010 with two young children and have since had a third who is an Australian citizen. 

The family came on 457 skilled worker visas to care for Emma’s dad, an Australian citizen who suffers from serious spinal and mental health issues.  

Nathan and Emma Mills arrived in Australia from the UK in 2010 with two young children and have since had a third who is an Australian citizen (pictured, with their family who now face deportation)

When the family arrived in Australia they settled into the Sutherland shire, south of Sydney with their children.

But now 13 years later they face being kicked out of the country despite multiple attempts to secure a permanent visa.

On April 13, Emma received a letter from the Home Affairs Department saying they had 35 days to leave or they may be detained and deported.

‘To be told you have 35 days to pack up your belongings and leave the country that is just crazy, and it’s not even an option for us,’ Emma told A Current Affair.

 ‘It’s near-on destroyed our family and as a mother it is exceptionally hard not to be able to assure your children and guarantee that their futures are going to be here.’

Since then the family have been on bridging visas while they await their fate and were advised to not leave Australia while their status is up in the air. 

Nathan was forced to stay put in the country while his mum in the UK was seriously ill a few weeks ago. 

‘[I was] devastated, absolutely devastated, it’s not just my mum but it’s my dad too who is 80 years old and needed help and there was nothing I could do and it was horrible,’ a teary Nathan said.

The family have been told their children’s school enrolments are void as their visas have been cancelled. 

This is despite their middle child Harry, being midway through his HSC and daughter Daisy Grace, being born in Australia.

A ‘devastated’ Nathan (pictured) was forced to stay put in the country while his mum in the UK was seriously ill a few weeks ago because of their visa status being up in the air

The Federal Government declined multiple attempts by the Mills family to secure a carer visa to care for a sick relative. After 13 years in the country they are told they must return to the UK (pictured: Emma Mills with her daughter Daisy Grace who was born in Australia)

Emma told 2GB Drive host Chris O’Keefe they had tried three times to apply for permanent residency.

‘This is our home. We’ve built a life here… It’s just hard to comprehend that this is even happening,’ Emma said.

She says changes in the immigration requirements continue to move the goalposts of what they need to stay in Australia, and the family have applied for a carer visa based on the support given to Emma’s father but were rejected.

Emma said she learnt they were being sent back to the UK from their children’s schools.

‘The principal informed me that from Monday she [Daisy Grace] was not permitted to return to school. I was in shock and disbelief,’ she said.

‘I then got a call from Engadine High School with the same news. What shocked me and frightened me the most is my eldest son (still in school) was due to sit his HSC the following week.’

The family won an appeal in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal which they believed should have seen them granted the carer visa but it never happened.

It was after that they got the devastating letter to leave the country. 

Emma says she has tried to do everything the right way and will keep fighting, adding her father is ‘absolutely devastated’ by the news.

The couple has three kids, one of whom was born in Australia and another who is halfway through HSC year (Emma pictured with eldest son James)

‘Are we going to be sent back to a country that is essentially foreign to us all now?’ she said.

‘My children don’t have lives or memories of the UK, they have memories of Australia. This is their home.’

The Department of Home Affairs website states to qualify for a carer visa the individual must have a suitable sponsor who is either an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or New Zealand citizen.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles was unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy, the department said in a statement. 

Daily Mail Australia has also reached out to the Department of Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for comment.