Amanda

'Here is our tale of immigration woe. One more to add to the many. I must say I feel a little unworthy to share after hearing the terrible stories of others but still bottom line is we are being given a choice of living apart in separate countries for a very long time or not returning to the UK.

'I'm a Brit born and bred, I grew up in Dumfries & Galloway. After finishing university and working a year to save up I headed to NZ on a working holiday for a year. During that time I met and fell in love with Tony, a born and bred Kiwi. We built a fabulous life together in NZ which is a beautiful, special country. We bought a house together, then after 4 years together we got married returning to Scotland so we could share the day with my family and friends. We both had good jobs.

'Tony is a carpenter who worked for 16 years for the same company and I'm a marketing professional. I progressed to director level which was my position in the last 6 years of the 12 with my organisation. We were working really hard but we also could afford ourselves a very good lifestyle. To save some money and to purchase 2 rental properties which we see as our pension policy. However during those 14 years in New Zealand I have missed my family dreadfully and this has always stopped me from feeling fully settled. I'm extremely close to my family and though I have been lucky enough to afford twice yearly trips home - and of course Skype - there is simply no substitute for being a part of the day to day life of the people you love. My brother and sister have two little boys each and I'm missing out on them growing up, having a relationship with them.

'Tony and I reached a point where we decided we were both ready for a career break we decided to save up and take a year off work to travel Latin America. We felt we deserved it and afterwards we planned to start a new life in the UK, back in the bosom of my family. We've been through plenty of immigration drama, before we were marred, getting my permanent residency status in NZ but we figured we had a year of free time to work out the details...never thinking that such ridiculously restrictive new rules would have been put in place.

'We quit our jobs, sold anything of value and headed of on our new adventure. For the last 6 months we have been hiking and exploring the southern part of South America, finally after all those years work being able to have so much time together to enjoy. Three months in I thought I'd better work out the details of getting Tony residency in the UK... After 14 years together, 10 married I was envisioning, like New Zealand, it'd just be an expensive exercise with lots of frustrating paperwork. Well you already know what I discovered to my dismay....the rules exclude us from returning to the UK.

'I've been through them with a fine toothcomb. I was appalled that people on low incomes were not afforded the same rights as the middle class. Still I didn't think this applied to us, we already have good job offers on the UK which will put us well over the salary requirements. We also have some savings and rental properties which are bringing in income each month. Plus my sister has renovated her house so we can live there until we find our own to buy. There is no chance we will be living on benefits, we have jobs to go to and frankly

'I've no idea how people are supposed to live off the measly benefit income - I've no intention of finding out.

'Here's what I've found out: Our fantastic trip of a lifetime holiday excludes us from being eligible to return to the UK as we haven't been working. Our savings aren't enough to be counted as nothing under £16000 is. In fact we need to prove we have £62500 in savings (all but impossible on an NZ salary). Our assets (rental properties) can not be counted unless we sell them off which would mean we would lose a huge amount of money and anyway would take months to do, after which we still have to wait 6 months with that cash sat in a low interest account (because we're not allowed to have savings in high interest term deposit accounts).....
And that's before the applying and waiting god knows how many months for them to process it. Our rental income can not be counted as our properties are owned by a limited company in NZ (that we are 100% owners of) for tax efficiency.

'I know, I know we are on a year long holiday and have job offers and actually have assets etc. you wont be shedding tears, but I am. We still are left with a choice of living apart for likely a year on opposite sides of the world or never returning to the UK and my family.

'I'm frankly livid with the UK government. I think an income related immigration test for families is abhorrent anyway but to have one that is not just about stopping people claiming benefits but is actually saying only the very wealthy can marry foreigners is an outrage. I just about choked when I read in the case study UKBA guidance notes where they describe a person with £1million in stocks and shares liquidating the £62500 required... I mean seriously!

'So there's now a dark cloud over our once in a lifetime trip. We don't know what to do next.... All advice and suggestions greatly appreciated, along with telling me what more I can do to fight this thing, not just on our behalf but on the behalf of all the other people who's terrible stories I have read.'

- Amanda

Amanda

'I too am in the same situation as many others. I have a partner who is a Filipino and together we have a one-year-old son.

'My son and I are both British citizens.

'We are in despair over the new visa rule that I must earn £18,600 for my partner to be able to enter the UK.

'I do work but I don't earn this amount, it's impossible to do so when I am really classed as a single mother in this country.'

Women, young people and non-Londoners most affected by changes to family immigration policy : http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press-releases/women-young-people-and-non-londoners-are-most-affected-changes-family-migration-polic 

 Amanda's story highlight the discriminatory impact of the rules on women in particular.

They also highlight the stupidity of the argument that the rules are about protecting the taxpayer. How does forcing a woman into single parenthood protect the taxpayer?

Amanda and Phil: Immigration woes

BritCits supporter Amanda writes from the US regarding her experience of UK family immigration rules.

You can also read Amanda's story here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/phil-and-amanda-as-british-student-i.html

Posted from http://hillofstars.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/immigration-woes.html , with permission. Amanda's blog is here : http://hillofstars.blogspot.co.uk/

My heart just breaks for all those families with kids that are affected by this rule. I can't imagine why the government would allow parents to be separated from their children for basically no reason...

'IN MY junior year of college I studied abroad in Scotland. While there I met this great guy named Phil. We started dating, and when I went home in June we became a long-distance couple. I worked all summer and we talked on Skype as much as humanly possible. It was hard but we were committed. I decided the best way for us to be together was for me to do a grad program where he was (he still had a couple years of his undergrad to do). I started my last year of college, and he was able to visit me in October and January, and I went to see him for my birthday in March. I was accepted into the school in Scotland and we started planning.

At that time in the UK you were able to get a 2 year work visa automatically after getting your degree if you were an international student. It was perfect - I would get my degree then be able to live there with no problems while I looked for a job. I moved over in August of 2011, due to graduate in November of 2012.

Then everything went wrong. In April 2012 the UKBA (UK Border Agency - think Immigration Service) got rid of the 2 year work visa plan. Then we really had to think. Well, we could get married so that I could stay there with a spouse visa. But I didn't really want to do that yet. I could try to get a job before my student visa expired in January.... we sort of put it to the back of our minds for the time being - we'd think about it more when it came time.

One day that summer we were watching the news, as we often did, and a story caught our attention. New rules proposed by Theresa May (the Home Secretary, who controls the UKBA) would impose a financial requirement for spousal visas when one partner is from outside the EU. Ok, we thought... but this will probably take forever to get passed with all the government bureaucracy and stuff. It'll be all right, right?

Wrong.

If you're not familiar with UK politics, here's a few details. Their government is run by the Conservative Party, who are, as the name suggests, conservatives (think Republican, sort of). They have a coalition government, meaning their party didn't actually get enough votes for them to have full control over the government and so they share, a bit, with the Liberal Democrats (which makes no sense, but that's how it is). Basically, there are all these smaller parties gaining support like UKIP (Independence Party) and BNP (British National Party) who can basically be classed as xenophobic racists who think Britain should kick out all the immigrants and leave the EU. (EU citizens, i.e., most of Europe, can come and live in the UK without a visa and have many of the rights as UK citizens under EU law).

So, David Cameron, Prime Minister and head of the Conservative Party, eager to pander to the UKIP and BNP supporters in order to sway their votes, made a campaign promise to reduce immigration from the 100,000s to the 10,000s - in other words go back to 1990s levels (read: pre-EU). (Editor's note : Even though the EC existed from the 1950s, the Single European Act of 1992 was what really brought the single market, with free movement of its peoples, into being. Furthermore at that time the EC only had 12 member states; now the EU has 27 member states, and a much greater level of movement due to higher levels of education, opportunity, and the world being a much smaller place, with people taking employment and forming relationships on a global scale. The rules are unfit for the modern, global world). 

 But how can you possibly do that and still be an EU member? Net EU immigration to the UK in 2007 was over 100,000 (source). The latest figures show total net migration at 163,000. Basically, you have to decrease the numbers any way you can. Hence Theresa May's scheme: make families who earn under £18,600 a year (more if you have children) ineligible to receive a spousal visa. (Editor's note: The rules are even worse than this in fact as the non-EU partner's earnings cannot be taken into account; this has led to families where the non-EU partner may earn above the income requirement - even considerably above - being effectively exiled).

Of course, they don't admit that that's why they're doing it. They say it's to "reduce the burden on the taxpayer" who might have to pay extra money if couples can't support themselves and need benefits. (We've seen though how the rules effective force people to become single parents : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/dee - which will surely add to the benefits bill).

There's a couple problems with that though. For one, non-EU immigrants are ineligible to receive UK benefits. (Editor's note : NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC funds is stamped into their passports). Second, £18,600 is far and away more than full time minimum wage, and much more than average wage in a lot of areas in Britain. (Median wages around the country : http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/nov/24/wages-britain-ashe-mapped ; 47% of British citizens in employment are unable to bring in a family member : http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press-releases/women-young-people-and-non-londoners-are-most-affected-changes-family-migration-polic . In fact the numbers affected may be higher as evidentiary requirements are so strict, as these stories illustrate : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/marianne-and-kei-this-story-which-has.html // http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/gerard ).

Another problem is that the UKBA does not take into account savings (unless it's above around 60k), debt, or family support. (Editor's note : the saving requirement is more stringent than just using income. For someone with no children, it uses the formula £16k + (2.5 x the difference between earnings and £18600). For someone with zero earnings, for instance someone who lost their job the week before, £62500 are required. For someone earning £18599 a year, who just misses the £18600 limit, they would need to have £16002.50 in savings. No discretion is allowed, and as Amanda says no third party support is allowed either).

So really they have no business saying the scheme is to protect the taxpayers.
 
So back to me and Phil. We talked stuff over and eventually decided to get married before this new law came into effect so that I wouldn't have to leave. Just one problem. I looked it up that day, and the new visa rules were going into effect the next day. So much for that idea. We were running out of options. If I wanted to stay in the UK, I had to get a job. Not just any job - there are strict rules for getting a work visa as well (like it has to pay over £20,000 a year). Otherwise, I had to go home. And if I went home, there was no guarantee and no easy way for me to go back to the UK or him to come to the US. So the best option was to look for a job while I was there, get married, and if I had to go home, have Phil move to the US after he finished school the next June.

Flash forward to today. I came home in January and set about getting an immigration application done for Phil. There are a few steps to this process in the US and they take some time. We were originally hoping he'd be over in July, but now it's looking like the end of the year at the earliest. We're still hoping it'll be earlier but realistically we know it could be a while. We are back to the old Skype routine, made that much harder by having lived together for a year and a half and thinking we'd never have to do it again.

My heart just breaks for all those families with kids that are affected by this rule. I can't imagine why the government would allow parents to be separated from their children for basically no reason (making things more financially difficult for them, and ironically probably causing more burden on the taxpayer). I think Phil and I are lucky that we're young and childless, because yes, it's tough and we miss each other... but we have years and years to be together once Phil is here and there are no kids suffering because of it. Also, I live in a developed country with good quality of life and we both speak the same language. Some couples are not so lucky and don't really have a realistic option to move to the foreign partner's country.

At this point, I don't even want to live in the UK. I don't see the appeal. Kudos to you if you read this whole post, I know it was long. This is an issue that affects me and is something that a lot of British people aren't even aware exists. It's criminal and it's wrong and yet the government is letting it happen. So I wanted to try to bring awareness and share my story. Thanks for reading.

Lighter-hearted posts to come: I share my favorite dinner to make, and possibly another food photoshoot with an original recipe! '

Phil and Amanda

“As a British student, I can’t live in my country with my wife, because she is American and I don’t earn £18,600 – how many British students do?!”

Phil is a British citizen who met his now wife, Amanda in Scotland. Amanda is American and was
studying at Stirling University when they met, nearly three years ago.

Their relationship survived being an ocean apart when Amanda had to return home to finish her undergraduate degree in the US. She got in to the Masters program at Stirling University for postgraduate studies. She accepted this to be with her partner and on the understanding that the UK provided Post Study Work visas allowing those with degrees from recognised UK universities to work here for two years.

Amanda started her course in September 2011. In April 2012, the PSW route was closed, not just to new students, but including those students who had come to the UK on the basis of the PSW. Indeed,  students who may have chosen to go to other countries over the UK if this had been made clear to them in advance.

Facing a future apart, Phil knew the only way Amanda could stay in the UK was if she obtained a job. However work visas have all sorts of requirements (like the job has to pay £20,000 or more, for example).

They became aware of the income requirement being brought in by the government for spouses; although not married at this point they realised that even if they did get married they would not be able to stay in the UK together. They did however get married in October 2011 - it would make it possible  for Phil to go to the US if Amanda had to leave, so they could be together.

Unfortunately, they cannot leave for America immediately, as Phil is still finishing his degree; so they are facing months or even years apart, as students don’t tend to earn £18,600 (well except for those with rich parents).

Because Phil fell in love with an American, he has to leave his family and everything he knows in the UK to be with his wife.

They both accept the need to control immigration, but feel that it is absolutely ridiculous that the rules punish British citizens - and their families - to such an extent.

Amanda

“Why is it that there is one rule for Europeans and another for British citizens, in Britain?”

Amanda is a British citizen who has been unlucky in love. Her brother died a couple of years ago, followed by her mum, auntie, grandmother and cousin. Her ex-husband was violent and abusive towards her. And now the government wants to keep Amanda apart from her husband.

Amanda and her husband, Imed got married in a ceremony in Tunisia with her family and best friend in attendance. Imed is lovely and is very different from her ex-husband.

Amanda earns £16,200 a year; £2,400 short of the magical £18,600 figure. So the government tells Amanda that she cannot live with her husband in the UK.

Amanda understandably feels like she is being punished by her own government, for marrying someone whose religion and race don’t fit in with the correct ‘image’. She doesn’t believe
that the stringency of the rules have anything to do with the interests of the economy. Indeed, it can’t have anything whatsoever to do with that, given the government and UKBA have stipulated that anyone from outside the EU has no access to public funds.

Amanda’s husband is not asking for handouts. He has always worked, and worked long hours, for wages that some in the UK would not even get out of bed for.

All Amanda wants is the right to live in the same house as her husband, in the same country as her husband...and for that she feels like a criminal.

People have asked Amanda, ‘Why don’t you go and live with your husband in Tunisia’?
Her response – she has a home in the UK. She has two children who live with her. She has two grandchildren. She has a great job.

It’s not right that she is being forced to choose between husband and the rest of her family, her home, her career. Especially not right when as a British citizen she is facing this choice in her own country, but those from elsewhere in the EU have no income criteria to bring their spouse, parents, grandparents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and even cousins to the UK.

Amanda just wants to be with her husband.



(Note: We have reached out to many interested parties, including many politicians, with the stories in this pack. We will shortly start to publish some of the responses we have received).