Afghan veteran threatened with deportation allowed to stay.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10453629/Afghan-veteran-threatened-with-deportation-allowed-to-stay.html

 'A Fijian soldier threatened with deportation after twice fighting for Britain in Afghanistan has been allowed to stay after the Home Secretary intervened personally on his behalf.

'Filimone Lacanivalu, who has served in the Armed Forces for nine years, was due to be flown back to Fiji on Sunday night but following a personal review of his case by Theresa May and Mark Harper, the immigration minister, he has been granted permission to remain.

'Mr Lacanivalu, 34, has been detained for the past month at an immigration centre near Heathrow Airport after he went to see officials at a Home Office centre in Croydon, south London, to clear up his residency status. '
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MP in last ditch bid to halt Vietnam veteran's deportation.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/mp-last-ditch-bid-halt-2640872

'AN MP has demanded to see the Immigration Minister in a last-ditch attempt to stop a Vietnam veteran from being kicked out of Scotland.

'Jim Hood wants the decision to deport pensioner Marx Hirsch, who has lived here for 47 years, to be reversed.

'He hopes to plead the former navy petty officer’s case with minister Mark Harper on Monday – just
24 hours before Marx, 74, fears border agents will turn up at his door in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, and march him off to the airport. '
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Home Office issues 'end of life plan' to hunger-striking asylum seeker.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/end-of-life-plan-hunger-striker

Decision to keep mentally ill Nigerian man in immigration detention centre seen as part of hardline approach by ministers.

"I was afraid, but now I am a skeleton and almost dead.

"There is so little of me left and I am not afraid. But they – the authorities – have not treated me as a human being and that is wrong."

Personal experience of Surinder Singh - from Fiji to Ireland.

Family unity, the European way, and an inspiration to those going through the process. Via Facebook.

'Hi everyone, just put down our experience with SS in a document - hopefully it is easy to follow. Will add to it/make improvements but the info might be useful to someone.'

http://www.scribd.com/doc/161732861/Personal-Experience-of-SS-From-Fiji-to-Ireland

We will have a Guinness or two to wish you luck on your journey, and give us a message if youwant to meet up when you get here (or if you are already here!). In fact, just message us aboutanything, we'd love to help you out :)

The BritCits library :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/p/library.html

Five more personal testimonies of the European path to family unity :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/how-to-do-surinder-singh-route.html

Open letter

An open letter to Theresa May, from someone affected by the rules.

Dear Rt Hon Theresa May MP,

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