A Scottish woman could soon be deported from Australia and separated from her family following a computer glitch.
The Griggs have lived in Adelaide, Australia, for three years, but Kirsty, 53, a mother of two, has spent the last three months in the shadow of deportation to Scotland after a civil service computer error put his life on hold.
She and her Australian husband Nick, 56, brought their 11-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter from Ayrshire, south of Glasgow, to Australia in 2021 to care for Mr Grigg’s aging parents and create a new home.
But the family was forced to spend their savings on expensive immigration agents and bureaucratic fees after officials processed and rejected Ms Grigg’s online visa extension application before she had even finished filling it out.
They may soon have to spend at least 18 months apart, as Kirsty’s deadline to leave the country is April 9.
“We had every intention of this being our new life and staying,” Ms Grigg told Daily Mail Australia.
“We sold our house before leaving and moved everything we owned, including our dog. We were like, “We’re moving to stay.”
Ms Grigg (pictured centre) says her imminent eviction has been difficult for the couple’s children.
“We literally have nothing to go back to. I have a sister, that’s about it. I wouldn’t go back to anything.
Just before Christmas, the Griggs had the first indication that something was wrong after receiving a letter from Medicare stating that due to Ms Kirsty’s change in visa status, she and the children would no longer be covered.
It was only by digging through a spam folder that they found an email from the Immigration Department showing that Ms. Grigg’s visa extension had been rejected because it had been processed before Mr. Grigg has not finalized it.
Although the couple was preparing to celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary on Friday, the department said they were not “financially committed” to each other because they did not have a joint bank account.
They appealed as soon as they could, on December 27, but were told three weeks later that they had missed the 21-day deadline by six days.
“Since December 27, just trying to understand what is happening has been a nightmare,” Ms Grigg said.
“Everything is so black and white. “You didn’t do this, you didn’t do that.”
“It’s just brick wall after brick wall.”
The Griggs were told they had the right to submit a statement explaining why their appeal should be considered and spent more than $3,500 (£1,800) recruiting an immigration officer.
Kirsty Grigg (pictured right) faces deportation to her native Scotland.
In return, they only received a template letter telling them it was too late.
“The invitation to make a statement was really unnecessary,” Ms Grigg said. “The model that was released contained someone else’s details.
“It was so stressful that we tried to contact politicians to see if we could get anything done.
Ms Grigg said at no point were they able to speak directly to a person and had to deal with automated bureaucracy.
The dire situation has been particularly hard on the Grigg children.
“My daughter was really upset,” Ms Grigg said. “She’s really afraid of losing her mother, obviously.
“She’s been really up and down and in tears at school and everything else.
“It’s been difficult for all of us.”
Ms Grigg said if she was forced to leave the family she would have a “big decision to make: stay or we all go back”, as she was told it took around 18 months to apply for a new residency visa in Australia.
“It would mean a year, a year and a half away from the family for me,” Ms Grigg said.
“I would have a hard time doing it. I couldn’t stay apart for that long.
Ms Grigg said if she had to return to Scotland she would start from scratch.
“It would be a disaster,” Ms Grigg said. “I should leave, get a job and find a place to live.”
When the family initially moved, it cost around $32,000 (£16,500) to apply for Ms Gigg’s visa, which the children originally had but are now Australian citizens.
“We don’t have the money to reapply,” Ms Grigg said.
“We paid the appeal fees, the agent fees, the citizenship fees and I pretty much used up all of our savings.”
Since going public with their plight, Ms Grigg said they have received overwhelming support.
“It would have been nice if we could have worked something out without this, but I think it’s the right decision,” Ms Grigg said.
Her husband is a self-employed gardener, but is ex-RAAF and has also worked as a photographer and photography teacher. He started his own business only a year ago.
Ms Grigg said he was still building it, which meant the family was under financial pressure because of the money they had to spend fighting his eviction.
Ms Grigg said the family felt at home in Adelaide and were avid fans of the Port Adelaide AFL team and the Adelaide 36ers NBL team.
‘I like the sun. We’re going back to Scotland, it’s still cold, it’s raining and raining,” Ms Grigg said.
Their fate now rests in the hands of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, and the family has been asked not to plan any trips before the April 9 deadline to leave Australia, as their family’s fate could to change.
“We just have to wait and see what happens,” Ms Grigg said.
