BritCits

Saturday morning

https://twitter.com/bmagnanti tweets :So I became a British citizen last week and was welcomed by... err, Jacqui Smith?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9959770/Why-is-Jacqui-Smith-welcoming-me-as-a-British-citizen-in-2013.html

Very good article, and in return welcome to Telegraph readers who've found britcits.com through the link Dr. Magnanti has provided within the text.

... Many families whose applications came after the change have not been as lucky. Earlier this month a debate in the Commons heard evidence from British families split up by these new rules. Families that find, to their surprise, they have fewer rights to bring loved ones into the UK than other EU citizens living here do.

It's hard to square the circle when you live in a country that says it wants migrants to integrate, then does everything in its power to stop you doing that. I would have welcomed a visa interview that asked me questions about our marriage instead of my husband's income. I would have welcomed a citizenship class instead of an outdated and irrelevant test. Migration is a strong part of my family's history: as you can probably tell from my surname, we're not native Americans, either.

From start to finish this process has been expensive in every sense. Costing some £12,000 over the years, countless hours of stress and worry, and weeks - sometimes months - of uncertainty, never knowing if I would be allowed to stay even though the majority of my working life has been spent working here and paying taxes. ('No taxation without representation'… something my countrymen in the States went to war over. The irony was not lost on me.)

But that money, which I once would have grumbled could have bought another master's degree, has gained me something more than just the Tunnocks Tea Cakes and keepsake map of Scotland we received in the ceremony. The knowledge that the family we have made can continue to live here without fear of deportation. Now I can start planning a future beyond when the next visa ends, a real and lasting life with someone I love.

Previously by Brooke Magnanti -

Theresa May's immigration plan is a one-size-fits-none fix :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/26/theresa-may-migrants-immigration

May writes the changes "will reduce the burdens on the taxpayer, promote integration and tackle abuse". This invokes a Britain of Littlejohnesque nightmares with borders easily infiltrated by sinister foreigners – a hilarious notion to anyone who's had to deal with the UK Border Agency's byzantine bureaucracy.

Britain's migration rules are tearing families apart :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9688898/Britains-migration-rules-are-tearing-families-apart.html

Word is now starting to filter through as the first group of applicants find out their fate, that families are being split up and made to live apart. Regardless of how long they've been married before the application. Regardless of whether they have children.
For those new to this situation - the stories of some of those affected (among many) are chronicled here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
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https://twitter.com/gerardhearne tweets :
Donna Oettinger (and Zackary) did not satisfy the income threshold, RIP.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/rip-i-was-afraid-something-like-this.html

That's the devastating toll of these rules for some.
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Guide to free movement in Europe, the rights of citizens and their families. Essential reading for those going down the European path :
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/citizenship/docs/guide_free_movement_low.pdf

Also mirrored at :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/132967967/Guide-Free-Movement-Low

Resources for those considering this route :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/another-resource-for-those-considering.html

Family unity: the European way : http://jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/02/07/family-unity-european-way
 ... by Chris Mead of http://familyimmigrationalliance.wordpress.com/
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Kabul girls’ boxing team refused UK entry for International Women’s Day.

http://www.womensgrid.org.uk/iwd/?p=2707

The UK Border Agency in Delhi have, for the second time, refused entry visas into the UK for Sadaf Rahem, Fahima Mohammad, Shabnam Rahman. The three boxers were on their way to the UK to train and fight as guests of the foundation Women in Sport to mark International Women’s Day on March 8th.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, the decision has been lambasted as ‘utterly ridiculous’ and ‘at odds with the ideals of the Olympic legacy’.

Via https://twitter.com/SalCardiff
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https://twitter.com/ilonapin tweets :
"The government is scraping the barrel of morality in its attack on migrant children"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/mar/27/ministers-immigration-crackdown-education-tourists
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https://twitter.com/emilyfchurchill tweets :
Pope washes feet of young Muslim woman prisoner in unprecedented twist on Maundy Thursdayhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9960168/Pope-washes-feet-of-young-Muslim-woman-prisoner-in-unprecedented-twist-on-Maundy-Thursday.html
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https://twitter.com/britcits immigrant of the day :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelios_Haji-Ioannou

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