BritCits

Families divided then and now: UK spousal visa requirements in 1976 and 2013.

http://hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/families-divided-then-and-now/

'It is unsurprising to see that the bureaucratic requirements needed to be fulfilled have grown exponentially over the last 40 years as the legislation regarding who can enter the country has grown tighter and tighter. The fear by the authorities that people are exploiting the spousal visa system far outweighs the numbers of people ‘caught’ doing so and disproportionately places an unnecessary bureaucratic burden upon those wishing to accompany/join their families in the UK. The result of British immigration control policy is the 1970s-80s, as it is now, is families divided.'
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It shouldn't be this hard to bring in your spouse.

http://descrier.co.uk/magazine/2013/07/immigration-it-shouldnt-be-this-hard-to-bring-home-your-spouse/

'The immigration policy for Settlement Visas is now being dictated by one consideration and it sadly and somewhat enigmatically doesn't possess that humanistic quality one would expect from a party that has claimed to champion the institution of marriage and protect the family unit. The financial credentials of the sponsoring spouse (UK Citizen) is the only consideration that is of interest to the Government, and as with most Tory policies there is no Plan B (or a Plan A+, or a U turn) on the horizon.'
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Group rally outside the Home Office : more pictures.

http://www.demotix.com/news/2241591/group-rally-outside-home-office-against-separation-families
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Home Affairs Select Committee: Immigration casework backlog hits half million.

http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/home-affairs-select-committee-immigration-casework-backlog-hits-half-million

 'The Chair of the Committee, he Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP commented on the launch of the report:

“The backlog of cases has now hit a staggering half a million people. This could fill Wembley Stadium to capacity six times over. It has risen by 56% in just three months. At the current rate it will take 37 years to clear and the Home Office cannot confirm that this is the last of the backlogs.
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'Teather said Tories had argued in coalition that no Briton earning less than £40,000 should be able to apply for a visa to bring a non-European spouse into the country.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/13/immigration-language-sara_n_3590594.html

However, Lib Dem ministers successfully got the threshold reduced to £18,600.
'As well as plans to criminalise landlords who let property to illegal immigrants, the government has announced plans to charge immigrants to use the NHS and give UK citizens priority for social housing, and are even considering asking schools to check whether pupils are illegal migrants, according to leaked emails revealed by the Guardian.

'"We're going to end up in a situation where if you look a bit foreign or sound a bit foreign, you'll struggle to rent a property from a reputable landlord," Teather said.'
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'Last year the coalition introduced a rule that prohibits any Briton earning less than £18,600 from sponsoring a visa for a non-European spouse, rising to £22,400 for families with a child, and a further £2,400 for each extra child. “It’s just a disaster,” Teather despairs. “Lots of British citizens who never expected to be caught up in the immigration system are about to see their families split up. You may have tens of thousands in savings, you may have extremely rich grandparents, your spouse may be a high earner – a whole set of things that would clearly demonstrate that you meet the criteria whereby you’d be no burden on the taxpayer – and yet you’re still not allowed to bring your spouse here, because we want to demonstrate that we are bringing numbers down.”'
http://www.libdemvoice.org/sarahteather-immigration-35304.html
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Marseille's history as a city of refugees.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n14/neal-ascherson/marseille-1940-43
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https://twitter.com/MigRightsScot :
While Sarah Teather gets angry theres no altrntve 2 party rhetoric, Green Party leader slams #immigrant #scapegoating
http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2013/07/green-party-leader-slams-immigrant-scapegoating/
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https://twitter.com/HannaIngber :
Powerful personal stories on what it means to be Muslim in Myanmar. My blog on the Lede: http://nyti.ms/16z2KVe