Sean & Sherry Ann

“I haven’t seen my son as I can’t afford to fly across whilst working to be able to support them.”

Sean is a British citizen, who married Sherry Ann from the Philippines, in April 2010 in the Cavite region.

Sean stayed in the Philippines for around four months, before returning to the UK to find work.

They were under immense financial strain and were lucky to have help from Sean’s parents for the birth of their first child, Sean Paul, in September 2010. Sean returned to the Philippines in November 2010 to help his wife through the severe complications with their son’s heart. The cord was wrapped around his neck and the baby was not receiving sufficient oxygen.

Sadly, Sean Paul made it to just two months when the family made the heart wrenching decision to let him go. Sean stayed in the Philippines as his wife was distraught and needed the support from her husband.

Sean returned to the UK in July 2011 to a job he had been lucky to secure through a friend. The family started saving money – they were expecting their second child. In December 2011, Sean Eric was born – full of life for which the family is immensely grateful.

With having to send money to the Philippines however, Sean has found it very difficult to save up for his family to move to the UK, to live with him. He is yet to meet Sean Eric who he has only seen through Skype and photos.

The £18,600 requirement has all but destroyed their hope of being a family. Their son has grandparents in the UK who have never met their only grandson. A British child has never met his own father.

Notes on last night's adjournment debate

The Hansard for last night's adjournment debate is up :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130909/debtext/130909-0004.htm#1309102001138

And mirrored here, to help find it in the future :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/167101510/Adjournment-Debate-09sep2013

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

Excerpts :

Andrew Percy (Con, Brigg and Goole):
Shantar’s visa application has been rejected on a number of grounds. Two of them were
technical issues to do with some lost paperwork. The embassy in Cambodia apparently lost her English language certificate, which I have managed to get a copy of, and it is hoped that that problem will be solved. Another issue regards accommodation in the UK, which has been, or is being, resolved.

... Denying some of those people access to join their family is having a detrimental effect on the UK economy. When they come here their passports are stamped with the words “No recourse to public funds”, but they are often people who, if they were here working, as in the case of my constituent, whose wife has a job offer, would be paying tax and contributing to the UK economy.


No recourse to public funds image : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/jay-alberto-we-just-want-to-live-our.html

Neil Parish (Con, Tiverton and Honiton) :
I have a constituent called Mrs Celia Elizabeth Parr who is married to a doctor from Ecuador, and they have a little child. Mrs Parr lives in Colyton, and she has enough self-employed income, but she has experienced huge problems getting her husband into the country. We very much support tighter immigration controls, but we seem to be stopping people who have a legitimate right to be here from putting their family back together again.

Lizzie's story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/lizzie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN6vuL8vrhg
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/britcits-supporter-lizzie-in-sunday.html
https://twitter.com/LizzieCeliParr

Fiona Mactaggart (Lab, Slough) :
 One of the things that has distressed me about the many cases that I face in Slough is having to say to one or two of my constituents who are dual nationals from another EU country that it would be in their interests not to use their British citizenship, but to go and work in the country of another EU citizenship —  say, Irish —  and then bring their spouse here.

Surinder Singh : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/surinder%20singh
For newbies : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/surinder-singh-for-newbies-httpwww.html

Kerry McCarthy (Lab, Bristol East) :
I have a constituent who wants to be in Bristol to look after his sick parents. He has a Thai wife. They have moved to Spain so that they can take advantage of the laws there and eventually come to the UK. That is ludicrous. He has had to go and live in Spain with his wife and child although they have no connection with that country at all, as that is the only way round the rules.

'A British family will be divided' - Sean's story is being referred to here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/on-1st-september-2013-british-family.html

Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds NW) :
As he will know, another issue of huge concern is Syria. As he said, people cannot help whom they fall in love with. Does he agree that the case of Christine Gilmore, a constituent of mine who is trying to bring her husband, Ziad, over here, really shows that we have an extra need to prioritise those who are at threat in a war situation?

Christine's story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/christine
https://twitter.com/chris8tine
Shafik's story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/shafik

Jane Ellison (Con, Battersea) :
...He is aware of a very long-running case that he has been dealing with and about which we have spoken very often. Self-employment can be an issue, particularly for someone who has had periods of maternity leave. Obviously, that challenge particularly affects women. Will he remain open to looking to make adjustments on such issues?

Marianne's story is being referred to here :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/marianne
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband

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Tory MP initiates debate on spouse visas - asks are we implementing 'sensible' rules? :
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/tory-mp-initiates-debate-spouse-visas-asks-are-we-implementing-sensible-rules

Amy and Sean

“We will not stop fighting for the right to be together.”

Amy is a 20 year old British citizen. She is married to Sean, 23 years old and South African.

 

They met in 2009 when Amy went over to South Africa for the wedding of a British friend, marrying
a South African.

Amy and Sean had a long-distance relationship until 2010, when she decided to join Sean in South Africa where they lived together until May 2012. Amy is very close to her family back home though and returned to the UK every few months to see them.
 

Whilst in South Africa, Amy witnessed countless violent situations, deaths and several incidents where even her home was broken into by intruders with weapons.
 

Although all this was a normal occurrence for Sean, for Amy it was difficult to reconcile this with the relative safety in the UK, or have this as an environment where she was happy raising any children they may have.
 

The violence affected Amy on a fundamental level. She started to refuse to leave the house. She’d only sleep during the day when she felt safer.
 

It got bad enough that Sean noticed and began to fear that something would happen to his wife, who was only in the country for him.
 

So in May 2012 the couple moved to the UK. Sean had been to the UK twice before; in June 2011 and December 2011.
 

On 23rd June 2012 Amy and Sean married in a beautiful ceremony attended by Amy’s family.

Directly after the wedding, they began job hunting, for it was once Amy had a job that they’d be able to apply for a spouse visa for Sean. However in July 2012 the rules changed mandating a minimum income level beyond anything that Amy alone would be able to achieve.
 

It was not possible for Amy to return to South Africa – she just wasn’t coping there. The idea of moving back left her in cold sweats and with severe anxiety. Sean naturally refused to take steps which would put his wife in harm's way.
 

The couple sought advice from Kings Court Chambers and through them, applied for Discretionary Leave to Remain for Sean. With their application in November 2012, they included Amy’s psychology report, showing she had been diagnosed with a very high form of PTSD.
 

Amy was feeling positive, getting the application together. It was a step towards being with her husband, in her home country, where she felt safe.
 

Until July 2013, nearly nine months later, they received the refusal decision. They were devastated. Accompanied with the refusal letter, clearly a copy and paste job, the Home Office had stated that though they realised it would cause the couple hardship, they could easily return to South Africa and continue their life there.
 

Amy is currently in a government funded apprenticeship position with the promise of a managerial position at the end of her training. She fought for this position and if she loses it, she won't get it again, and she would never get an opportunity like this in South Africa.
 

Sean has good qualifications in music, having had a successful music career in South Africa. He is fluent in English and has a decent amount of savings which due to being unable to work even during the application process have been somewhat eroded.
 

He is eminently employable though and has a deep seated willingness to work.
 

They have sought help from their local MP, Sir James Paice, who has also written a letter in support of their situation to the Home Office. However the couple continues to wait.
 

Sean refuses to leave his wife. Amy refuses to let Sean go.
 

The couple has vowed to fight for as long as they can for the right to be together.

On the 1st September 2013, a British family will be divided

On the 1st September 2013,  a British family will be divided

Background on Sean's story was posted here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/sean-i-am-desperate-to-return-home-to.html . Sean is a British citizen, with a non-EEA spouse, who has lived in South East Asia for a few years. The couple has a son, also a British citizen. Because the rules lock so many expat Brits into exile, Sean is desperate to return to the country of his birth to care for his elderly, sick parents. Sean is in the process of pursuing the EEA route to be with his family - a family divided. He continues to fight to be with all his loved one.

On the 1^st of September 2013, a British family will be divided. A British father and his three year old British son will be forced to live in exile. They will have to live and find work in Spain. They have never been there and don’t speak the language.

Father and husband:

I desperately want to stay in the UK, work and help look after my aging parents. They are in their seventies and both have been fighting cancer. My father had a fall this week and mother is in severe pain with her back. I worry so much and I can’t bear to leave them. I can’t help thinking I may never see them again.

My little boy has brought them so much pleasure over the last months and he in turn has learned so much from them. He loves them so much it will be a terrible thing to take him away from them. There will be real heartache and lots of tears when we leave. I really do not want to go, but if we stay my son will loose his mother. What choice do I have?

I have chosen Spain as I think it might be the best place for me to find work as an English teacher. I am scared though. How will we cope? What about language and culture problems? How will my son get on? If I we can’t survive there what will we do? I can’t work in my wife’s country and she will not even be able to enter mine. We will be in limbo. We will have to split up. My son will have a broken family.

Grandparents:

We are coming to the end of our years and all we want is our family around us. Having our son and grandson around is the best medicine we could possible get. But now we have to say goodbye to them at the airport. We don’t know when we will see them again. This is tragic.

We don’t understand why after all these years as hard working, law abiding British citizens we are faced with this situation. What makes us really angry and ashamed to be British is that any other European citizens can just walk into England and live and work just like that. An unmarried Polish/Thai couple with no children can just move here without restriction, yet our British grandson is expected to live without his mother.

Wife and mother:

This is all my fault. I feel so bad for breaking up my husband’s family. My parents in law need their son and grandson. I said maybe I should just leave and go home. I couldn’t though. How can any mother be expected to leave her child. I would be quite happy to go back to my rice farming village in Thailand, but it is not a good place for my child and my husband cannot work in my country. I only want what is best for them. I don’t really matter in all of this.

I thought western countries were very civilized. I don’t really understand why this is happening. I am sure no other country would allow a mother to be taken from her child or expect a father and child to live in another country.

Three year old boy:

I want to be with nanny and grampy. I don’t want to see anyone cry. I don’t want my daddy to be so anxious and sad. I don’t want to loose my mummy. I want to go to school and learn. I want everyone to be happy.

Read and share, please. #spouse #child #elderlydependants #britishcitizens #surindersingh #expatinexile #dividedfamiliescampaign

Mirrored here : http://www.scribd.com/doc/154379210/British-Family-to-Be-Divided

 

Sean & Mari

“I am keen for my small family to be near my parents, to gain recognition of our family as a legal unit and be around to look after my parents as they get older.”

Sean is a British citizen. He spent the first 19 years of his life in St Helen’s Merseyside, growing up on a council estate. When he was 18, by a stroke of luck, he came across the love of his life.

One night he commented on an Oasis music video, something he did often. This time however, his comment led to a discussion on music with Mari, in Chile. They spent the next year talking online, following which Sean managed to scrape together enough money to go visit her in Chile. It was a dream come true.

Sean arrived in Chile on 12th August 2009 when he was 19 and had finished college. He has been living there since - Mari needed to finish university and Sean was supportive of her wanting to pursue further education.

Sean and Mari married in January 2013. It was awful for Sean not having his family there – but they could not afford the journey. Sean lives with Mari’s family, for whom Sean is like a son. But living in Chile has not been easy.

They experienced an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale when their life flashed before
them. And Sean knew home was where he wanted to be in the long-term. They agreed to move to the UK once Mari’s education was complete.

Sean is not rich nor does he pretend to be. He hasn’t been in UK since 2009 – hasn’t seen his family since then. As Mari has now finished university, Sean and Mari are working together to save money for their life together, hoping this will allow them a head start when they return to UK.

Sean has a dream. To see his family and have them meet his wife. He wants to have a small celebration in UK so his family can be part of his nuptials. He wants to spend time with his mum who recently had a heart attack.

But when Sean found out what the requirements are for a spouse visa, it’s like his heart stopped and he hasn’t stopped feeling helpless ever since. Research he carried out showed the new rules prevent 40% of the British working population from sponsoring a non-EEA spouse.

Sean feels as if the rules allow only the rich to fall in love...a working class Brit dare not make that
mistake. Most people in St Helen’s don’t earn anywhere near this amount.

All Sean wants is to come and live in UK with his wife; to be close to his mum. This young couple will work and pay their way. Sean does not think it’s right that he has to leave his wife for likely over 12 months it will take for him to find a job paying over £18,600, working in it for 6 months and then having UKBA process the spouse application. He can’t be apart from her that long.

When they married they promised each other to be together, to live together.

Sean has received some positive response from David Ward, MP for Bradford East, who has told him:
“It is cases such as yours which have encouraged me to challenge the income limit on spouse visas. I believe that these rules are unfair and that they prevent people in genuine marriages from being able to live happily with their partner. The limit effectively rules out large numbers of people (particularly in areas outside of London) from being able to afford to bring their partner into the UK. It effectively rules out people in certain professions from ever being able to bring their partners to the UK."

Support from this MP is the only thing giving Sean hope that he’ll return to his home one day.

Sean

“I am desperate to return home to spend time with my parents in their final years..as they are both fighting cancer…but I can’t leave my wife! ”

Sean is a British citizen who for the past ten years has worked in South East Asia. Sean's wife is from that region and together, they have a three year old son, also British. Sean’s parents, also British, live in the UK.

Both of Sean's parents are battling cancer and Sean is keen to spend time with his parents in their last few years and ensure his son gets to spend that incredibly precious time with the grandparents that for many of us, has been invaluable in our own lives.

However, because of this government, Sean and his son are now facing the prospect of never being able to return here - to their home, their family and the lives they are entitled to.

Sean’s parents are devastated at the prospect of never seeing Sean or their beloved grandson again.

They are depressed, habitually in tears and at a time when cancer is attacking them, so is this government.

Sean is horrified that his little boy will never experience a family Christmas or the warmth and love of his grandparents.

This government has deemed that in order for Sean, as a British citizen to return to the UK he must abandon his wife because he just doesn’t make an arbitrary amount of £18,600 in the developing country he is living in – an amount he does not need to live on there.

This government has deemed that for Sean’s son to be able to live in his home and get to know his
grandparents, he must either live with his mum in Asia or his dad in the UK.

This government is encouraging the breakup of a marriage and family, forcing British citizens into exile, and forcing elderly British citizens in a time of need, to battle debilitating diseases alone.

What’s even more unbelievable is that these new rules only affect British citizens with non-EU spouses. Other EU citizens have the freedom to live in Sean’s home country with their non-EU spouses..but because Sean is British he has additional hurdles to jump over.

We have no answer for Sean when he asked us to explain to him why he, as British citizen, and his son, also a British citizen, are forced to live in exile. The rights of Sean’s non-European spouse are not the issue here. The issue is around the rights we afford British citizens and families, and the heartbreak this government deems it justified to wreak on its own people.

When did we become a society where an elderly British couple battling cancer are forced to do it without their British son to support them?

Perhaps the government can tell us why.

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A quote from Ian Dunt, posting at http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2013/01/18/comment-how-the-government-breaks-up-british-families , springs to mind :

Our constant obsession with immigration is making this a hard, mean place; a place that splits up families so it can satisfy David Cameron's absent-minded promise of 'tens-of-thousands' coming in a year.