British Expat Couple Face Deportation from Australia

Expat Globe

All seasoned expats will know that the number one rule of living abroad is to obey the laws of the country in which you live. However, one British couple living in Australia are due to be deported for reasons that have been described as extraordinary.

George and lana Breen were granted a visa to live in Australia that stipulated that they could only set up home in an area categorised as ‘regional’. However, they inadvertently moved to an area just 3 miles away that is deemed a suburb and part of a city thereby breaching their visa rules.

Mr Breen told Channel Seven, "We've made an awful lot of friends here and to be sent home I think it's a bit of a disgrace

"We work hard, we've put in a lot of money, we've set up home here, we've got vehicles and this is home"

A spokesman for the Immigration Department said, "Their particular visa applies to those working and residing in regional Australia and of course regional Australia is determined in our case by postcodes".

Despite living and working in Australia for 5 years the move to Calamvale just two and a half miles from Browns Plains where they were permitted to live has meant the end to their lives down under. The couple appealed to the Migration Review Tribunal but lost and are due to be deported on 7th March.