Beloved British gran to be deported from Australia after unlawful keep
A grandmother who has lived in Australia for over 40 years is ready to be deported after it was found she is within the nation illegally.
Mary Ellis, 74, left London for Australia on the age of 31 in 1981 and has since created a life for herself in NSW‘s picturesque Northern Rivers area.
Her companion on the time advised Mary he had acquired everlasting visas, however 40 years later, the pensioner now dangers being deported at any second.
In Tweed Heads, Mary is thought to be an area hero for the time she spends volunteering and elevating cash for The Salvation Army.
She was awarded the distinguished NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2023 for her work for Agape Outreach, which gives scorching meals for the homeless.
However, the Good Samaritan could also be compelled to return to the UK regardless of having an Australian driver’s licence, a Medicare card and a pension card.
‘This is my residence, I really like Australia,’ a teary Mary advised A Current Affair on Monday.
Mary Ellis, 74, left London for Australia on the age of 31 in 1981 and has since created a life for herself in NSW’s picturesque Northern Rivers area
She labored in hospitality and for the NSW Government for 30 years, the place her visa standing went unquestioned by her employers.
Mary has a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in Australia.
The grandmother stated ‘no person stated something’ about her visa till she was contacted by the Home Affairs division.
The pensioner was requested to go to the Brisbane workplace, the place she was advised she had been dwelling in Australia illegally for greater than 4 many years.
‘She is aware of not a soul over there [in England], not a soul,’ migration agent Stanley Schneider stated.
‘She’s at all times paid her taxes, she hasn’t even had a rushing ticket, she’s by no means infringed something, she’s by no means offended anybody.’
Mr Schneider, who helps Mary professional bono, stated the pensioner qualifies as an ‘absorbed particular person’ below the Migration Act 1958.
To be recognised for an absorbed particular person visa, a non-citizen should have been in Australia from April 2, 1984, and have by no means left the nation on or after that date.
Mary says she has by no means left Australia, not even for a vacation, since 1981.
However, Home Affairs claims Mary entered Australia thrice below a distinct alias, and was in another country between February 1983 and November 1986.
The division stated in a letter that they consider the true identification of the now-deceased man she was in a de facto relationship with on the time, Martin Ellis, was really Trevor Warren.
Mary was awarded the distinguished NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2023 for her work for Agape Outreach, who present scorching meals to these in want
Australia’s Home Affairs division claims Mary did depart Australia below totally different aliases in February of 1983 and didn’t return till November of 1986
‘As you weren’t in Australia on 02/04/1984, you aren’t thought-about an absorbed particular person and don’t maintain an Absorbed Persons Visa,’ the letter states.
However, Mary insists that is ‘flawed’ and says she would not know why Home Affairs believes she has left and re-entered Australia below totally different aliases.
She has paperwork she claims show she was in Australia at these occasions, together with a job reference from a restaurant in Tasmania.
It states Mary labored there from 1983 to 1986 as a waitress and cashier.
A profitable Medicare enrolment letter signed by the then-Minister of Health, Neal Blewett, can also be getting used to argue Mary’s case.
Mr Schneider says she wouldn’t have been despatched the letter if she was not dwelling in Australia on the time.
‘Mary Ellis is a good particular person, an individual we needs to be completely thrilled to have in Australia, and she or he’s an Australian, let’s face it,’ he stated.
