Michael
“UK trained my wife to PhD level and now doesn’t want her expertise in the UK workforce!”
Michael is a British citizen who met his Malaysian wife in Glasgow where she was studying for her PhD.
They got married in February of 2011 after a year of trying to get the permission to marry from the government.
They didn’t apply for a spouse visa straight away as his wife’s student visa was due to expire at the end of March 2011 anyway, and she was successful in being offered a job in Switzerland. So the couple moved from Glasgow to Switzerland in March 2011where they have lived ever since.
Michael has been working there too, in a combination of agency and self-employment, for over three months. His wife has been working in the same company for the full duration of their stay on a permanent contract.
The couple is now concerned. If for whatever reason, Michael’s wife were to lose her job, she would also lose her right to live in Switzerland, leaving Malaysia as the only option open to them if they were to continue to be together.
However, as their marriage is not legitimate under Muslim law, it would not be recognised in Malaysia and they are likely to face problems living together there.
This is a couple who don’t need to be in the UK right now. But they can see their future threatened by UK’s immigration rules, were their situation to change in the future.
They find it bizarre the situation UK has gotten itself into. It is happy training Michael’s wife to PhD level, and now doesn’t want her expertise in the workforce.
Showing posts with label michael. Show all posts
Showing posts with label michael. Show all posts
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Still more good news - Christopher
What a day.... And it's with more pleasure than I have ever experienced that I am able to reveal that today my solicitor has confirmed that UKBA have decided to issue entry clearance visas for Caroline and Michael to come and live with me in the UK. It's been a long hard struggle with high peaks and low dark valleys but our love and prayers have finaly brought a happy conclusion. .
Thank all of you in Facebook world for your support. The support groups that have and are still helping and supporting others. Our joy and happiness is wonderful but please remember that there are THOUSANDS of couples who are still confronted by the unfair rules that keep families apart. Please keep them all in your prayers / thoughts. I am a very lucky man to have YOU ALL in my life. X
Christopher's story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/christopher-i-believe-in-my-marriage.html
Christopher on Channel 4 News :
http://www.channel4.com/news/the-families-separated-by-the-government
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-families-separated-by-government.html
What a day.... And it's with more pleasure than I have ever experienced that I am able to reveal that today my solicitor has confirmed that UKBA have decided to issue entry clearance visas for Caroline and Michael to come and live with me in the UK. It's been a long hard struggle with high peaks and low dark valleys but our love and prayers have finaly brought a happy conclusion. .
Thank all of you in Facebook world for your support. The support groups that have and are still helping and supporting others. Our joy and happiness is wonderful but please remember that there are THOUSANDS of couples who are still confronted by the unfair rules that keep families apart. Please keep them all in your prayers / thoughts. I am a very lucky man to have YOU ALL in my life. X
Christopher's story :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/christopher-i-believe-in-my-marriage.html
Christopher on Channel 4 News :
http://www.channel4.com/news/the-families-separated-by-the-government
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-families-separated-by-government.html
Friday, 5 July 2013
Michael
Michael and his girlfriend met while students at Warwick University, and presents the important perspective of a young person - as we all know, many couples do meet and fall in love when they are young!
Michael also wrote the article Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Heartlessness of the Home Secretary (link: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michael-allen/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-_2_b_2228818.html ), an excellent piece which brings together the causes of British families divided by immigration rules, the plight of LMU students, and the cause of Roseline Akhalu (previously : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-trials-of-roseline-akhalu-httpwww.html ).
'I've been affected by two immigration rule changes: the abolition of the Tier 1 post-study work visa and the £18,600 salary limit, though I know the campaign is focused on the latter.
'My and my girlfriend's original plan was for her to stay in the UK on a post-study work visa (2 years). However, this was abolished just before she graduated (in 2012), which meant she had to return to Singapore. She did have a place on a Masters programme at Warwick, but unfortunately she didn't achieve the grades to get on it. I went over to Singapore for the summer of 2012, but had to return here for my final year of university. We have been apart for this whole year and I've only seen her for 2 weeks at Xmas. She is coming over in a few days to stay for 3 weeks (and attended the protest!), but after that she'll be gone again for probably between 6 months to 1 year. I may see her again this Xmas if I'm lucky, but my Masters is very expensive and she will be focusing on a law course in Singapore.
'We discussed getting married last year so that she would be able to stay in the UK. Obviously, we are quite young (I'm 21 and she's 22), so we didn't really want to get married, but thought it was the only option if we wanted to be together, as we did see a future together (which probably would entail marriage at some point). It turned out this option wouldn't work either, due to the £18,600 salary requirement. I could have applied to high-paying graduate jobs which would have covered this, but my dream had always been to become a journalist, which required one year of extra study and I didn't want to give up on that dream.
'In terms of how I've been affected, my final year at university was almost ruined by stress and depression. I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication. Fortunately I did get the grades I needed, but every day was an uphill struggle and my productivity was never at its best. As for my girlfriend, she had to have counselling in Singapore and her internship in a law firm suffered due to her being upset all the time.
Michael also wrote the article Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Heartlessness of the Home Secretary (link: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michael-allen/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-_2_b_2228818.html ), an excellent piece which brings together the causes of British families divided by immigration rules, the plight of LMU students, and the cause of Roseline Akhalu (previously : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-trials-of-roseline-akhalu-httpwww.html ).
'I've been affected by two immigration rule changes: the abolition of the Tier 1 post-study work visa and the £18,600 salary limit, though I know the campaign is focused on the latter.
'My and my girlfriend's original plan was for her to stay in the UK on a post-study work visa (2 years). However, this was abolished just before she graduated (in 2012), which meant she had to return to Singapore. She did have a place on a Masters programme at Warwick, but unfortunately she didn't achieve the grades to get on it. I went over to Singapore for the summer of 2012, but had to return here for my final year of university. We have been apart for this whole year and I've only seen her for 2 weeks at Xmas. She is coming over in a few days to stay for 3 weeks (and attended the protest!), but after that she'll be gone again for probably between 6 months to 1 year. I may see her again this Xmas if I'm lucky, but my Masters is very expensive and she will be focusing on a law course in Singapore.
'We discussed getting married last year so that she would be able to stay in the UK. Obviously, we are quite young (I'm 21 and she's 22), so we didn't really want to get married, but thought it was the only option if we wanted to be together, as we did see a future together (which probably would entail marriage at some point). It turned out this option wouldn't work either, due to the £18,600 salary requirement. I could have applied to high-paying graduate jobs which would have covered this, but my dream had always been to become a journalist, which required one year of extra study and I didn't want to give up on that dream.
'In terms of how I've been affected, my final year at university was almost ruined by stress and depression. I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication. Fortunately I did get the grades I needed, but every day was an uphill struggle and my productivity was never at its best. As for my girlfriend, she had to have counselling in Singapore and her internship in a law firm suffered due to her being upset all the time.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Christopher
“I believe in my marriage vows, and am firm in my commitment to my wife.”
Christopher is a British citizen, 62 years old, father of three and grandfather of two. He was born in Brighton, and married for 39 years to Andrea, who passed away on New Year’s Day 2010 after battling multiple sclerosis for over 20 years. During that time, Christopher was her principal carer, their children and family, while also working for the Probation Service, within the Community Service team.
Christopher shares his home with his daughters, Tara and Clare, and his beautiful granddaughter, Ebony.
They designed the house to cater for the care of Andrea in 2006, which now, though partitioned into three living areas, is in fact one house. All three adults have their own private space, divided by one room, but they are all accessible to each other. A little quirky but it works very well for them.
After a year spent in a state of adjustment, with lots of support from his family, Christopher joined an
organisation "GVI – Global Vision International" and signed up for a year of volunteering in Kenya. The role involved teaching in a slum near Mombasa, in a place called Bombolulu.
This was a life-changing experience in many ways. A young woman he came into contact with whilst
carrying out this work was to change his life even more. Christopher had no intention of remarrying – he had settled in to teach English to the most enthusiastic bunch of children one could imagine, when he met Christine – funny, happy, intelligent and with a strong warm heart.
Christine has a 6-year old son, Michael, who is an adorable little bundle of trouble. The birth father has never been in Michael’s life and knowledge of his whereabouts is unknown. Christine and Christopher became friends, then more. In August 2011 they married in Bombolulu.
Christopher’s children, grandchildren and friends came to Kenya for the wedding along with all the
children from the two local schools, 200 local friends and volunteers ... it was a wonderful wedding.
Christopher carried on with teaching, until he fell ill and was advised to return to the UK. After treatment, he returned to Kenya in the hope of bringing Christine and Michael home with him.
Visa Application
At some expense they engaged UK VISA and IMMIGRATION to prepare the visa application which was presented in Nairobi in January 2012. However, Christine was diagnosed with TB and thus followed six months of treatment. While the family is now blessed - Christine has been given the all clear and is in good health - they face devastation under the new rules, as their new application in August 2012, was refused.
Employment
Christopher works for Enara Community Care as a domiciliary care worker. He cares for the elderly in their homes, starting work at 6.45am and sometimes until as late as 9pm. His annual salary is c£15,500 which, combined with a pension of £3,746 from Probation Service, gives him an annual income of £19,246.
He is considering employing a local solicitor who has indicated there is a case for appeal with fees over £4,500. Christopher’s savings are being depleted by having to finance life in Kenya for his wife and stepson, maintaining his life here and the additional cost of maintaining regular contact with his wife.
Christopher believes in his marriage vows and is firm in his commitment to his wife. He is lucky to have a supporting family and friends who are praying for Christopher to be reunited with Christine and Michael.
Like other BritCits, Christopher is realistic about why we have immigration rules; but he feels that the draconian way these have been imposed, without regional income tolerances or respect for British citizens being taken into consideration is just plain unfair.
He believes the rules brought in make a mockery of the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment:
“Strong families are the bedrock of a strong society. They provide the stability and love we need to flourish as human beings, and the relationships they foster are the foundation on which society is built – Britain’s families will get our full backing across all our policies … We need good, strong families to help our society work well. We will support families to stay together.”
“I believe in my marriage vows, and am firm in my commitment to my wife.”
Christopher is a British citizen, 62 years old, father of three and grandfather of two. He was born in Brighton, and married for 39 years to Andrea, who passed away on New Year’s Day 2010 after battling multiple sclerosis for over 20 years. During that time, Christopher was her principal carer, their children and family, while also working for the Probation Service, within the Community Service team.
Christopher shares his home with his daughters, Tara and Clare, and his beautiful granddaughter, Ebony.
They designed the house to cater for the care of Andrea in 2006, which now, though partitioned into three living areas, is in fact one house. All three adults have their own private space, divided by one room, but they are all accessible to each other. A little quirky but it works very well for them.
After a year spent in a state of adjustment, with lots of support from his family, Christopher joined an
organisation "GVI – Global Vision International" and signed up for a year of volunteering in Kenya. The role involved teaching in a slum near Mombasa, in a place called Bombolulu.
This was a life-changing experience in many ways. A young woman he came into contact with whilst
carrying out this work was to change his life even more. Christopher had no intention of remarrying – he had settled in to teach English to the most enthusiastic bunch of children one could imagine, when he met Christine – funny, happy, intelligent and with a strong warm heart.
Christine has a 6-year old son, Michael, who is an adorable little bundle of trouble. The birth father has never been in Michael’s life and knowledge of his whereabouts is unknown. Christine and Christopher became friends, then more. In August 2011 they married in Bombolulu.
Christopher’s children, grandchildren and friends came to Kenya for the wedding along with all the
children from the two local schools, 200 local friends and volunteers ... it was a wonderful wedding.
Christopher carried on with teaching, until he fell ill and was advised to return to the UK. After treatment, he returned to Kenya in the hope of bringing Christine and Michael home with him.
Visa Application
At some expense they engaged UK VISA and IMMIGRATION to prepare the visa application which was presented in Nairobi in January 2012. However, Christine was diagnosed with TB and thus followed six months of treatment. While the family is now blessed - Christine has been given the all clear and is in good health - they face devastation under the new rules, as their new application in August 2012, was refused.
Employment
Christopher works for Enara Community Care as a domiciliary care worker. He cares for the elderly in their homes, starting work at 6.45am and sometimes until as late as 9pm. His annual salary is c£15,500 which, combined with a pension of £3,746 from Probation Service, gives him an annual income of £19,246.
He is considering employing a local solicitor who has indicated there is a case for appeal with fees over £4,500. Christopher’s savings are being depleted by having to finance life in Kenya for his wife and stepson, maintaining his life here and the additional cost of maintaining regular contact with his wife.
Christopher believes in his marriage vows and is firm in his commitment to his wife. He is lucky to have a supporting family and friends who are praying for Christopher to be reunited with Christine and Michael.
Like other BritCits, Christopher is realistic about why we have immigration rules; but he feels that the draconian way these have been imposed, without regional income tolerances or respect for British citizens being taken into consideration is just plain unfair.
He believes the rules brought in make a mockery of the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment:
“Strong families are the bedrock of a strong society. They provide the stability and love we need to flourish as human beings, and the relationships they foster are the foundation on which society is built – Britain’s families will get our full backing across all our policies … We need good, strong families to help our society work well. We will support families to stay together.”
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