http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23029195
British citizens are bypassing immigration regulations to get their relatives into the UK, using a technicality that means that if they work in another European country for three months, they can be considered under EU rather than British law on their return. Is this cheating the system or just getting past unfair rules?
Sarah Pitard is a screenwriter from Chicago who had been living in the UK for four years on student visas when she married actor Chris Hall from Swindon, in December 2012.
When the couple applied for their marriage visa the UK Border Agency returned their form saying they had not enclosed payment details. The couple maintain that these details had been included, but by that time it was too late for them to re-apply as Sarah's existing visa was about to expire.
"Our visa was refused and when I calculated how many days I was allowed to stay in the UK it turned out we had 48 hours to leave the country, otherwise I would have been banned for 10 years.
"I called Chris who had just left for a big theatre tour, and I said 'You gotta come back - meet me at St. Pancras'," Pitard recalls. "And we just shot out on the Eurostar and landed in Paris. I had never even been to France."
The full programme : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yj2pp
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More on the Surinder Singh route :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/surinder%20singh
A Surinder Singh primer :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/free-movement-to-ireland-this-is-one.html
Journey to Dublin :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/133697288/Journey-to-Dublin
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https://twitter.com/stephleroux :
The heavy price a few have to pay for a misguided #UK #immigration policy
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