A family who swapped the UK for Australia are ‘upset and frustrated’ after being told that they’ll have to go back to England because two of them are ‘too old’.
Glenn and Sheena Tunnicliff left England to live in Perth back in 2015, using Sheena’s job as a travel agent to secure their visa because it was an in-demand job.
Glenn, now 57-years-old, works as a plasterer.
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They’ve two daughters, 18-year-old Molly and 21-year-old Tamzin, as well as a Jack Russell called Roxy.
All relocated to Perth from East Sussex when they managed to secure their passage into Oz.
Sheena has now opened up her own agency, selling holidays to Australians, whereas Glenn has also managed to find work.
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The family also bought a house in the Warwick area of the city.
Everything must have been going great, until very recently they were told that they had seven weeks to get out of the country.
Changes to the visa system have meant that the family has been unable to get permanent residency, which would have entitled them to Australian citizenship and allowed them to stay in the country indefinitely.
Now, because there is an age limit of 45 on that, neither of the parents will be eligible.
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So, by August 4, they’ve been told that they’ll have to get out of the country.
Sheena told Nine News: "We don't want to go back to the UK - we've made a life here.
"Now we are over that magic figure of 45 there is no route to PR for us.
"Australia classes us as too old.
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"We are the ones with the experience and training.
"Australia is turning around saying, 'You're too old but we'll hang on to your kids'."
The kids, who were school age when they came, but now have careers of their own, will also be split up, with Tamzin entitled to stay, but not Molly.
Molly is studying Australian Sign Language, but won’t qualify for a student visa, and Tamzin is a nurse.
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Roxy might not even make the flight out of Australia either, as she’s 14-years-old.
The family is currently living on Glenn’s work visa, as he’s a plasterer and that’s also an in-demand job.
However, the company he works for is about to wind up, meaning it will not sponsor his visa and there isn’t another way to get a permanent visa.
"It's absolutely pointless looking for a sponsor knowing it won't lead to [permanent residency]," he explained.
The family claims to have spent A$80,000 on visas over the years, including getting some advice from experts that they say hasn’t always been correct.
Sheena continued: "We are just a pure working family that have been caught up with all the visa changes over the years.
"For us to have to leave the country is very frustrating, there has to be something done."
Glenn, who has family that came over to Western Australia as ‘£10 Poms’ said it’s ‘disappointing’ that they’ll have to leave.
"I get why they want to be tough, but I don't understand why someone's not looking at us as a family," he said.
"That's the problem, the moving of the goalposts all the time, and if anything changes with your circumstances you start again.
"We never came here to go home. "
Tom Wood