Caitlin is facing deportation over two weeks of missed work

Exclusive: Scottish expat Caitlin Fraser wanted to spend the rest of her life in Australia.

Now she’s facing deportation over two weeks of missed work that could make her ineligible for permanent residency.

“I’m not sleeping at the moment out of fear, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she told 9news.com.au.

“I’ve been here for six years, all my family are here, and I have a house and a dog. I have nowhere to go.”

The 31-year-old moved to Australia in 2019 on a Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa, then applied for a Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa in 2023.

It would allow her to live and work in Australia for up to two years, after which time she’d apply for a Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) Visa to become a permanent resident.

A migration agent told her it was a “clear pathway” to permanent residency

TSS visas are employer sponsored, so Fraser found a small business in Sydney that agreed to sponsor her as a restaurant manager.

At the time, it was an eligible occupation for that visa.

With the business sponsoring her and the help of a professional migration lawyer, Fraser applied for and was granted a TSS visa in September 2023.

She moved from Ballarat to Sydney and started work two weeks later.

To be eligible for a TRT visa and permanent residency, Fraser would have to work for the same employer for two full years.

She knew her existing TSS visa would expire two weeks shy of that milestone but there was no limit on how many times she could apply for a TSS visa while in Australia, so Fraser simply planned to apply for a second TSS visa to cover the extra time.

That plan went up in flames this year.

In May, Fraser received a devastating call from her migration agent.

They explained that changes to Australia’s visas meant Fraser was no longer allowed to renew her visa, nor would she be eligible to apply for a TRT visa by the time it expired.

Suddenly, she was facing the very real possibility of deportation.

In December 2024, the TSS visa was replaced by the Skills in Demand (SID) visa.

People who had already been granted TSS visas would be allowed to stay in Australia until the visa’s expiry date but they would not be allowed to renew.

Some could apply for SID visas – but not Fraser, as restaurant manager is not on the list of eligible occupations.

“Whilst the occupation of Café or Restaurant Manager was previously available for nomination for a Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa, the occupation has not been included on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and is therefore ineligible for nomination for a SID visa,” a Department of Home Affairs spokesperson told 9news.

It means she will have to leave the country when her current visa expires, just two weeks shy of completing the two years of fulltime work required to apply for a TRT visa.

Of the employment requirements for a TRT visa, the Department spokesperson said “applicants are required to demonstrate they have worked in eligible sponsored employment for at least two out of the last three years while holding a 457 [Temporary Work (Skilled) visa] or 482 [formerly TSS, now SID] visa”.

Fraser is frustrated that changes made to the TSS visa long after she was approved have now made her ineligible for permanent residency.

“The injustice is insane,” she said.

“This should be for new people applying, not for someone who’s at the end of the visa. This isn’t what I paid for.”

Fraser paid $14,000 to secure her existing visa with the help of an immigration lawyer.

She’s now working with them in the hopes of finding a solution that will allow her to legally work in Australia for the extra two weeks she need to be eligible for a TRT visa.

If and when she is able to apply for that visa, she will be granted a bridging visa that will cover her while it is processed.

But Fraser fears she won’t make it that far.

Even if she finds a way to legally work the extra two weeks, she may not be able to afford to apply for permanent residency.

Applying for a TRT visa costs upwards of $4900 and Fraser has been quoted $9000 in additional fees from her immigration lawyer.

She’s still paying off the $14,000 from her TSS visa and had hoped that renewing it would give her more time to save money for the TRT application.

“I live week to week, I’m on the minimum that they can give me, and I live in Sydney which is the most expensive city in the world,” she said.

Applying without the assistance of an immigration lawyer to save money isn’t an option either.

“It’s impossible for me alone to do the application in eight weeks. It’s a massive process, even the migration officers are going to find it hard to do it in that time,” Fraser said.

Fraser’s family have started an online crowdfunding campaign to help cover the costs.

If she’s unable to secure or pay for a new visa before her TSS visa expires, she’ll be forced to leave Australia on September 14.

With no savings and no family back in Scotland, Fraser doesn’t know where she’ll go if that comes to pass.

She fears she won’t be the only one forced out of the country due to changes to the old TSS visa.