Brain family given reprieve over deportation threat, MP says

credit - Parliament TV - Nicola Sturgeon has championed the case of family facing deportation 

An Australian family that had been facing deportation has been granted permission to continue living in Scotland, an MP has claimed.

Gregg and Kathryn Brain and their son, who live in Dingwall in the Highlands, have won the support of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in trying to qualify for a new visa.

They faced deportation because the terms of the visa they entered the UK on in 2011 were changed.

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However, SNP MP Ian Blackford said the family have now been told they can stay.

Mrs Brain has been trying to secure a job that meets visa regulations.

They had previously been granted temporary extensions to their stay by the Home Office until 1 August this year.

Their case has been heard by parliamentary committees of MPs and MSPs.

Blackford, SNP MSP Kate Forbes and Sturgeon have been among politicians calling on the Home Office to allow the family to remain in Scotland.

In a tweet Blackford said: "Victory for the Brains.

"I am delighted the Home Office have seen sense and allowed the family the right to remain. Thanks to all for support."

The Brains moved to Scotland in 2011 on Mrs Brain's student visa.

They had expected to be able to later move on to a Tier 1 post-study work visa, but the scheme was scrapped in 2012.

The announcement that the scheme was going to be abolished was made three months before the Brains arrived in Scotland, but the family said they were unaware of this change until 2012.

Tory UK Immigration minister Robert Goodwill last month urged the family to leave the country.

Goodwill ruled there were no exceptional circumstances that would justify allowing the Brains to stay in the UK and said the family would be contacted by Immigration Enforcement.