A British family that moved to Australia eight years ago has been told they have to return to the UK because the parents are “too old” for permanent residency.
Glenn, a plasterer, and Sheena Tunnicliff, the manager of a travel agency, and their two daughters have spent AUD$80,000 on visas and legal advice to stay in Perth since moving from East Sussex in 2015.
But they have not obtained permanent residency in Australia because they say the immigration rules kept changing, according to 9 News.
The Tunnicliffs moved to Perth on a family visa because Mrs Tunnicliffs’s job as a travel agent manager was in demand at the time.
Then the family were able to stay longer under Mr Tunnicliff’s work visa because his job as a plasterer is on the Government’s list of needed skills.
But the company which sponsored his visa is about to wind up and there’s no other way for the family to get a permanent visa, 9 News reports.
Now, Glenn, 57, and Sheena, 50, are too old to apply for permanent residency because the age limit is 45, leaving them with no option but to return to England by August 4.
“We don’t want to go back to the UK - we’ve made a life here,” Mrs Tunnicliff told 9 News.
“Now we are over that magic figure of 45 there is no route to PR for us. Australia classes us as too old.
“We are the ones with the experience and training.”
The family is calling for the rules to change to allow more people who have moved to Australia to permanently live there, even if they are over the age of 45.
One of their daughters is able to stay in Perth working as nurse on her own visa, but Mr and Mrs Tunnicliff and their youngest daughter will have to return.
“We never came here to go home,” Mr Tunnicliff told 9 News.
The Department of Home Affairs told 9news.com.au they don’t comment on individual cases.
In April Australia’s government proposed overhauling its immigration system to speed up getting highly skilled workers into the country and smoothening the path to permanent residency.
The federal Labor government said the current system used to select skilled migrants - the points test - will be modified to identify people with the correct skill sets the Australian economy needs going forward.
“Our migration system ... is broken. It is failing our businesses, it is failing migrants themselves. And most importantly, it is failing Australians. That cannot continue,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said at the time.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has praised Australia’s points-based immigration system as he is put under pressure to curb net migration in the UK.
Figures released in November show net immigration was 500,000 for the year to June 2022 in Britain.
