Hard-working family we’re kicking out – because they’re not from EU!
A FAMILY threatened with deportation said yesterday they had been ‘set up to fail’ as they fought to stay in Britain.
Gregg and Kathryn Brain moved here legally from Australia in 2011, both have found work and their seven-year- old son Lachlan has been raised here.
But the hard-working family has now been threatened with deportation and said the farce risked leaving them homeless and bankrupt.
The family came to Britain legitimately – ironically under a Government scheme designed to encourage people to move to the Scottish Highlands and settle in rural areas.
But after their visa scheme was scrapped, Mr and Mrs Brain were told they would be escorted onto a plane by Home Office officials this week.
They have just been granted a two-month stay of execution following a public outcry over the family’s treatment.
The story would have been different if they were from the EU, which allows workers to come here, find jobs and raise families freely.
Instead, they have now been forced to apply for a more complex ‘tier two’ visa, for people from outside the European Economic Area who have already been offered a skilled job in the UK.
The family moved to Dingwall in Ross-shire from Brisbane five years ago on Mrs Brain’s student visa, while she took a university course in Scottish history. Mr Brain found full-time work in a legal office and his wife had a job at an estate agency, and the couple intended to stay on with a two-year post- study work visa.
But the post-study work visa scheme was scrapped by the Home Office in 2012, and they were told they were no longer allowed to work.
The Home Office has also seized their passports and has warned their bank accounts could be frozen.
Mr Brain said their lack of funds meant they would automatically fail a visa requirement for families to show £945 in ‘ maintenance funds’ for each family member.
Mr Brain, 48, told the BBC: ‘We are finding it difficult to avoid the conclusion that we are being set up to fail.’
Their local MP Ian Blackford said their predicament was ‘utterly ridiculous’.
He said: ‘It demonstrates all the shortcomings in the UK immigration policy that people who are here and are making a contribution to our economy, and who want to stay and live here, are being forced out.’
The Home Office said evidence of a relevant job in line with immigration rules had not been provided to date.
It said an application for the family to remain in the UK would be considered if submitted during the grace period, but that all applicants must be able to prove they met immigration requirements.’