“The Home Office disregards Zambrano and human rights.”
Wayne is a British citizen married to Meliana, from Indonesia. Wayne and Meliana have two children together, Chloe (4) and Charlie (1) who are also British citizens. Wayne also has a child from a previous relationship: Joshua, also British. Wayne is clear: it would not be in the best interests of the children to leave the UK.
Notwithstanding the very restrictive immigration policy in Indonesia, it is not feasible for Wayne to leave the UK as doing so would mean Joshua loses contact with his father, stepmother and brother and sister.
Meliana and Wayne met whilst she was on a tourist visa in the UK. They quickly became friends, and were soon dating. It wasn't long before Meliana fell pregnant.
Knowing the situation, they approached a solicitor to discuss their options. They were advised to wait until after the birth of their child before proceeding further - as at this point the best interests of the British child would come into play.
Chloe was born in September 2009 - clearly dependent on her mother, Meliana's residence once again became legal at this point under Article 20 of the TFEU - See Zambrano: http://pearsall.eu/2013/07/case-c-3409-ruiz-zambrano/).
In 2010, Meliana began applying for a visa as the unmarried partner of Wayne noting she was the mother of Chloe. In February, the UKBA came knocking at their door. Their application was filed in May 2010 and six months later, the visa was refused – disregarding the best interest of the child, Chloe. http://pearsall.eu/2010/11/refusal-of-flrm-application/
Between February 2010 and February 2013, Meliana reported to the Immigration Reporting Centre in Solihull. The family spent money speaking with solicitors on the different elements of their case. Each time, to no avail.
In January 2013, it became clear that the 'requirement to report' was not in fact a requirement, as Meliana's residence within the country was in fact legal – if nothing else, on grounds of Zambrano. The Home Office threatened Meliana with detention and fines. They did however back down when challenged to carry out their threats:
http://pearsall.eu/2013/04/response-to-challenging-the-ise-343/
Their second child, Charlie, was then born in July 2012.
It came to Wayne's attention that the fact that he had worked in Finland prior to meeting Meliana might be beneficial, along with various other ventures conducted cross border within the EU.
In January 2013, Meliana completed her application form for a residence permit on the basis of being the primary carer of British citizens They emphasised Wayne fell into the category of Carpenter.
Meliana subsequently received a Certificate of Application for the period taken to process the application. However, in July 2013, the refusal notice came through:
http://pearsall.eu/2013/07/zambrano-and-regulation-9-refusal-notices/
Once again, no consideration of the best interests of the child as before, but this time, human rights also disregarded.
The family is now awaiting an appeal, a process which is taking over six months.
'At two and three years old respectively, it is considered that x and y are of an age where they would be able to readjust to life without you' :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/on-behalf-of-secretary-of-state-for.html
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/08/24/home-office-refusal-letter-young-children/
Background on Zambrano: http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2011/03/22/zambrano-considered/
Background on Mary Carpenter : http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/kingsclj14&div=7&id=&page=
More posts on Zambrano : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/zambrano
More posts on European free movement : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/europe
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