Tourists overstaying backpacker visas have hit the headlines this month. (File pic)

In 2010, an Irishwoman was forced to leave Australia after being found to have falsified details on her application for a second working holiday visa.

Aoife (not her real name) told the Irish Echo about the experience and what led to her deportation.

“I arrived in Australia in March 2009 on a one-year visa. I really liked it and I decided I wanted to stay for the second year. I had completed five weeks of regional work in Bundaberg, but work dried up and I left.

“I went to Ayr to complete my three months’ regional work.

“When I got there, there was a waiting list a mile long and I had pretty much run out of cash. I needed a job asap, so I went to Melbourne at the end of August.

“I started working in an office and I didn’t get around to doing the rest of the regional work. A friend of a friend told me about this farmer who would sign off my forms saying I had worked for him, for a small fee. I did that and got my second year visa.

“I decided to go to Fiji for a holiday in August 2010. On the way back, I was going through Sydney airport en route to Melbourne when immigration called me in. They started grilling me about the work I had supposedly done in Victoria. After hours of questioning, they found a memory card from my camera in my suitcase.

“It showed that I was bungy jumping in Cairns when I was supposed to be picking berries in Victoria. I tried to fob them off by saying that I only went to Cairns for the weekend but they saw photos that were taken over a three-week period, and I was caught.

“They wanted me to tell them about the farmer that signed me off but I didn’t think it was of any benefit to get him into trouble.

“They said I’d have to go home. I was gutted – I couldn’t believe it was happening. I pleaded with them and asked if I could go to New Zealand to stay with my brother and they said no, they wouldn’t want me either.

“They said if I didn’t have money for a flight back to Ireland, I would have to go to a detention centre, which freaked the hell out of me.

“Luckily, I had been saving to travel the west coast and I had the money. A one-way flight to London cost nearly $2,000 but I didn’t care at that stage.

“I didn’t get to say any goodbyes or get to collect any of my stuff.

“I was escorted onto the plane by a man from British Airways and two security guards, which I thought was a bit much. I know I broke the rules but I was hardly a danger to anyone.

“It was horrible coming home, as I loved living in Australia so much. I had a good life there and I was not ready to come home, but c’est la vie …

“When I came back, I tried to get the one-year working holiday visa for New Zealand but they wouldn’t give it to me.”