Guest The Pom Queen Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 A pregnant Gold Coast woman says she will be forced to give birth without the baby’s father after he was refused a visa to re-enter Australia. Zoey Madden, 35, who is five months pregnant with her first child, told Nine.com.au her British partner Alex Musson had been living in Australia for seven years on various visas. The couple met last year and Ms Madden, who works as a registered nurse, fell pregnant in May. Mr Musson, who owns and runs a cleaning and pest control business on the Gold Coast, was advised he would need to leave Australia to apply for a partner visa offshore. Mr Musson lodged his application from New Zealand earlier this month, and the couple were advised by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to apply for a temporary tourist visa so he could return to Australia. But the temporary visa application, lodged with an appeal under compelling and compassionate grounds because of the Ms Madden’s pregnancy, was refused by the department last Friday. The couple could now be separated for up to 18 months while Mr Madden’s partner visa is processed. “When we got the refusal letter last Friday we were just absolutely devastated. Alex was just crying, he was a shattered man. He is devastated because his child is going to be born and he won’t be here,” Ms Madden said. “We just don’t understand how this can happen. We are both working. Both paying taxes. “Alex owns his own business and he employs an Australian citizen, he has contractors that work for him as well. An ultrasound of the couple's baby, which is due on February 2. “He has followed the correct process with immigration and he is a good citizen, he doesn’t have a criminal record in Australia or the UK. “I love calling Australian home. We live in the best country, but what is going on, it’s just crazy.” Writing in a plea online to the immigration department, Mr Musson said the government’s decision had torn his family apart and would force his partner to be single mother. “At the time I need someone to have a compassionate bone in their body I’m struggling,” Mr Musson wrote. “I’m spending money I’m earning from Australia in another country whilst my partner is going to have to lean on the government for support.” “This will now cause my partner unnecessary stress which may have effects on our unborn child.” “We are real people on the other end of these pieces of paper and thousands of dollars in lodgement fees.” Mr Musson originally came to Australia in 2010 on a tourist visa. He applied for a partner visa with an Australian woman from a previous relationship, but withdrew the application in 2014 when the pair broke up. Since then he has been living in Australia on various temporary visas, included a sponsored visa and a bridging visa. Mr Madden may not be able to return to Australia until his child is a toddler. In its rejection letter to Mr Musson for his temporary tourist visa, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection wrote that it was "not satisfied that the applicant had a genuine intention to visit Australia on a temporary basis". The letter pointed out the number of “rolling visas and visa applications” Mr Musson had used to spend just 16 days outside the country in seven years. “The applicant’s visa and travel history indicate that applicant is attempting to circumvent proper migration channels and use the visitor visa program to maintain ongoing residence in Australia,” the letter reads. “I have considered the circumstances including that applicant’s partner is pregnant, but I am not satisfied that the genuine temporary stay requirement is met.” The letter also said there was doubt that Mr Musson could support himself financially without working in Australia. Ms Madden said her partner would never jeopardize his partner visa application by working illegally in Australia and was able to support himself with income drawn from his business. A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection told nine.com.au "the likelihood of an applicant overstaying or seeking to remain in Australia is a matter that must be assessed". "Where the decision maker cannot be satisfied that a particular visa applicant meets all the relevant criteria for the grant of the visa applied for, they are obliged to refuse the application," the spokesperson said. "It would be open to the applicant to submit a new application for consideration if they believed they have significant new information that would support their claims." Mr Musson is able to appeal the decision with the administrative appeals tribunal, but the process would cost the couple a further $1700. Ms Madden said her partner had already spent close to $50,000 in legal and visa fees since his arrival in 2010. An online petition lodged by Ms Madden and calling on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to intervene in her partner’s case has collected 2000 signatures in two days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 (edited) What's the source? There has to be more to it. If he was in a relationship with her then why did he leave and apply offshore? Why didn't he apply onshore? Then he would have gone from his existing visa onto a bridging visa. Absolutely no need to have left the country unless he was here illegally in the first place. And if he had applied onshore he could have continued working. As for being without him for 18 months - she could always move to live with him offshore. Some of us have already had to do that or face being without our partners permanently. And proves that what so many people do is just fraught with danger - trying to enter on a tourist visa when intending to move to oz on a Partner Visa can lead to a refusal of the tourist visa - either on application or when trying to enter. Edited September 30, 2017 by Nemesis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Made me think of Ronnie Biggs for some reason. He was able to evade extradition to UK for decades by having a baby with a local girl in Argentina. We mustn't have those laws obviously. I certainly don't think the rules should be broken all the time unless there are genuine extenuating circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 5 hours ago, Nemesis said: What's the source? There has to be more to it. If he was in a relationship with her then why did he leave and apply offshore? Why didn't he apply onshore? Then he would have gone from his existing visa onto a bridging visa. Absolutely no need to have left the country unless he was here illegally in the first place. And if he had applied onshore he could have continued working. As for being without him for 18 months - she could always move to live with him offshore. Some of us have already had to do that or face being without our partners permanently. And proves that what so many people do is just fraught with danger - trying to enter on a tourist visa when intending to move to oz on a Partner Visa can lead to a refusal of the tourist visa - either on application or when trying to enter. I agree, on first reading you wonder if there's something more, they've been in Aus for 7 years on various visa's ... perhaps that's had something to do with the decision???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 The article above says 9 news as the source but there is a link here https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4925270/amp/Pregnant-Australian-woman-s-British-boyfriend-deported.htmlTo be honest and not wanting to sound cruel but going off what the story says (which knowing the media is probably wrong) I also don't think he should be allowed in. I would also in my opinion think he got with this girl for the visa. I know of two similar situations in Cairns one was an American but got with this girl, she got pregnant they got married he got his visa yet everyone knew he was sleeping around and didn't love her. Another was a lady who stayed in a very severe domestic violence situation but put up with it until she got the visa. The problem is how on earth do you prove anything like this. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 5 hours ago, The Pom Queen said: The article above says 9 news as the source but there is a link here https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4925270/amp/Pregnant-Australian-woman-s-British-boyfriend-deported.html To be honest and not wanting to sound cruel but going off what the story says (which knowing the media is probably wrong) I also don't think he should be allowed in. I would also in my opinion think he got with this girl for the visa. I know of two similar situations in Cairns one was an American but got with this girl, she got pregnant they got married he got his visa yet everyone knew he was sleeping around and didn't love her. Another was a lady who stayed in a very severe domestic violence situation but put up with it until she got the visa. The problem is how on earth do you prove anything like this. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz Whereas people in a genuine loving relationship get told that they cannot live together in oz, resulting in the one who had been there for years having to give up job and home and move back to the UK in order to save the marriage. I'm not going to judge whether or not the relationship is genuine, or whether he is with her just for the visa. But there has to be more to the overall story. If he was in the country legally, then he should have been able to apply onshore for a 820/801 Partner Visa. Absolutely no reason he should have to leave and apply offshore for the 309/100, unless a)he wasn't on a valid visa or b) he was on something like a tourist visa with a No Further Stay clause. And to expect to get straight back in on a tourist visa when obviously not a tourist, that was just fraught with danger. Would love to now what visa he was holding before he left. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take note all those Partner Visa applicants hoping to apply offshore then sit it out in oz on a tourist visa for months while waiting for a grant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Wonder why she doesn't go to the UK really. I think if he were allowed to stay it would open the floodgates, unfortunately. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 2 hours ago, starlight7 said: Wonder why she doesn't go to the UK really. I think if he were allowed to stay it would open the floodgates, unfortunately. If he's been living here for years on temporary visas I doubt he has the financial means to sponsor her into the UK. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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