“ I want people to know I am not a statistic affected by these new rulings, I am a person whose life has been ripped apart; I can’t see how there is going to be a future for me while these rulings are in place. Time is running out for me, I acknowledge I am not a young man any more and this is my last chance of happiness. Why should it be cruelly snatched away from me?”
David is a British citizen, in his mid-fifties, and from the East Midlands.
He has been self-employed in the graphics industry, before which he worked for HM Forces. He also has a fiancée who lives in Manila, with whom he has been in a relationship for three years. His fiancée is a qualified accountant.
David lived in Manila to assess the way of life there and its suitability for him. His fiancée visited the UK to see what life here would be like, should they decide to live here. They travelled extensively - to London, Scotland and the Midlands - to give her a better idea, before she had to return to Manila and her job.
With the current economic climate finding work has not been easy; David is seeking employment working in the graphic art or retail management fields.
David lives in an area of the country where the average wage is nowhere near £18,600. He has signed up with over 30 job agencies, spending hours each day on my laptop applying for vacancies paying the elusive £18,600. Until then, he is surviving on his savings.
David has also been looking at jobs outside of his home area; any job, anywhere in the UK that will pay a salary that meets the criteria. Alas, it is hard enough trying to secure full time employment at his age without having to continually fight red tape.
David’s experience with his MP has not been successful. While his MP was initially sympathetic and seemed keen to help David with the situation, it eventually turned into a ‘rules are rules’ response.
Letters he has received from the Minister of Immigration and his MP have not been helpful – they simply state the rules with which David is already familiar. Not much help from those who get paid to represent us, their constituents and the citizens of this country they have an obligation to look out for!
David has worked hard all his life; paid his taxes and national insurance (which he continues to pay even now). He just wants to be able to live in his home, with his fiancée – a qualified accountant working in the treasury department for one of the largest companies in the Philippines.
David's fiancee speaks English more fluently than many British people – surely, but surely, she would be an asset not a liability to this country?
David has got to the point at which he doesn’t know which way to turn; this situation is destroying him bit by bit with each passing day.
It is making him ill, he doesn’t sleep with all the worry…all he wants is to be able to lead a normal happy life with his partner.
Indeed, David is at a disadvantage because he was born in the UK, and fell in love with a beautiful woman from the South Pacific.
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