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| Australian Brain family 'hopeful' over deportation deadline | Australian Brain family 'hopeful' over deportation deadline |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| An Australian family living in the Highlands say they are still "hopeful" they will avoid deportation and secure an extension to their stay in the UK. | An Australian family living in the Highlands say they are still "hopeful" they will avoid deportation and secure an extension to their stay in the UK. |
| Kathryn and Gregg Brain have been trying to comply with visa requirements so they and their son Lachlan, seven, can remain in Britain. | Kathryn and Gregg Brain have been trying to comply with visa requirements so they and their son Lachlan, seven, can remain in Britain. |
| The family moved to Scotland in 2011 on Mrs Brain's student visa, but the terms of their stay were later changed. | The family moved to Scotland in 2011 on Mrs Brain's student visa, but the terms of their stay were later changed. |
| The Brain family have until midnight on Monday to secure the extension. | The Brain family have until midnight on Monday to secure the extension. |
| For months, Mrs Brain has been seeking a job that meets current visa rules. | For months, Mrs Brain has been seeking a job that meets current visa rules. |
| She had been offered a temporary administrative post at distillery business GlenWyvis in May, but the offer was subsequently withdrawn as it did not meet the requirements of a UK Tier Two visa. | |
| Brains family visa timeline | |
| The Home Office has previously granted temporary extensions to their stay. A spokesman said: "All visa applications are considered on their individual merits, and applicants must provide evidence to show they meet the requirements of the immigration rules." | |
| Mr Brain has told the BBC that the family were "still hopeful" an employer would come forward and "pick up the ball". | |
| "Robert Goodwill, the new immigration minister, has shown himself to be quite approachable and solution-orientated and he has said if we have an employer and it's simply needing time to get the paperwork together then he would consider an extension to allow that to occur," he said. | "Robert Goodwill, the new immigration minister, has shown himself to be quite approachable and solution-orientated and he has said if we have an employer and it's simply needing time to get the paperwork together then he would consider an extension to allow that to occur," he said. |
| "We came over here on the promise that once Kathryn had finished her studies we'd be able to stay on for two years on a very straightforward ticket - post-study work visa - which was subsequently, retroactively cancelled." | "We came over here on the promise that once Kathryn had finished her studies we'd be able to stay on for two years on a very straightforward ticket - post-study work visa - which was subsequently, retroactively cancelled." |
| Mr Brain said the family has racked up a five-figure debt in their fight with the Home Office and the prospect of deportation has made him physically sick. | |
| The family has had to move four times in recent months after their landlord accused them of "criminal activity" despite being legally entitled to live in the UK until their visa expires, he said. | |
| Mr Brain added: "It's not that there is anything that we don't like about Australia, we certainly love the place, but we would be going back homeless, jobless and significantly in debt having racked up a five-figure sum in our dealings with the Home Office to date. | |
| He also claimed that a "post-study work visa has been reintroduced for a few prestigious English universities", which he said meant that "the visa we're being told we can't have is now being offered again". | |
| 'Pilot scheme' | |
| But the Home Office dismissed any suggestion that the post-study work visa had been reintroduced at Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and University College London. | |
| It said it had launched a "carefully targeted pilot scheme" on 25 July for universities to attract top international students and remain competitive. | |
| The two-year pilot will simplify the visa application process for Masters students, and grant them an additional six months leave to remain after the end of the course to find a graduate job under Tier Two visa rules, the Home Office said. | |
| First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, along with SNP MPs Angus Robertson and Ian Blackford and MSP Kate Forbes, have been among those calling on the Home Office to allow the family to remain in the UK. | First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, along with SNP MPs Angus Robertson and Ian Blackford and MSP Kate Forbes, have been among those calling on the Home Office to allow the family to remain in the UK. |