Open letter
Family Immigration
Rules
'I am writing to
request that you reconsider the new, harsher, family immigration
rules which were introduced in 2012. I have personally been affected
and have found myself effectively having to choose a life outside of
my home country with my Fijian husband, away from my family,
friends and job prospects, or to come back to the UK without my husband in order to
find work over the income threshold for six months and then wait a
further three months for a decision to be made.
'I am a recent Masters
graduate, having gained a Distinction from Oxford Brookes University
in December '2012. I will have no trouble at all in gaining work over
the income threshold when coming back to the UK, and I have applied
for jobs and received invites to interview for jobs way over the
income requirement. I wish to work in the UK and I loathe feeling
like my hard gained skills are being wasted by being here, in Fiji,
where I am not legally able to work or volunteer as a spouse for
three years. My parents have asked if they can sponsor us by
providing some money for our first couple of months and a place to
live rent free. They were shocked that this is not allowed under the
new rules – the rules are not reflecting the reality of how
families support each other.
'My husband and I were
married two months ago, after meeting in 2008 and
having been together for the the last two
years. I visited him on numerous occasions, this time for seven months, and the time apart was a strain on our
relationship, but necessary as I pursued a Masters degree to secure
our future. My husband has been employed ever since he left school,
would not accept social security benefits and wishes to
fully contribute to the UK economy. We are now faced with spending
the first year of our married life apart as we try to fulfill the
requirements to come to the UK as a couple. The thought of more time
apart makes me despair, and I have started to experience some
negative impacts on my mental health as a result of the worry.
'I was shocked to
discover that if I was an EEA national I would be able to bring my
non-EEA spouse to the UK to live and work, by just filling in some
paperwork, showing simple supporting documentation, and paying no fee
whatsoever for the privilege. How can this be a fair system, when I
am a well qualified UK national and I wish to live in my own country
with my husband?
'I realise that you are
very busy, and a gatekeeper is likely to divert this message
elsewhere before you have a chance to read it, but being here, away
from home, it seems like the best way to show how frustrated I am with
the new rules. We are good people, in a genuine relationship, and I
want to come back home. I didn't know that when I fell in love with
someone outside of the EEA I would face these barriers to
spending our lives together. I am requesting that you fully consider
the implications these rules are having on normal people, just like
us.'
Yours sincerely,
CD
So typical and so wrong.
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