Argus hoping letter will help Haywards Heath dad stay in UK.
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
BritCits Phil and Izzy step up their campaign. It was a real pleasure to meet Izzy and their lovely son Cooper at the 9th July demo. Cooper even led some chanting - 'Don't deport my daddy'. The question arises - why does a 9 year old know what the word 'deport' means? What kind of society is this???
There is also a magnificent campaign on behalf of the family, with support from the local press. Beautiful to see.
The Argus has sent a letter to the Home Secretary as it steps up its Don’t Deport Our Daddy campaign.
Australian father-of-three Phil Sommerville was told in April that he will be sent back to Australia – despite his British wife of 12 years and their three children who live in the UK.
His worried wife, Isabel, hopes the letter will spark an interest from Home Secretary Theresa May.
She said: “I hope the letter will be taken seriously and that TheresaMay will listen to us. As a family we have to have hope because what other choice do we have?
“It’s such a terrible situation to be in and I can’t really believe that it is my situation, mine and my family’s.”
The nightmare is based on a letter the Home Office claims to have sent in March requesting more documents to support Mr Sommerville’s visa application, but the family say it never arrived.
The family sent off the required papers for their second appeal on July 3, however they are still in the dark about when the judge will make his decision.
Mrs Sommerville said: “We are just playing a waiting game.
“We don’t get a court date as we chose not to go to court in the original appeal because we were assuming the outcome of the appeal would be fine.
“We appealed in April and only got the decision last week so we don’t know if it will take another three months or will it be quicker. We’re just in limbo really.”
Yesterday, Mrs Sommerville and her son Cooper, 12, were among hundreds who attended a protest outside the Home Office in London.
The demonstration marked a year to the day from when immigration laws ruled the spouse of the visa applicant must earn at least £18,000 before their visa can be approved.
MrsSommerville said: “There must have been a good couple of hundred people there and sadly there were about 35 other families that have an equally terrible story to tell.”
Links :
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10533520.Support_for_Haywards_Heath_father_facing_deportation/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10529653.___Mistakes____by_Home_Office_in_case_of_Haywards_Heath_dad_facing_deportation/?ref=nt
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Phillip Sommerville is of British descent. Among his ancestors is Dr Thomas Sydneham and Robert Whitehead, inventor of the Torpedo.
ReplyDeleteHis mother's grandparents are all from UK. There are many ancestors in UK, but apparently he doesn't qualify.
Here in Australia there was a family threatened with deportation, but later learned that if they lived two more houses down the street they could stay.
Phil Sommerville should move two houses down the road and GET A CAT !
Thanks for the comment. That's an interesting tidbit.
DeleteSuspect you meant it in jest, but worth pointing out that 'catgate' is a myth : http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/oct/04/theresa-may-wrong-cat-deportation - 'The home secretary is wrong,the decision not to deport an illegal immigrant had nothing to do with the pet cat'