Coast man in UK limbo

A GOLD Coast man says he was deported from England at the weekend after a Home Office bungle with his visa.

Rusty Goodall, 34, who has lived on and off in London for 11 years, claims he has satisfied all the conditions on his FLR FP visa, which he applied for on June 28 last year.

But 13 months later – without requesting any extra information – the Home Office rejected it and kicked him out of the country, leaving behind his British partner, Stephen Buck, 31. An 84,000-signature petition could not even save him.

“We haven’t spent a night apart in over three-and-a-half years and the thought of having to continue our loving relationship via Skype is going to be extremely difficult,” said Mr Goodall (top right with Mr Buck).

A letter from the Home Office stated the Paradise Point man had been placed on Immigration Bail. After arriving in Australia at the weekend, Mr Goodall faces a 12-month ban from the UK.

Mr Goodall claims the Home Office made multiple errors in declining his visa, disputing that they failed to provide evidence that the pair had lived together for at least two years.

He said he would apply to re-enter the UK as soon as he landed back in Australia. “(But it’s) more money… more worry and time away from Stephen which I don’t want,” he said.