Alex is a British citizen who moved to the UK with his mum about ten
years ago, as a child. His mother is a British
citizen and lives here with Alex’s stepfather, also British.
Since living here,
Alex and his mum have fully integrated into the UK. It’s their home, they both
work full-time, pay their taxes, National Insurance and have revoked their
Kazakh citizenships as well.
Their ties with Kazakhstan exist by way of Alex’s grandmother, who at 69 lives alone there. Although Alex and his
mum make regular visits to her, and send her money to pay for her living
expenses, it’s now how they want her to continue the rest of her life.
Like many kids, Alex
spent a lot of time with his grandma when in Kazakhstan. His mum, a single parent worked long hours
for the three of them to have a roof over their heads and food on the table. When they left the country, the grandma was
younger, healthier with an active social life.
Recently though, her
entire network of friends and family have left Kazakhstan to live with their
own families, or are now deceased. She
has no family or friends nearby, and her health is deteriorating every day,
surrounded by loneliness. She has issues
with her pancreas and heart, and while Alex and his mum have been paying for
her medication out there, restrictions mean it is not easy to buy food in Kazakhstan
to meet the strict dietary requirements imposed by the doctor, as these are
simply not available in the town she lives in.
She is not physically
able to do essentials. Some social
services help out with the cleaning of the house and shopping, there is no
provision to help with regular checks to make sure she is okay. To help with bathing and cooking. There are no private companies who offer that
service that Alex has been able to locate; and is it really prudent to entrust
the care of a vulnerable person to a stranger who knows the only family is in
another country? There are horrific
stories of abuse in the UK, despite our stringent standards. What would it be
like in another country with fewer regulations?
The family is worried
about their elderly relative becoming a target of criminal activity; corruption
is rife in the area and they target the vulnerable, especially elderly who it
is known have family around.
The family made a settlement application in 2012 before the new ADR
rules were introduced, which was refused on some confusing grounds; that
there was no evidence of the money being given to the grandma. The grandma has no income of her own and Alex
and his mother provided for her by taking money with them to Kazakhstan on
their regular visits. Because this was
not documented in the way the Home Office wanted, the application was refused
and unfortunately, the family lost at appeal as well.
The family learnt
their lesson and are now documenting the money transfers, although this means
incurring extra costs and making it harder for their grandma to access the
funds. However, given the nature of the
ADR rules, the family is sure they would still not fulfil UK’s requirements for
an ADR visa, deemed as a ban masquerading as a rule.
The family can
provide for their grandma, even with private health insurance, without recourse
to public funds. They just want to be able to provide a home for her to live
in, with her family. Neither Alex nor
his mum can move to Kazakhstan as that impacts their financial security thus
affecting their ability to pay for the grandma. They are now considering becoming yet
another family forced to leave UK to live in another EU country in the hope of
family reunification, outside of the reaches of Home Office. A drastic
measure, but the only alternative to leaving their elderly relative to die
alone, with health, physical and emotional needs not being met.
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