BritCits has been asked to submit a witness statement on the impact of the financial requirements of UK's family immigration rules and Home Office treatment of visa applications.
This is an unmissable opportunity for us to show the Court of Appeal the devastating impact on the lives of ordinary families, who just wish to live together with no recourse to public funds.
Please complete the survey below to participate.
My husband and myself have had to come live in a strange country to have a family life together,he gave up his home and family in scotland and job as he could not earn enough to satisfy uk new immigration rules,if i come to live with him in scotland i could have worked and not been able to claim any sort gov benefits as it is stamped in my passport when i enter uk no resource to public funds ,so this is all a made up lie of the british gov,so unjust for a british citizine to have to give up so much for the human right to marry and live in own country with whoever you want share your life with.
ReplyDeleteThese rules are so ridiculously unfair, and they're forcing people to put their lives and dreams on hold, no one should have to go through this, you have to be major rich or work crazy crazy hours just to be with the one you love and married.
ReplyDeleteIve been separated from my husband for the past 13 months whilst I concentrated on getting my income to the required level. I have relied on overtime and relief work to meet the requirement as my salary fell short by £3000 p.a .The stress , worry and impact it has had on my family has been awful to say the least. Ive been fortunate enough to have the extra work available and my children are older so difficulties around childcare as a forced single parent were not as difficult to arrange as someone with younger children. ( some weeks i have worked over 65 hours and I have only took 4 days annual leave in the past 8 months and worked Christmas day , Christnas eve night , New years eve night and New Years day ( night shift ) My husband has been granted his spouse visa after it very nearly went on hold as the letter my husband received stated that overtime is not guranteed therefore the case officer wasnt satisfied I was meeting the gross annual requirement. We were given the chance to submit further evidence that I meet the requirement and I submitted a 76 page file which left no room for refusal! My husband will be joining me on the 13th February so yes we have our happy ending. I feel for those unable to meet this requirement and cannot believe that in 2014 people are being "punished " for simply not earning a set amount of money that many jobs do not pay. Human right violations being disguised as "protecting public funds" to those that dont really have a clue as to what is going on. I had seriously looked at relocating in Europe somewhere and begging my employer for a career break to enable me to do this and still have the option to return if employment was difficult to secure. I would have had to wait until two of my children were independent though as they are part way through completing thier education ( both due to start university this September and next September) Only the financially rich will have freedom and rights in this country in the not so distant future.
ReplyDeleteI left the UK due to the financial crisis and in order to not simply collect benefits and become a burden on society. I had planned to go abroad for a short period of time and return when the economy improved. During my time away I met my future wife and we have been living together ever since. The financial rules make moving back to the UK an impossibility. I work as a TEFL teacher and obtaining a salary large enough to satisfy the rules is incredibly rare. Therefore, I am living in political exile from my own country. I am unwilling to part from my wife and unable to return to the UK. I feel that my life and my ability to live in the country of my birth is being treated like a political football - a matter to be kicked back and forth with no regard for people in my situation.
ReplyDeleteThe above was my response.
I am trying to return to the UK after living in the USA for more than 26 years. My parents are much older now and I want to be close to them so I can help take care of them in their latter years. I am married to a USA citizen and have two children that have both UK and USA passports. I am self employed and have been for more than 20 years. So it is very difficult for me to apply for a spouse visa given that I am the sponsor. My wife works for a UK-based large firm and she will likely be abler to get a different job with the same firm but with the job originating from the UK rather than the Stateside offices. We have savings but fall short of the ridiculously high requirements. My family in the UK would love to be able to co-sponsor my wife but that is not an option. My wife and I have been married for almost 10 years and are very happy. Although there is no way we'd ever rely on public funds to bail us out, we are put into the same 'bucket' of other immigrants whose only intention is to come to the UK and suck off the country. It is more than frustrating. I can't believe, frankly, that my own country is doing this to me and my family just because I am 'stupid' enough to fall in love overseas with a non-EEA citizen and choose to make my life with her. I only hope that the UK Government finally sees sense and creates some sensible options and requirements for a family like ours... especially when pretty much anyone from any EEA country, including the recently added Bulgaria and Romania, can come to the UK with their families with virtually no restrictions, even though I was born and bred in the UK and can show my English heritage back to the 1500s and beyond. Sad.
ReplyDeleteLike the previous writer, I'm a TEFL teacher who met my wife in Colombia. We have a three year old son who I wish to receive his education in the UK. My wife and son aren't able to come here and therefore we've been separated. I own my own house here in Brighton (no mortgage), have very low travel expenses and can provide for my family. If I rented a property and spent half my wages on travelling to London every day for work, they'd let my wife in but we'd be poorer tan we are now. Crazy and inflexible system! But if you're in charge of the HO, just employ who you like, from wherever you like and charge premium rates for your advice line. Nice business to be in!
ReplyDeleteThis is so touching.
ReplyDeletei had a job. i could have supported her here. i have lost everything now. :(
ReplyDeleteThe income rule is inhumane. Half of the workers in this country do not earn £18600. This nasty policy excludes vast swathes of the UK, especially in the north and Wales where average wage is below £18600. In fact this £18600 arbitrary minimum excludes many groups. So woe betide you should you fall in love with a non-EU person if you live outside of London & the Southeast, if you are a woman (60% of working women earn below £18600), if you are disabled, if you're on minimum wage, or if you're black or ethnic (average wage of ethnic people is below £18600). It's nothing more than a poor-bashing, disability-discriminating, racist, sexist policy. And are these Tory policymakers thick, or just deliberately disingenuous? Because non-EU partners/spouses of British citizens have always had NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS even before the introduction of this bigoted rule.
ReplyDeleteThe disabled are not subject to the income requirement. You may find you're lucky, look at the rules again.
DeleteI am the above poster and I'm not disabled. Sorry but you are wrong for the most part, the MAJORITY of the disabled are in fact subject to the income requirement unless they are SPECIFICALLY on Disability Living Allowance (which is very difficult to claim and only a minority of disabled people are able to successfully claim it). The majority of the disabled are on Employment Supportment Allowance (a disability benefit) and are refused DLA, and these people HAVE to meet the Home Office income requirement. There is no special dispensation for people on ESA. Those on ESA encompass a wide range of disabled people, from those with terminal illnesses and multiple sclerosis to the severely mentally ill Obviously, because of the severity of these people's disabilities, they are unable to hold down a job and so therefore it would be impossible for them to sponsor a non-EU spouse. That to me is disability discrimination.
DeleteI am unable to work due to Chronic fatigue Syndrome, I often need sleep in the afternoon and need to lie down most of the time. However I don't get DLA or PIP, because I'm capable of cooking for myself. The wonderful government agrees that I can't work, and I'm getting ESA. But why would it be OK to discriminate against someone whose disabilities mean he can't work against someone whose disabilities mean he is getting DLA and working?
DeleteThe immigration rules are deliberately unjust for one reason only to allow Teresa May and David Cameron to spout political rhetoric about how they have reduced immigration.
ReplyDeleteWhat is worse is the way the UKBA under Madam May's instruction deliberately refuse perfectly good applications thus forcing applicants to appeal and then appeal again to the Courts and Tribunals.
This is extortion perpetrated by the British Government, extortion is a crime, the UKBA extorted money from myself by refusing our visa applications with duplicity and lies.
Are Teresa May and David Cameron above the law, it appears so.
It has taken almost 18 months for our entry clearance to be allowed.
It took the Tribunals Judge just three weeks to assess our file and declare.
" It follows quite simply from my findings of the cumuIative effect of all the evidence, that, by a wide margin, I am able to be satisfied that the sponsor ( and therefore the appellant ) is able to meet the financial test set out in the relevant Immigration Rule"
The Tribunals judge was scathing of the ECO in the British Embassy in Manila, for refusing the application in December 2012, ignoring documented evidence ( a tax form, SA302 )from HMRC regarding my previous years income, that was in his words unassailable.
He continued by saying he regretted that we were forced to wait for over a year for the determination of this appeal.
He then directed the ECO to release the entry clearance as soon as possible without the need for further application.
An open and shut case of duplicity by the ECO, then compounded by the fraudulent actions of an ECM who had six months to assess the appeal information, refusing yet again.
Extortion by the thieving UK government who are above the law.
These rules are unjust and have a terrible effect on family life.
ReplyDeleteBecause of these rules, My grand daughter is now in care as my sons wife decided she could no longer wait for him and found another man. In the process they neglected my grand daughter who was taken into care.
Consequently my son is now fighting a custardy battle where once again this government is letting him down by wanting to charge the US court 2,500 pounds for a home study to be conducted. The US is refussing to pay for this therefore denying my son custardy as without it he cannot even be considered.
I wish politicians would think of people as real people instead of facts and figures.
Best wishes to any one going through this process. Anne x
The income threshold is unfair and unreasonable for the following reasons:
ReplyDelete1) It does not take into account exchange rates between the powerful pound and all other currencies. As barristers, we are top earners in our country, but when converted into pounds my UK husband does not meet the threshold. Our currency is currently very low and dropping, and we have no control over that, nor does it effect our earning capacity in the UK. If we were allowed to return to the UK, my husband would make three to five times the income requirement.
2) I have four university degrees, am a qualified practicing barrister, have worked overseas and for the highest court in the country, own real estate which I rent out at a profit, speak English perfectly (indeed one of my degrees is in English literature and I often have to tell my UK spouse how to spell difficult English words!) but none of this is taken into account, as ONLY my husband's income (after deductibles) counts. I have never lived on benefits nor do I ever intend to - on the contrary, if I were allowed to work in the UK my tax contributions would be significant.
3) The rules discriminate against self-employed persons. All barristers are self-employed, and as such only our income after our tax deductible expenses is taken into account. This includes many amounts which most people would take out of their salaries - such as private healthcare, telephone bills, transportation costs. For the purposes of the income requirement, it is as if we are not earning these significant amounts, and they are not counted towards our income as they would for salaried persons.
4) Moreover, we have to show that we are currently practicing full-time and earning the required income (in pounds), but also that we have a job lined up in the UK simultaneously. This is aimed at making it impossible for self-practitioners to return to the UK. It is not possible to have a job in the UK and practice full-time in another country.
5) The rules effectively equal citizenship with employment status. If my husband wanted to return to the UK as a self-employed person (as he is now and has been successfully for seven years) he cannot, as he needs to show that he has a job.
My husband's entire family lives in the UK, and both his grandfathers fought in the war. There is no doubt what they would have made of the fact that the same country they fought for is now preventing their own grandson from returning.
If your husband is British, he can return to the UK any time he likes, a job is not required. Many barristers now set up limited companies and work for those as employees, self employment is no longer necessary. That company could also employ you. You would also be qualified enough to get a visa under the points based system. I think you should research a little deeper, there's more than one way to skin a cat!
DeleteI married my Indian fiancé just a month before the rule changes. As it stood, I had plenty enough income to bring him to the UK as my parents have a farm, and my Dad is very ill, so we were going to move with my parents to live rent-free and to help look after my Dad and the farm. Under the old rules you only needed to prove you had enough to live without claiming benefits, and as we wouldn't have paid rent, bills, or food, this was easily accomplished by the fact that I was working full time.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, 2 weeks after I came home happily married and eager to apply for the Spouse Visa for my husband, I saw Theresa May announce the rule changes. I was devastated, and have been ever since, because it is impossible for me to earn that income here in rural Devon. I've been apart from my husband for 2 years, and we really want to have kids together, but now I am 35 and time is running out. These rules have made me so depressed. I don't want to leave my Dad to live abroad, and leave my mother to struggle on her own with his illness and all the farm work.
It's put such a strain on my life, my emotional and physical health. It is heart-wrenching to be apart from the person you love and to see your chances of having a family slipping away before your eyes.
Politicians don't know what a gift they have when they can be with their partners and children.
We have no choice but to move to Europe and to eventually come back together after exercising our treaty rights in the EU, as EU citizens have more rights here than British Citizens.
Please, someone, show some compassion. Love should not be the reserve of the rich.
Jenny.
So sorry about your situation, Jenny :-(. It's disgusting what the Tories are doing to families. Family life is a human right, not a goddamn political football!
DeleteLisa
Look up Surinder Singh in google you're not alone many people have done this.
DeleteWhat is ridiculous is another EU member non UK citizen can bring his wife to the country I was born in with no problems at all. I feel like a second class citizen in my own country. Total shambles.
ReplyDeleteI am a UK citizen by birth however I have revoked my citizenship on political grounds resulting from misrepresentation by the UK government who are meant to represent ppl & adhere to human rights articles & the Genevea convention, but which they fail to do, resulting in the violation of asylum seekers rights, immigration inequalities , discrimination & violations in relation to human rights.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with many UK social polices particularly with regard to human rights, & treatment of refugees fleeing homelands where the UK government has involved the Uk in military intervention & wars to the detriment of nationals of these countries & against the democratic will of UK citizens whom they are meant to represent.
Furthermore I feel the promotion of warfare & brokering of weapons & armory by the UK Prime Minister is a direct violation of treaties pertaining to international laws & treaties with regard to the sale of weapons of mass destruction, which is why I revoke my citizenship & plan to commence legal process against the Uk government pertaining to the human rights violations & misrepresentations of the UK government.