By Gary Cooper

AN ANGUS woman who has called Scotland her home for 78 years says she faces being thrown out of the country in less than a week’s time.

Marguerite Grimmond, who was born in the US, has spent the last three weeks with her husband Dave battling bureaucracy in a bid to remain at their home in Kirriemuir.

But despite the anxiety it has caused, the 80-year-old remains upbeat about the threat hanging over her and last night joked, “If I see men with bowler hats coming to the door next week, I’ll hide under the stairs.”

Immigration officials told her last month she was allowed to stay in the UK for only four weeks after a passport problem emerged at the end of a trip-of-a-lifetime.

The couple had flown off to Australia on May 1 to celebrate Mrs Grimmond’s 80th birthday and to see their son Brian who emigrated there last year. They flew out from Edinburgh to Heathrow and on to Singapore and then Sydney, returning via Bangkok to Heathrow on May 23.

No one batted an eyelid about her documents until the homeward leg.

When Mrs Grimmond arrived back in London, an immigration official spotted her passport lacked a Home Office stamp, meaning she could not legally re-enter the UK.

He gave her a month to stay officially, during which time her passport would have to be sent to Liverpool to be updated, she said.

The couple then learned they had to pay £750 to fix the immigration wrangle and were in a race against time to get a cheque to the Home Office.

“Once I get the stamp on the passport, I think that means that I have been naturalised,” Mrs Grimmond explained.

Last month was her first trip abroad since arriving from the States in 1929 on her mother’s passport, having spent her first two years in the Detriot area.

The pensioner arranged to get a passport of her own from the American Consulate in Edinburgh for her visit Down Under.

“I only got the passport for this one visit to Australia, not meaning to use it again,” she continued.

“I just can’t believe what is happening to me. I have paid taxes here, I have voted, I have worked and I have done everything according to the law—after all, I am married to a retired policeman.

“I feel I am a Scot and I am married to a Scot with a Scots mum.

“When we got the passport, no one told us about getting this stamp which has caused so much trouble.”

Mrs Grimmond was brought up in Arbroath and when she married, her husband’s work took them to Carnoustie, Airlie and Kirriemuir, spending their retirement in Kirriemuir.

Her whole life is centred in Scotland and she said of the possibility of being sent to the States, “I don’t have anybody over there.”

They are hopeful of a positive outcome, although Mrs Grimmond added, “It is in the lap of the gods.”

Her husband said of the saga, “This fiasco shows a commendable efficiency in detecting illegal immigrants—even an 80-year-old lady.

“But it appears to be ludicrous that my wife should be subjected to this in order to be allowed to remain in a country where she has stayed for 78 years.”

A Home Office spokesman who was aware of the Grimmonds’ plight last night said he could not comment on it.

But he added, “All applications made to the Border and Immigration Agency are considered on a case-by-case basis.”