Lucinda & Karim

“We will move to another country in Europe, aiding the net migration target – it’s the only route to being a family.”

Lucinda is a British citizen with a 2:1 from Cambridge University. She is currently living with her mum in Leeds because she has been forced into single parenthood only because her husband, Karim, is from Albania and with whom she has a son, a British son. The couple have known each other since Lucinda was 21. She is now 30.

She doesn’t remember the first time they met, though is told that he was there. She remembers the second time though – they were sharing a house in Thessaloniki, Greece, as part of a big group who lived together there for a couple of years. Lucinda was studying Greek and Karim was working as a builder’s labourer.

Lucinda recalls how she used to complain about him to a mutual friend ‘I’m so sick of him’, ‘Why does he do this?;, ‘Why is he always looking at me?’. “Can’t you see he is crazy about you?” her friend would say. There were some nice times as well. Karim would meet Lucinda after work and they’d go for long walks along the harbour, drinking cans of Amstel. Fond memories from a more carefree time.

Eventually the entire group went their separate ways. Lucinda went to Cambridge to study Greek language and literature and Karim moved to Athens. They stayed in touch online and a couple of years later, on her year abroad in Athens, the couple met and this time, sparks flew. Karim came to take Lucinda for coffee on a huge motorbike. He’d grown a beard, filled out a bit and looked very handsome. Now it was Lucinda’s turn to swoon!

They talked and laughed all afternoon - and spent every day together from then on. Karim financially supported Lucinda as the credit crunch was taking its toll and jobs were scarce. The couple talked about their future, planning on Lucinda finishing university and then applying for a visa for Karim to come to the UK. They wanted to be settled and have good jobs before getting married. Do things properly.

However, things didn’t go as planned when on 9th March 2012 Lucinda found out she was pregnant. She was thrilled and the couple brought forward their plans to marry. Lucinda left Athens to begin antenatal care at home and continue her studies. They spoke on Skype every day and she sent Karim regular pictures of the bump.

Throughout all this Lucinda was in the final year of her degree, working really hard, always focusing on the point in the future when this would pay off; where she’d be able to earn over £18,600 and also provide for her son. Karim was refused a visa to be there for their son’s birth, with Home Office declaring that he would likely overstay and become a burden on the taxpayer, an illegal immigrant. Of course he’d leave! The couple knew the repercussions for being in breach of visa regulations, why risk it? Lucinda was adamant that the government was blurring the lines so entirely that now even someone wishing to be with his wife for the birth of their son was being mistreated for trying to follow the rules.

Lucinda has postponed indefinitely her desire to obtain postgraduate qualifications as she can’t commit to anything until her family is together. She doesn’t know how to function without her son’s father. If Karim was here, Lucinda would have been able to study, or work full time. Instead she is stuck on benefits despite having graduated from Cambridge University.

She is on the homeless register and moved house four times between June and October 2013. She has used up her savings to travel to Greece, Italy and Albania this year alone, and is planning another journey– but these are not holidays. They’re to ensure that her son and husband have a fighting chance to get to know one another, to build a relationship, to spend time together. These early moments in a child’s life do not come around again and they are little for such a short time after all.

Her son has travelled at the age of 4, 8 and now again at 10 months– and there is no end in sight. He has never had a room of his own, never had his pictures on the wall or books on a shelf, everything has been in and out of suitcases.

The couple is now considering moving to a country where they can be together. Greece? Germany? Spain? Ireland? Malta? All have been discussed, all are possibilities.

But it won’t be easy. All of the baby’s stuff will have to be left behind – the cot that’s never been unpacked, the highchair that she really needs but will have to buy from wherever in the world they end up in. Her books and kitchen stuff she collected in dreams of creating a home with her husband and child. She doesn’t know what she will do about her son’s next set of immunisations.

Lucinda believes the government should make a public health announcement as a matter of urgency stating:

WARNING:
BRITISH CITIZENS PLANNING TO MEET, BEFRIEND OR HAVE A ROMANTIC
RELATIONSHIP WITH NON-EU CITIZENS ARE EXPOSING THEMSELVES AND ANY
CHILDREN TO SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM DAMAGE WHICH CAN BE IN SOME
CASES, IRREVERSIBLE.
MARRIAGES TO NON-EU CITIZENS CAN RESULT IN SEVERE EMOTIONAL AND
PHYSICAL DISTRESS FOR ALL INVOLVED.
ANYONE KNOWINGLY TAKING PART IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH A NON-EU
CITIZEN DOES SO AT THEIR OWN RISK.

Update to Kirsty's story via Facebook

My hubby got his visa!!!!!

Thank you so much everyone, I am so excited to begin our life as a normal married couple, just in time for our 1st wedding anniversary

Kirsty

“This is not how I expected my married life to be, a fight to be with my husband… .”

Kirsty is a British citizen, married to Karim, from Tunisia. Kirsty and Karim have known each other for over 11 years, since childhood, having met at a family wedding.

Over the years, they kept in touch and their relationship blossomed into something more serious; they were always aware of the uncertainty of distance long-distance relationship, knowing Kirsty did not want to live in Tunisia, and knowing that it would not be an easy or cheap process to have Karim move to the UK.

However, love triumphed and they married in July 2012, after accepting that they could not live without each other.

At the time, they were unaware that the new rules recently brought into force would require Kirsty to be earning at least £18,600 per annum.

Kirsty could not believe it – how could such rules be brought in so suddenly?! Upon meeting with two solicitors, Kirsty and Karim were told they had no chance –the visa would be refused again and again and again, until the government was taken to the High Court. They advised her they would help her fight the rules, but if they lost, the financial cost to Kirsty and Karim would be astronomical.

So this young married couple are stuck. Their only option at the moment is to continue as they are, spending their spare money on visiting each other, not allowing them to save for their future, for a deposit.

It is clear to Kirsty that this breaches her human right to a family life – the financial criteria discriminates against those hard-working taxpayers who earn an average salary, and as this law stands, she feels very much that when it comes marriage to someone from outside the EU for someone who wants to live in the UK, is now only for the rich or EU citizens who are not British.

Kirsty feels frustrated – why is it that her husband’s potential income in the UK is not considered? Karim has international diplomas in engineering, as a technician and in mechanics, as well as speaking many languages, so he has a much better chance of getting a high-earning job than Kirsty.

Karim speaks English perfectly and has passed an English test at the British Embassy. The couple has
accommodation available from Kirsty’s parents, their aim being to live there to save up for their own place.

But none of this is taken into account.

Kirsty is angry. Her husband, with diplomas and a strong work ethic, is not welcome in the UK, because he married a BritCit rather than a French, German or Polish citizen.