A grandmother who has lived in Australia for more than 40 years is facing deportation after she was discovered to be in the country illegally.
Mary Ellis, 74, left London for Australia in 1981 at the age of 31 and has since built a life for herself in the picturesque Northern Rivers region of NSW.
Her then partner told Mary he had been granted a permanent visa, but 40 years later the pensioner now faces deportation at any time.
In Tweed Heads, Mary is regarded as a local hero for the time she spends volunteering and raising money for the Salvation Army.
She was awarded the prestigious NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2023 for her work with Agape Outreach, which provides hot meals to the homeless.
However, the Good Samaritan could be forced to return to Britain despite having an Australian driver’s license, Medicare card and superannuation card.
“This is my home, I love Australia,” said a tearful Mary A current issue on Monday.
Mary Ellis, 74, left London at the age of 31 in 1981 for Australia and has since built a life for herself in the picturesque Northern Rivers region of NSW
She worked for 30 years in the hospitality industry and for the NSW government, where her employers left her visa status unchallenged.
Mary has a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in Australia.
The grandmother said “nobody said anything” about her visa until she was contacted by the Home Office.
The retiree was asked to visit the Brisbane office, where she was told she had been living in Australia illegally for more than 40 years.
“She doesn’t know a soul there (in England), not a soul,” said migration agent Stanley Schneider.
“She’s always paid her taxes, she hasn’t even had a ticket, she’s never violated anything, she’s never offended anyone.”
Mr Schneider, who is helping Mary pro bono, said the pensioner qualifies as an ‘absorbed person’ under the Migration Act 1958.
To be recognized for an absorbed person visa, a non-citizen must have been in Australia from April 2, 1984 and never left the country on or after that date.
Mary says she has never left Australia since 1981, not even for a holiday.
However, Home Affairs claims Mary entered Australia three times under a different alias, and was out of the country between February 1983 and November 1986.
The department said in a letter that they believe the real identity of the now-deceased man she was in a de facto relationship with at the time, Martin Ellis, was actually Trevor Warren.
Mary was awarded the prestigious NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2023 for her work with Agape Outreach, which provides hot meals to those in need
The Australian Department of Home Affairs claims that Mary left Australia in February 1983 under various aliases and did not return until November 1986.
“As you were not in Australia on 04/02/1984, you are not considered an absorbed person and do not hold an Absorbed Persons Visa,” the letter said.
However, Mary insists this is ‘wrong’ and says she does not know why Home Affairs believes she left and re-entered Australia under different aliases.
She has documents claiming she was in Australia at the time, including a work reference from a restaurant in Tasmania.
It says Mary worked there from 1983 to 1986 as a waitress and cashier.
A successful Medicare enrollment letter signed by then Health Minister Neal Blewett is also used to argue Mary’s case.
Mr Schneider says she would not have received the letter if she was not living in Australia at the time.
“Mary Ellis is a decent human being, someone we should be very happy with in Australia, and she is Australian, let’s face it,” he said.