A 96-year-old British woman has been refused a visa to live out her days in northern Tasmania with her only surviving family.
The Immigration Department says Gladys Jefferson was refused a visa because she would be a burden on the welfare system.
But it has frustrated her Australian family who say she has the means to pay her own way.
The great-grandmother was living on England’s Isle of Wight when she called her daughter Bridget Grigg in Tasmania to tell her that her health and memory had started to fail.
“My mother has always, always been incredibly independent,” Ms Grigg said.
“Then about 18 months ago she was talking to me on the phone one evening and she specifically asked if she could come and live with me.
“The previous phone call she said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think there is something wrong with my mind’.”
Having outlived family and friends in the UK, Mrs Jefferson’s only other option was a nursing home where she knew no-one.
Her family brought her to White Hills in northern Tasmania on a 12-month tourist visa and immediately applied for a contributory parent visa, which allows parents to join their children in Australia provided they can support themselves.
