By Findlay Mair

A 96-YEAR-OLD woman described as “nearly blind” and who moved to Australia to be with her family is being deported to Scotland, her relatives have said.

Christina Grant also has “mild dementia”, say relatives.

She moved to New South Wales to stay with son Allan and daughter-in-law Diane after her elder son Robert, who looked after her in Scotland, died two years ago.

Mrs Grant, originally from Dulnain Bridge, Strathspey, thought she was complying with the terms of her visa.

But it stipulates she must leave Australia once a year and, despite the nonagenarian taking a cruise in international waters, it has expired.

Since the visa has expired, rather than been cancelled, her family are unable to appeal to the administration appeals tribunal.

In a Facebook post her daughter-in-law blamed Australian bureaucracy for “unreasonably” expiring her visa.

She wrote: “Here is 96-year-old mum with bag packed, ready to leave her only close family and her home for the last couple of years, and being sent back to Scotland – hopefully to a nursing home – after the bureaucrats here unreasonably expired her visa.

“If it had instead been cancelled we could have gone to the administration appeals tribunal who, I believe, would have overturned it.

“The immigration department has kept themselves and us very busy, filling in endless forms over the last few months, and offer no help or advice.”

The Australian High Commission in London has been asked to comment.