British family beat deportation from Australia: Nathan and Emma Mills are granted permanent residency
- The Mills family have lived in Australia since 2010
- In June they were told to leave the country
- But this week they had an immigration win
An Australian family ordered to pack up their lives and leave the country within five weeks has had a heartwarming win after being granted permanent residency.
Nathan and Emma Mills were left ‘absolutely devastated’ after their repeated immigration attempts failed despite calling the country home for the past 13 years.
In June, the couple and their children James, Harry and Daisy were given their marching orders to leave Australia within 35 days even though Daisy had been born in the country.
The family had arrived on 457 skilled worker visas to care for Emma’s dad, an Australian citizen who suffers from serious spinal and mental health issues.
This week their fight culminated in a tense four-hour interview with the Department of Home Affairs in which they were detained and had to surrender their indefinite bridging visas.
But, when they emerged, an emotional Nathan and Emma revealed they had been allowed to stay in the country with their entire family granted permanent visas.
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)
‘I can’t believe it we’ve just wanted this day for so long,’ Emma told A Current Affair.
‘The children can continue to live in a country they remember.
‘We’ve always done the right thing, we’ve gone down the right avenues but the immigration rules were changing constantly which led to this happening.’
Nathan said the long fight had been worth it as they can now look forward with a sense of stability.
‘We are ecstatic this has paid off,’ he said.
‘It’s been such a long journey. But now there’s no more stress and hassles and we get to remain as a family in the country that we adore.’
The pair arrived in Australia from the UK in 2010 with two young children before having Daisy, who is an Australian citizen.
When the family arrived in Australia they settled into the Sutherland shire, south of Sydney.
Emma learnt from the children’s schools that they were to be sent back to the UK.
‘The principal informed me that from Monday she (Daisy) was not permitted to return to school. I was in shock and disbelief,’ she said.
She added she then got a call from the boys’ high school saying the same thing, despite their eldest being just days away from sitting the HSC.
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 and youngest Daisy)
The family won an appeal in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal which they believed should have seen them granted a carer visa, but that never occurred.
Then, 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.
Since then, the family have been on bridging visas and were advised to not leave Australia while their status was up in the air.
‘Are we going to be sent back to a country that is essentially foreign to us all now?’ Emma said.
‘My children don’t have lives or memories of the UK, they have memories of Australia. This is their home.’
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles stepped in and used his ministerial powers to grant the permanent visas this week.
Under the Migration Act, the minister can intervene to substitute a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal with a more favourable decision.
The minister is not obliged to intervene in any matter and intervening is entirely at their discretion.
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