Vic: Murder victim's fiancee may be deported

AAP General News (Australia)
08-29-2001
Vic: Murder victim's fiancee may be deported

MELBOURNE, Aug 29 AAP - The woman who was within two days of marrying a man murdered
in a Melbourne nightclub on July 21 may be deported after her visa expires on Friday.

Soraya (eds: one name), 22, may be ordered to return to her native Laos after a seven-year
stay in Melbourne, despite the fact that if the marriage had gone ahead she would now
be eligible for permanent residency in Australia, it was reported today.

Her fiance, David Lay, had become an Australian citizen after leaving East Timor in 1989.

Mr Lay was stabbed several times with a small-bladed knife at the Salt nightclub in
South Yarra, and as yet nobody has been charged in connection with his murder.

Department of Immigration officials have told Soraya she may have to leave Australia
in order to re-apply for residency.

"I'd like to keep my visa because David is buried here, and I'd like to be close,"

she told the Herald Sun.

"If I had the choice, I'd always stay in Melbourne."

AAP db/apm

KEYWORD: LAY

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