Spotted on Facebook #useful

A little something I discovered which might be of interest to those British Nationals with Central or South American Spouses. My wife is Ecuadorian and if we take the SS route then Spain would be the obvious choice. However if you exercise EU treaty rights in Spain then an "Ibero-American" (basically a native of any Spanish speaking country in the world) can apply for Spanish citizenship (and EU passport) after just two years residency enabling them to walk into the UK through the same immigration channel as you or I would.

(This includes spouses from the Philippines, Brazil and former Portuguese colonies).

Hayley & Manuel

“I will give this country my all. In return I hope it gives me back my husband.”

Hayley is a British citizen. Between the ages 10 and 17, Hayley lived in Spain.

She is now 19 years old and is mother to 4-year old Byron. Even though she was only 14 when she fell pregnant, despite being so young she decided to keep the baby. Even at that age Hayley knew all she wanted was a family.

When the father of her baby turned abusive – emotionally, mentally and sexually - Hayley suffered for three years. She was alone in Spain without financial independence and only her son as family – she felt like she had nowhere to turn. There were times she considered committing suicide, but obtained strength and hope from her son, who also was her impetus to find the courage to escape. She decided she did not want her son to witness the abuse; to see his mother being beaten and raped.

Hayley returned home, to England, believing here she would be safe. She had many dreams. She would continue her education and provide her son with a good life. She felt free and ready for a fresh start. However, the abuse had left its scars and Hayley sought therapy for the resulting depression, nightmares, flashbacks and general negativity. Nothing seemed to bring about closure to allow her to truly move on.

It was then that Hayley met Manuel. A police officer from Colombia who had been sent to England to learn English. They immediately became great friends and then the relationship developed into more.

Seven years older than her, Manuel provides Hayley with the stability and maturity she needs. He is intelligent, kind and wonderful with children, including Byron. Manuel understood Hayley’s pain. He encouraged her to accept the past and love herself. He would playfight with her, give her a reason to smile every time he walked into the room.


For Hayley and Byron, their lives changed with Manuel’s presence. He provided the happiness that had been missing and hope that their future could be bright after all. They planned to marry in August 2012, before Hayley started university in October.

Just when everything was going well, it happened. The rules changed.

Hayley was devastated. Here she was about to embark on university, with her husband by her side. And now she was being told employment not education should be her priority. However at the age of 18, without a university degree, Hayley did not see how she would be able to get a job that paid over £18,600 anyway.

So Manuel left England. Hayley felt the effects of depression again, was referred to a mental health department and then diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Everything suddenly made sense. She wasn't crazy. She had just been affected by many things and finding happiness just to lose it again, felt worse than ever. Hayley’s doctor recommended she defer university until she was better. So Hayley decided to go to Colombia to be with Manuel instead.

Hayley and Byron joined Manuel in December 2012, though she immediately realised that Colombia wasn't where she wanted to be as it was dangerous and didn't offer good education for her son, let alone any future children she and Manuel may have.

She cried and cried; thinking about England night after night. Manuel would simply tell her that one day she’ll be able to come home again.

The stress caused further health problems, with Hayley suffering from chronic gastritis and IBS. The doctors recommended she relax and return home where it would be safer.

Hayley ignored the medical advice - she did not want to leave Manuel. In May 2013, the couple got married – not only making them feel like the happiest couple on earth, but providing Byron with his wish to have a daddy who would love and raise him. Hayley feels every day that she and Byron are lucky to have found such a wonderful man.

When Manuel however was posted in an even more dangerous part of Colombia, they agreed it would be safer for Hayley and Byron to return home.

Hayley has since been in London seeking employment paying over £18,600. She is spending a lot of money on babysitters just so she can attend interviews. She has given up on her dream of going to university. She is heartbroken and at a loss as to what to tell Byron when he asks why his daddy is not with them. How can she explain to a 4-year old that mummy doesn’t earn enough for the government to let daddy in.

Manuel is a good hardworking man. He isn’t a criminal nor someone who will sponge off the system or other people. He is willing to leave his home and career to ensure a better life for his wife and stepson.

Manuel is now not only Hayley’s husband, he is also Byron’s daddy. Out of the first four months of their marriage, they have only been able to live together for one.

Hayley feels that she hasn’t even had the chance to yet learn what it feels like to be a wife. She feels betrayed and cheated by her own government. How is it they expect her to find a job paying £18,600 while having a child to look after, being forced once again into single parenthood? She needs time to heal and excessive stress is more likely to play havoc with her health.

Hayley is determined to help other people and has written a book about her experience. She hopes to prevent teenage pregnancies and raise awareness of rape and domestic violence. She is now an author having self-published her first book through Kindle, “Lead towards the unknown”.

She has dreams and is prepared to give the UK her all. In return she hopes the UK would just allow her to live with her husband.

Good news

We had some nice news - an update to Aimie's story, which you can read here :

http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/aimie.html

Via Facebook, today :
OMG!!!! Our solicitor has just rang me and David has been given leave to remain for a further 2 years!!!!!!! Woooohhoooooo

Fantastic news !!!

Aimie and David explain :

'DAVID'S student visa was due to expire on 30th January this year. We waited until the 26th to submit the application so that I could complete my academic year, and make other plans if required.
Because I obviously don't have a job that earns £18600 - we were looking at alternatives.

To explain the timeline: I started university in Sept 2011. Before that I had a minimum wage job that was full time, so in that tax year I got my full time wage for a good chunk of the tax year. I received student finance on top of that.

When I started university, I kept my job but only worked out of term. I also got a second job in locally at a fast food restaurant. On top of that, I at the university as a student ambassador - meaning I then had a total of three jobs, plus student finance, plus a bursary from the university. (Editor's note: Crikey!).

In July last year I left both jobs at fast food restaurants, and started work in a call centre. This was only for two months over summer but I got full time wages. After summer I had to leave my full time job at the call centre and started working at a cinema, which is where I work now.

David had and still has a part time job. He has that job for ages now so his income was counted towards the requirement, and because we are married the university gave us another bursary and student finance increased their grant.

In the application, we included all of my payslips since 2008, and Davids from 2011, and every letter from the university and student finance, also letters from past and present employers authenticating our wage slips. David also made a calculation sheet which we included in the application that took our current jobs average weekly wage into account and other income from the last 12 months which all in total made just over the requirement.

Our only worry was that I no longer worked at some of the jobs, and because of the fact that they take the lowest payslip to calculate the average pay, and some weeks we had not worked so they may have taken £0 for those jobs. Our solicitor also put a cover letter on our application saying that they believe we fulfil the financial requirement but if they (the UKBA) don't believe we do, they (the solicitors) believe that we also fall under the category of 'insurmountable circumstances' that I cannot go to Colombia due to university commitments, danger and language reasons (even the Foreign office advises against all travel to Colombia).

We believe that they looked at our application, saw how genuine it was and all of the supporting evidence and preparation, probably looked at the genuineness of our application, and basically we - and our solicitor - built an absolutely cast iron case.

Well done!

Editor's note : Fortune favours the well-prepared.

Aimie has also supplied a list of the contents of the application :

'WE divided our application into 4 sections:
-Key documents
-Genuineness of relationship
-Wedding
-Finances

Key Documents:

-An index
-A letter from me as the ‘sponsor’
-Bankers draft for payment
-David's BRP
-David's passports
-Aimie's passports
-David's police certificate
-Marriage certificate
-David's Masters' degree
-David's deed poll where he removed his second surname (note - David comes from a Spanish-speaking country where two surnames are the norm)

Genuineness of relationship:

-Index
-Timeline of photos of us together and with both families
-A letter from Aimie's mom in support
-A letter from the maid of honour in support
-A letter from the best man in support
-Proof of Aimie's student status
-Tenancy documents from student accommodation
-Letter from bank upon opening joint bank account
-Letter from landlord addressed to us both confirming our deposit
-Tenancy agreement
-Letter from council confirming health and safety and no overcrowding
-Electoral role letters to Aimie
-Letter confirming home insurance addressed to both of us.
-Water bill addressed to both of us
-Electricity bill addressed to both of us
-TV licence letter
-Finance loan letters
-Mobile phone bill letters
-Amendments to car insurance letters after marriage
-Graduation cards to David

Wedding:

-Index
-Explanatory notes about the wedding i.e dates planned, notice, venue, guests, bestman, bridesmaids etc.
- Photos of bridal party, family and guests at the wedding.
-Wedding cards
-Receipt for notice

Finances:

-A very long explanatory note which follows the guidelines pdf very well. Splitting the notes up into categories like the guidance. Category A describing income from employment, and category C describing income from grants etc.
-Payslips from all of our employers from the last 4 years for Aimie and almost 2 for David.
-P60’s for both of us.
-Letters from previous and current employers authenticating payslips and confirming employment dates.
-Current employer contracts for both of us.
-Student finance breakdowns
-Letters from the university confirming bursaries
-Bank statements for all bank accounts for previous 12 months, including joint bank account which shows bills going out.
-Emails from David's job offer and prospective job contract

What we think may be important is that we were completely transparent. We showed them everything there is to show. Each section had a letter explaining why we had included the documents we did. And as David said earlier the application was very positive and confident.

Lucy and Andres

Lucy

“England is my home and I always thought I’d be welcome here regardless of who I chose to marry ..”

Lucy is a British citizen. She is a student in her final year at university in Newcastle, studying Spanish and Geography. She spent a year abroad in Colombia, improving her Spanish and working for an NGO - an incredibly noble pursuit.

She is working hard to achieve great things. She is ambitious and on the path to success with international work experience under her belt even before she has completed her degree. She is exactly the kind of citizen we should be bending over backwards to retain her valuable skills and experience here, in the UK, to contribute to the British economy and Britain's future.

Instead, Lucy is aware that one day she may need to come to terms with the fact that she has to leave her home, only because she is in love with Andres, a man from Colombia.

They have been together for two years, lived together for 8 months in Colombia and Lucy feels secure with him. They just ‘click’. When Lucy was in Colombia in Christmas 2012, Andres asked her to marry him. Lucy said no.

She said no, not because she doesn’t want to get married. But because she can’t knowingly go into a marriage knowing they may not be able to live together. So they have settled on a Wills-and-Kate kind of arrangement, where they are engaged to be engaged.

Lucy wants to get married in her hometown. With her friends and family able to celebrate her marriage. She doesn’t want an uncertain engagement – one which instead of being used to plan a wedding, is used to compulsively check the latest on the UKBA rules.

An incredible amount of responsibility shown by ones so young. And an incredible shame, that young love is now being tainted by UKBA instead of being left to blossom on its own.

Lucy is now intent on completing her degree so that she can begin her career here. Andres is working to improve his English (as Lucy speaks fluent Spanish, they haven’t actually needed to communicate in English previously) with Lucy giving him lessons over Skype several times a week.

Lucy is convinced that within 6 months of being fully immersed in British life, Andres’s English language skills would be impeccable. He is a fast learner. However, he is being denied this opportunity, even as a tourist, with UKBA having refused his application to visit.

Lucy is however lucky, that on graduation she would likely be offered a position paying over £18,600..but that’s still over a year away, and even then, Andres may not pass the English language test, having not had opportunity to spend time in an English speaking country.

Lucy is also keen to study further, and pursue a Master’s degree. However, this option has been snatched from her by the British government, because she fell in love with a foreigner. Because she isn’t rich. Lucy is aware that living apart from her future husband for an indeterminable amount of time isn’t feasible, and therefore the UK is not going to be a likely option for her future. However she is dreading the day when she has to come to terms with that. England is her home and she always thought she’d be able to live in her home, regardless of who she married.

Indeed, it appears that after 4 years of study at a British university, the most valuable qualification this British citizen may have is a £45 Teach-English-as-a-Foreign-Language course.

Aimie

“..I can’t just move to another country to be with my fiancé as I still have three years left to complete my Masters degree. I cannot simply drop out of university and earn £18600, as I don’t have the work experience and would not have the qualifications without the degree, to earn that figure. ..“

Aimie is a British citizen and in the second year of her MSc (Chemistry) at University of Nottingham. She is 24 years old and engaged and to be married in December 2012 to David, a 25-year-old Masters student, majoring in Advanced Computer Science, also at University of Nottingham.

Aimie’s fiancé is very employable; he is fluent in English, has a master’s degree and has experience in his field of work of software development. He would not be requesting access to public funds, nor would he become a burden on the economy.

Under the previous rules, the means to meet the financial requirement to demonstrate that they would not need to access public funds. However, new rules brought in requiring Aimie to earn £18,600 (regardless of David’s earnings) mean this couple is facing years apart. Because David is Colombian.

Aimie has been told that for them to meet the financial requirement for her fiancé’s visa, she would have to have been earning a salary of £18600 for at least 6 months prior to the visa application. However, as she is a student and her fiancé has just finished his course at the end of September, to graduate in December, they have been relying solely on their part-time jobs and scholarships, and have therefore not been in full time employment.

Aimie feels the new rules for financial requirement are unjust as they don’t take into account individual circumstances. Aimie cannot simply move to another country for them to be together as she still has three years left at university. She also cannot simply drop out of university and earn £18600, as she doesn’t have the work experience and would not have the qualifications without her degree, to earn that figure. Indeed, on minimum wage she would earn approximately £12000, which is far off the threshold.

To Aimie it’s nonsensical how £18,600 could be considered reasonable; as a student she receives less than half of that income, and is still able to pay her bills. The unemployed people on JSA are earning less than that figure and are able to live.

Aimie does not need luxury items to love her fiancé.