Rob
“Although not affected yet, I fear I won’t be allowed to be with my girlfriend..I can’t leave my three daughters in the UK”..
Rob is a British citizen living in Torquay, Devon. Although he is yet to be affected by the new immigration rules, he anticipates it being an issue for him and his girlfriend, an American citizen from Oklahoma. It is an issue that is already affecting Rob’s ex-wife.
They’ve only been going out a few months, but are considering their future in the event the relationship, as they anticipate it to be, becomes more serious. However it hasn’t been plain sailing to date either. Already they have had their brush with UKBA, who refused Rob’s girlfriend entry for the three months visit they had planned; instead they only got three days together - sadly something for which they consider themselves lucky, despite the disappointment.
Rob is a single dad with three daughters, two of who live with him full-time and another he sees a couple of nights a week and every other weekend. He works for a charity, a noble employer and earns below the £18,600 threshold required for the sponsorship of a visa in the event he were to marry his girlfriend. He is lucky in the respect that he has a family locally who help out with childcare. It allows him to save up for him and his girlfriend to meet each other again.
Rob has considered asking for a pay rise, but is hesitant only because he has been working for his employer less than a year. The pay rise he would need to earn the magic £18,600 is 75 pence an hour. Less than £1.
Rob is aware that his ex-wife is in an even worse situation. She is self-employed, earns very little and is currently claiming benefits. Her partner also lives in the US (in Maryland) but being in the financial sector, has the potential for earning a comfortable income to support them both.
The daughter who lives with them both is aged 7 and has learning disabilities and speech problems. She is a happy little girl but sometimes finds it hard to communicate and is at the sort of level of a much younger child. She adores both Rob’s girlfriend and her mum’s partner – Rob tells her that both her mummy's partner and his girlfriend are living in America for now but hopefully will be able to move over soon.
At the moment Rob and his girlfriend have good and bad days; they keep in touch via Skype and email and when they can, speak for hours. Rob’s girlfriend doesn’t have the same ties to America as Rob does to England; they are not in a long distance relationship by choice.
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Twitter roundup
https://twitter.com/quigonsmith :
The Government's greatest, barely-reported cruelty against its own citizens “@ColinYeo1: Divided families http://wp.me/p1Zj2l-2lC
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
British families are being broken by the very State that ought to nurture and protect them
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa :
Looking out at my boys having fun in the sun wish I could join them, please god don't let the home office break up father and son :-(
Sent my email off to the children's commissioner makes me cry every time I have to explain what hubbies deportation would do to my baby
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
https://twitter.com/donflynnmrn :
Campaigners call for new family migration rules on one-year anniversary - photos of protest here http://j.mp/13l7Emm by @migrants_rights
---
https://twitter.com/migrants_rights :
Letter from #greenparty leader @natalieben in support of Sarah Teather's principled stance on immigration http://bit.ly/12uJlUp #welldone
---
https://twitter.com/migrants_rights :
Morton Hall immigration detainee held for nearly 3 years http://bbc.in/12Un2r7 @Detentionaction calls for end of indefinite detention
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration :
Britain needs millions more immigrants to reduce strain of ageing population via @Telegraph http://fw.to/eFXsTKT
https://www.facebook.com/LondonMRCF :
We don't normally share the Daily Mail links in order to contain and minimize the #HostileEnvironment but this headline is irresistible because it is in the Daily Mail. Enjoy :)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2366934/Britain-needs-7million-MORE-immigrants-50-years-meet-cost-ageing-population.html
---
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
RT @BarrowCadbury: Powerful post by Dave Stamp @ASIRT1 on one family's struggle as undocumented migrants
http://barrowcadbury.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/supporting-undocumented-migrants-in-a-hostile-environment/
ASIRT, for now, is here to fight for the rights of people denied them in a “hostile environment”. But the decimation of advice and advocacy organisations across the country makes it likely that thousands of families in similar situations will be left in precarious “limbo” situations for many years to come.
---
https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1 :
Crikey, UK immigration laws change every 6 weeks on average, 83 times in a decade....
http://www.pressking.com/press-releases/83-times-UK-Immigration-Laws-have-been-altered-in-10-years-reveals-UK-Immigration-Barristers-061519
---
Narnia residents delighted as immigrant loophole through wardrobe is finally closed.
http://newsthump.com/2013/07/17/narnia-residents-delighted-as-immigrant-loophole-through-wardrobe-is-finally-closed/
Via https://www.facebook.com/LondonMRCF
---
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
Sick: RT @jamiejkerr: Had an asylum appeal today and UKBA submission was that extensive scarring on a Tamil asylum seeker was self inflicted
---
https://twitter.com/DavidWardMP :
#Bradford MP welcomes court's family #visa judgement http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10547143.Bradford_MP_welcomes_court_s_family_visa_judgement/
---
https://twitter.com/JusticeGap :
Can't afford a lawyer? If you are representing yourself in court, try @thebarcouncil new guide.
http://thejusticegap.com/News/diy-lawyers-arent-the-problem-the-problem-is-the-courts/
---
https://twitter.com/alinamuller :
33 Beautiful Vintage Portraits Of America’s Immigrant Past From Ellis Island
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/33-stunning-portraits-of-immigrants-at-ellis-island
https://twitter.com/quigonsmith :
The Government's greatest, barely-reported cruelty against its own citizens “@ColinYeo1: Divided families http://wp.me/p1Zj2l-2lC
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
British families are being broken by the very State that ought to nurture and protect them
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa :
Looking out at my boys having fun in the sun wish I could join them, please god don't let the home office break up father and son :-(
Sent my email off to the children's commissioner makes me cry every time I have to explain what hubbies deportation would do to my baby
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
https://twitter.com/donflynnmrn :
Campaigners call for new family migration rules on one-year anniversary - photos of protest here http://j.mp/13l7Emm by @migrants_rights
---
https://twitter.com/migrants_rights :
Letter from #greenparty leader @natalieben in support of Sarah Teather's principled stance on immigration http://bit.ly/12uJlUp #welldone
---
https://twitter.com/migrants_rights :
Morton Hall immigration detainee held for nearly 3 years http://bbc.in/12Un2r7 @Detentionaction calls for end of indefinite detention
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration :
Britain needs millions more immigrants to reduce strain of ageing population via @Telegraph http://fw.to/eFXsTKT
https://www.facebook.com/LondonMRCF :
We don't normally share the Daily Mail links in order to contain and minimize the #HostileEnvironment but this headline is irresistible because it is in the Daily Mail. Enjoy :)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2366934/Britain-needs-7million-MORE-immigrants-50-years-meet-cost-ageing-population.html
---
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
RT @BarrowCadbury: Powerful post by Dave Stamp @ASIRT1 on one family's struggle as undocumented migrants
http://barrowcadbury.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/supporting-undocumented-migrants-in-a-hostile-environment/
ASIRT, for now, is here to fight for the rights of people denied them in a “hostile environment”. But the decimation of advice and advocacy organisations across the country makes it likely that thousands of families in similar situations will be left in precarious “limbo” situations for many years to come.
---
https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1 :
Crikey, UK immigration laws change every 6 weeks on average, 83 times in a decade....
http://www.pressking.com/press-releases/83-times-UK-Immigration-Laws-have-been-altered-in-10-years-reveals-UK-Immigration-Barristers-061519
---
Narnia residents delighted as immigrant loophole through wardrobe is finally closed.
http://newsthump.com/2013/07/17/narnia-residents-delighted-as-immigrant-loophole-through-wardrobe-is-finally-closed/
Via https://www.facebook.com/LondonMRCF
---
https://twitter.com/ColinYeo1 :
Sick: RT @jamiejkerr: Had an asylum appeal today and UKBA submission was that extensive scarring on a Tamil asylum seeker was self inflicted
---
https://twitter.com/DavidWardMP :
---
https://twitter.com/JusticeGap :
Can't afford a lawyer? If you are representing yourself in court, try @thebarcouncil new guide.
http://thejusticegap.com/News/diy-lawyers-arent-the-problem-the-problem-is-the-courts/
---
https://twitter.com/alinamuller :
33 Beautiful Vintage Portraits Of America’s Immigrant Past From Ellis Island
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/33-stunning-portraits-of-immigrants-at-ellis-island
Update on Neil
Verbatim from Facebook :
So... WE WON!!!!!!! With Emily Solomon. Damn you Home Office for threatening to break up my family in the first place. The judge saw sense! Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Happy day :-)
Neil's story : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/neil-and-emily-neil-tells-his-story.html
A good day indeed. :) Another situation resolved. Another one bites the dust!
.jpg)
Verbatim from Facebook :
So... WE WON!!!!!!! With Emily Solomon. Damn you Home Office for threatening to break up my family in the first place. The judge saw sense! Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Happy day :-)
Neil's story : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/neil-and-emily-neil-tells-his-story.html
A good day indeed. :) Another situation resolved. Another one bites the dust!
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Divided families.
An excellent writeup of a very good day :
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/16/divided-families/
'It was, frankly, distressing to be surrounded by so many fragmented, broken half families, bitterly angry at the violence done to them by Theresa May and her rules. I lost count of the apparently single mothers around the crowd, accompanied by babies, toddlers and a few children old enough to be consciously aware and articulate about what it was like to be separated from one’s father. Bailey Yamamoto spoke. At eight months pregnant she faces giving birth alone, and her husband will never be able to recover the lost opportunity to be with his new born baby.
'... There are some interesting grassroots groups springing up to campaign on these issues. The best known and most effective seems to be BritCits ... There are Facebook groups galore:'
'... Politicians seem to be swayed by money and power. There are no doubt plenty of anti immigration votes to be garnered, but if there are enough dissenting voices and enough people start to realise the awful effects of these rules on their friends, families and communities then that creates its own electoral issues for the Coalition. Keep at it!
---
The ‘Hostile Environment Working Group’.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/16/the-hostile-environment-working-group/
'I have previously written about the need for responsible journalism, but in hindsight this was probably unfair on the media. While their tone can be abhorrent, they are only following the example set by Government, who see little wrong in attempting to establish a ‘Hostile Environment Working Group’ to make life difficult for ‘unwanted’ migrants.'
---
Spotted on Facebook, via https://twitter.com/GuidoTallman :
An excellent writeup of a very good day :
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/16/divided-families/
'It was, frankly, distressing to be surrounded by so many fragmented, broken half families, bitterly angry at the violence done to them by Theresa May and her rules. I lost count of the apparently single mothers around the crowd, accompanied by babies, toddlers and a few children old enough to be consciously aware and articulate about what it was like to be separated from one’s father. Bailey Yamamoto spoke. At eight months pregnant she faces giving birth alone, and her husband will never be able to recover the lost opportunity to be with his new born baby.
'... There are some interesting grassroots groups springing up to campaign on these issues. The best known and most effective seems to be BritCits ... There are Facebook groups galore:'
'... Politicians seem to be swayed by money and power. There are no doubt plenty of anti immigration votes to be garnered, but if there are enough dissenting voices and enough people start to realise the awful effects of these rules on their friends, families and communities then that creates its own electoral issues for the Coalition. Keep at it!
---
The ‘Hostile Environment Working Group’.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/16/the-hostile-environment-working-group/
'I have previously written about the need for responsible journalism, but in hindsight this was probably unfair on the media. While their tone can be abhorrent, they are only following the example set by Government, who see little wrong in attempting to establish a ‘Hostile Environment Working Group’ to make life difficult for ‘unwanted’ migrants.'
---
Spotted on Facebook, via https://twitter.com/GuidoTallman :
Those affected by the rules with children, who haven't written to the Children's Commissioner already - please write.
Here's how to do it :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/uk-childrens-commissioners-endorse.html
Feedback from the Children's Commissioner's office is that they have been 'inundated' with emails and letters, which have left many officials in tears.
This came up at the 9th July demo debriefing meeting today (MRN, JCWI and BritCits).
You can still writine to them. Keep writing.
---
Natalie writes :
... This is causing a lot of stress and strain on our marriage. My daughter 25 weeks thinks my laptop and phone is where Daddy is. We will not be traveling to see him until August 31st for 2 weeks due to work...
https://www.facebook.com/FamilyLifeIsARightNotAPrivilege?fref=ts
The Children's Commissioner's office responds
:
'Dear family member affected by the family migration rules,
'Can I first apologise for not replying individually to your email. We are a very small organisation, and we have been rather overwhelmed by the number of emails recounting the effects of the new Family Migration Rules on your families since last week when the Children’s Commissioner addressed a public meeting in Committee room 10 of the House of Commons on this matter. (photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrants-rights-network/page1/ )
I must make clear that the Children’s Commissioner has no remit, and therefore is not permitted, to advocate for or intervene in individual cases. Rather our role is to influence Government policy on behalf of children and to promote their interests and views. Please be assured, however, that we have read every piece of correspondence we have received on this matter with great care. We have also begun compiling the information you have all sent into a database which we will use to help us analyse trends, and to seek to influence government thinking and action on the issues identified in the letters you have all provided.
We will be engaging with the Government from a position of real strength now that we have heard directly from all of you about the very serious impact these rules are having on you, your partners, children, grandchildren or step-children.
In due course we will be letting you, and the organisations with which many of you are also working, know what we are doing to take the issue forward with Government. Many of your letters and emails to us included detailed, and deeply moving, accounts of the impact of separation on the children from a parent or about the affected child’s inability to access their rights as British citizen children. It was a privilege to read them, and we would like to thank you for your honesty and openness in sharing them with us. We will ensure that these personal accounts are fully reflected in our correspondence with Government Ministers or officials, but we will ensure, by the ways we present this and our own evidence, that individuals cannot be identified.
We will be in touch again once we have more to tell you. In the meantime, thank you again for getting in touch with the office
Yours Sincerely,
---
Divided Families campaign video.
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/07/16/divided-families-campaign-video
Here are some of the highlights (if that is the right word) of the demonstration outside the Home Office last week, (Tuesday 9 July). It is a succession of stories from people affected by the Rules that were introduced a year beforehand. We'll let the people on the film do the talking for themselves:
---
Progress marked by Divided Families Day.
http://familyimmigrationalliance.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/progress-marked-by-divided-families-day/
'A week ago the Divided Families Campaign made it’s strongest display of objection and unity against the family immigration rules.
'The day began with the presentation of a petition to 10 Downing Street – a sure sign that the campaign is beginning to reach a new level of importance.
'This is not least because it came on the back of an important High Court judgement dubbing the income threshold unfair, and recommending a level closer to £13000. This a fantastic result so close to the anniversary of the rules. It represents a huge success for the contributions and evidence submitted by the FIA and other colleagues ( http://www.britcits.com ) in the campaign.'
---
Via the JCWI link above :
'Due to the July 9th immigration changes in the UK, my family and I are living 3,000 miles apart, here's our story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFxCcrBcWmU. Thanks for sharing this powerful video, I think it is very effective in showing the personal stories of all that are suffering from this ridiculous requirement. The more we become real people the less we're a statistic!
'Please share and encourage others to do so, united we can win this fight and bring our families back together!
---
'Red tape' keeps teen lovers apart.
http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/6744/red-tape-keeps-teen-lovers-apart
Two teenagers who fell in love and got engaged are being forced to live thousands of miles apart by the UK's tough new immigration red tape.
Alex Firth, 18, is in Barnsley while sweetheart Jamie Freeman, 19, is in Georgia, USA - but they can't get permission to live together despite asking Home Secretary Theresa May for help.
---
Mirrored copy of 'Divided families: Some more divided than others' :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/154185875/Ctbi-Divided-Families-Some-More-Divided-Than-Others-Submission-to-the-Appg
Contains an important table with data on differences in median salaries across gender and ethnic groups, highlighting the discriminatory nature of the rules.
Original : http://www.ctbi.org.uk/pdf_view.php?id=862
More on discrimination :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/government-accused-of-dismantling.html
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration :
Lab MP @KateGreenSU asks @ukhomeoffice about recent High Court finding on #familymigration & response from government
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-07-15a.763.0
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston, Labour)
What changes will the Home Office make to the family migration rules in the light of the recent High Court finding that the income threshold is onerous and unjustified?
Mark Harper (Forest of Dean, Conservative)
That is not quite what the judgment said. We are considering the judgment very carefully. The judge made it quite clear that the Home Office was perfectly entitled to have an income threshold that applied nationally. The judge said that in certain circumstances he had some concerns. Applications where that is the only issue on which the case would have been rejected are being held and we will make an announcement in due course.
Here's how to do it :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/uk-childrens-commissioners-endorse.html
Feedback from the Children's Commissioner's office is that they have been 'inundated' with emails and letters, which have left many officials in tears.
This came up at the 9th July demo debriefing meeting today (MRN, JCWI and BritCits).
You can still writine to them. Keep writing.
---
Natalie writes :
... This is causing a lot of stress and strain on our marriage. My daughter 25 weeks thinks my laptop and phone is where Daddy is. We will not be traveling to see him until August 31st for 2 weeks due to work...
https://www.facebook.com/FamilyLifeIsARightNotAPrivilege?fref=ts
The Children's Commissioner's office responds
:
'Dear family member affected by the family migration rules,
'Can I first apologise for not replying individually to your email. We are a very small organisation, and we have been rather overwhelmed by the number of emails recounting the effects of the new Family Migration Rules on your families since last week when the Children’s Commissioner addressed a public meeting in Committee room 10 of the House of Commons on this matter. (photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrants-rights-network/page1/ )
I must make clear that the Children’s Commissioner has no remit, and therefore is not permitted, to advocate for or intervene in individual cases. Rather our role is to influence Government policy on behalf of children and to promote their interests and views. Please be assured, however, that we have read every piece of correspondence we have received on this matter with great care. We have also begun compiling the information you have all sent into a database which we will use to help us analyse trends, and to seek to influence government thinking and action on the issues identified in the letters you have all provided.
We will be engaging with the Government from a position of real strength now that we have heard directly from all of you about the very serious impact these rules are having on you, your partners, children, grandchildren or step-children.
In due course we will be letting you, and the organisations with which many of you are also working, know what we are doing to take the issue forward with Government. Many of your letters and emails to us included detailed, and deeply moving, accounts of the impact of separation on the children from a parent or about the affected child’s inability to access their rights as British citizen children. It was a privilege to read them, and we would like to thank you for your honesty and openness in sharing them with us. We will ensure that these personal accounts are fully reflected in our correspondence with Government Ministers or officials, but we will ensure, by the ways we present this and our own evidence, that individuals cannot be identified.
We will be in touch again once we have more to tell you. In the meantime, thank you again for getting in touch with the office
Yours Sincerely,
---
Divided Families campaign video.
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/07/16/divided-families-campaign-video
Here are some of the highlights (if that is the right word) of the demonstration outside the Home Office last week, (Tuesday 9 July). It is a succession of stories from people affected by the Rules that were introduced a year beforehand. We'll let the people on the film do the talking for themselves:
---
Progress marked by Divided Families Day.
http://familyimmigrationalliance.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/progress-marked-by-divided-families-day/
'A week ago the Divided Families Campaign made it’s strongest display of objection and unity against the family immigration rules.
'The day began with the presentation of a petition to 10 Downing Street – a sure sign that the campaign is beginning to reach a new level of importance.
'This is not least because it came on the back of an important High Court judgement dubbing the income threshold unfair, and recommending a level closer to £13000. This a fantastic result so close to the anniversary of the rules. It represents a huge success for the contributions and evidence submitted by the FIA and other colleagues ( http://www.britcits.com ) in the campaign.'
---
Via the JCWI link above :
'Due to the July 9th immigration changes in the UK, my family and I are living 3,000 miles apart, here's our story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFxCcrBcWmU. Thanks for sharing this powerful video, I think it is very effective in showing the personal stories of all that are suffering from this ridiculous requirement. The more we become real people the less we're a statistic!
'Please share and encourage others to do so, united we can win this fight and bring our families back together!
---
'Red tape' keeps teen lovers apart.
http://www.barnsley-chronicle.co.uk/news/article/6744/red-tape-keeps-teen-lovers-apart
Two teenagers who fell in love and got engaged are being forced to live thousands of miles apart by the UK's tough new immigration red tape.
Alex Firth, 18, is in Barnsley while sweetheart Jamie Freeman, 19, is in Georgia, USA - but they can't get permission to live together despite asking Home Secretary Theresa May for help.
---
Mirrored copy of 'Divided families: Some more divided than others' :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/154185875/Ctbi-Divided-Families-Some-More-Divided-Than-Others-Submission-to-the-Appg
Contains an important table with data on differences in median salaries across gender and ethnic groups, highlighting the discriminatory nature of the rules.
Original : http://www.ctbi.org.uk/pdf_view.php?id=862
More on discrimination :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/government-accused-of-dismantling.html
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration :
Lab MP @KateGreenSU asks @ukhomeoffice about recent High Court finding on #familymigration & response from government
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-07-15a.763.0
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston, Labour)
What changes will the Home Office make to the family migration rules in the light of the recent High Court finding that the income threshold is onerous and unjustified?
Mark Harper (Forest of Dean, Conservative)
That is not quite what the judgment said. We are considering the judgment very carefully. The judge made it quite clear that the Home Office was perfectly entitled to have an income threshold that applied nationally. The judge said that in certain circumstances he had some concerns. Applications where that is the only issue on which the case would have been rejected are being held and we will make an announcement in due course.
BritCits meetup in London -
4th August, to build on post-9th July momentum :
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/129895662/
To plan, share experiences, discuss next steps, share campaigning ideas, celebrate the progress we've made ... and be sociable. #dividedfamiliescampaign #grassroots
Also a possible last minute meetup in Manchester this Saturday :
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/129549922/
4th August, to build on post-9th July momentum :
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/129895662/
To plan, share experiences, discuss next steps, share campaigning ideas, celebrate the progress we've made ... and be sociable. #dividedfamiliescampaign #grassroots
Also a possible last minute meetup in Manchester this Saturday :
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/129549922/
Megan & Max
“Love is and should not just be a privilege for the rich.”
Megan is a British citizen married to Max, from Ukraine. They are both performers, who met whilst working on board a cruise liner…and fell deeply in love.
After two years together, they decided they wanted more than a ship life..they wanted a family; to build a future on land; to be close to Megan’s family in south Wales; to be there for Megan’s mum who is disabled.
So they married in February 2012, excited at a future together. Max returned to Ukraine to prepare for the visa. Megan remained in south Wales and embarked on a new career as a carer, taking her NVQ’s and a starting on a promising career ladder. A carer, a role which the government is crying out for more people to take on, and one Megan is enjoying immensely, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the long hours and hard study it requires.
In this, Megan feels like she has found her calling and is thriving.
She rented a small flat and decorated it, expecting it to be their starter marital home. Not once did they consider the option of any government handouts. Being together is their dream, their responsibility. They are just a young couple in love.
So when they were hit with the July 2012 rules, it felt like their lives had been torn apart. As a carer, Megan earned enough to support them both if needed, though Max would work as well, well able to cover their expenses living in a small Welsh village. However, determined to be with Max, Megan gave up her dream job in favour of a job in the insurance industry, paying £18,000..a role she detested.
Since then, Megan has been in two car crashes, suffering from anxiety and depression. A direct result of the stress, pain and heart ache she has had to endure because of the immigration rules. Ironically, rather than reduce the burden on the taxpayer, Megan’s medicines have required government funding – an expense which would not have been incurred in the first place if the rules had been fair. (Revealed : The financial cost of Theresa May's immigration policy : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/revealed-financial-cost-of-theresa-mays.html )
Megan loves her husband. He is her world, her heart, her everything. All she wants is for them to be together. They have so much support from their family and a strong youthful passion to succeed.
They don’t want handouts.. They just want to be together.
Love is not and should not be a privilege for the rich.
“Love is and should not just be a privilege for the rich.”
Megan is a British citizen married to Max, from Ukraine. They are both performers, who met whilst working on board a cruise liner…and fell deeply in love.
After two years together, they decided they wanted more than a ship life..they wanted a family; to build a future on land; to be close to Megan’s family in south Wales; to be there for Megan’s mum who is disabled.
So they married in February 2012, excited at a future together. Max returned to Ukraine to prepare for the visa. Megan remained in south Wales and embarked on a new career as a carer, taking her NVQ’s and a starting on a promising career ladder. A carer, a role which the government is crying out for more people to take on, and one Megan is enjoying immensely, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the long hours and hard study it requires.
In this, Megan feels like she has found her calling and is thriving.
She rented a small flat and decorated it, expecting it to be their starter marital home. Not once did they consider the option of any government handouts. Being together is their dream, their responsibility. They are just a young couple in love.
So when they were hit with the July 2012 rules, it felt like their lives had been torn apart. As a carer, Megan earned enough to support them both if needed, though Max would work as well, well able to cover their expenses living in a small Welsh village. However, determined to be with Max, Megan gave up her dream job in favour of a job in the insurance industry, paying £18,000..a role she detested.
Since then, Megan has been in two car crashes, suffering from anxiety and depression. A direct result of the stress, pain and heart ache she has had to endure because of the immigration rules. Ironically, rather than reduce the burden on the taxpayer, Megan’s medicines have required government funding – an expense which would not have been incurred in the first place if the rules had been fair. (Revealed : The financial cost of Theresa May's immigration policy : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/revealed-financial-cost-of-theresa-mays.html )
Megan loves her husband. He is her world, her heart, her everything. All she wants is for them to be together. They have so much support from their family and a strong youthful passion to succeed.
They don’t want handouts.. They just want to be together.
Love is not and should not be a privilege for the rich.
Monday, 15 July 2013
Louise
“There are better ways of managing immigration than punishing British citizens and the people we love.”
Louise is a British citizen from Manchester. Her husband is Kenyan.
They met in 2011 on a family holiday there. Their relationship started off as just friends, but by the time she returned to the UK, she was so much in love with him, she decided to visit him for Valentines Day. Since then, she has visited him three times a year with her family offering her financial support.
Louise lives at home with her family. They are supporting her while she works in a volunteer and low-income role. She is also searching for full-time work.
The agony of being separated was tearing them apart but their determination to maintain their long distance relationship grew more and more, communicating on bbm (every day) and by talk home calling cards.
A year later, they formalised their love and commitment to each other by getting married in a religious ceremony in Kenya. At the time, neither Louise nor her family were aware of the changes to the family migration rules – they were caught out like so many others.
Unsurprising given the speed and quietness with which the rules were brought in..they weren’t even taken through Parliament in the proper manner!
However, upon finding out they remained unwavering in their determination to stay together no matter what – to maintain their union as husband and wife.
The only family Louise has is her mum, step-dad and young brothers. Louise’s mother-in law passed away when her husband was only a child; her father-in-law is an alcoholic.
Love is blind and isn’t a conscious decision based on earnings or influence; nor family background or nationality.
Louise and her family firmly believe that Theresa May's family migration policy is unfair and punitive. There are better ways of managing migration than punishing British citizens and the people they love.
“There are better ways of managing immigration than punishing British citizens and the people we love.”
Louise is a British citizen from Manchester. Her husband is Kenyan.
They met in 2011 on a family holiday there. Their relationship started off as just friends, but by the time she returned to the UK, she was so much in love with him, she decided to visit him for Valentines Day. Since then, she has visited him three times a year with her family offering her financial support.
Louise lives at home with her family. They are supporting her while she works in a volunteer and low-income role. She is also searching for full-time work.
The agony of being separated was tearing them apart but their determination to maintain their long distance relationship grew more and more, communicating on bbm (every day) and by talk home calling cards.
A year later, they formalised their love and commitment to each other by getting married in a religious ceremony in Kenya. At the time, neither Louise nor her family were aware of the changes to the family migration rules – they were caught out like so many others.
Unsurprising given the speed and quietness with which the rules were brought in..they weren’t even taken through Parliament in the proper manner!
However, upon finding out they remained unwavering in their determination to stay together no matter what – to maintain their union as husband and wife.
The only family Louise has is her mum, step-dad and young brothers. Louise’s mother-in law passed away when her husband was only a child; her father-in-law is an alcoholic.
Love is blind and isn’t a conscious decision based on earnings or influence; nor family background or nationality.
Louise and her family firmly believe that Theresa May's family migration policy is unfair and punitive. There are better ways of managing migration than punishing British citizens and the people they love.
Government accused of dismantling equity laws.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/14/coalition-accused-of-assault-on-equality
Fawcett Society report says coalition has been reversing and dismantling equality laws.
Includes a picture of our protest on 9th July 2013 -
'Protests outside the Home Office on the anniversary of the UK's new family migration policy, which prevents UK citizens and refugees earning less than £18,600 from bringing non-EU spouses to live in the UK.'
Equality campaigners have accused the government of a systematic assault on measures designed to protect women and minorities, amid fears that a key requirement to end discrimination is to be scrapped.
In a report out this week, the Fawcett Society accuses the coalition government of "weakening the legal and institutional measures concerned with equality".
https://twitter.com/fawcettsociety :
Preview of our new report out tmrw http://bit.ly/13bLfMM 'Red Tape Red Lines warns of 'dismantling of equality law'
Let's be clear. As recently as the end of June, the government (in the form of Mark Harper, Immigration Minister) said : “the Government is satisfied the minimum income requirement is working as intended” ( via http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2013/07/attacks-house-lords-and-high-court-build-momentum-family-migration-campaign ) :
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-06-25a.161167.h :
Fiona O'Donnell (East Lothian, Labour):
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review the effects of the minimum income requirement for UK citizens to bring a spouse or partner of non-European Economic Area nationality to settle in the UK.
Mark Harper (Forest of Dean, Conservative) :
The Government is satisfied the minimum income requirement is working as intended. However, as with all new policies, we will keep the impact under review in the light of the published immigration statistics and other sources of information available. These will include the information and representations provided by those affected by the rules, such as are contained in the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration published on 10 June 2013.
One may reasonably conclude that discrimination was an intended consequence. As Migration Observatory warned last year ( 'Women, young people and non-Londoners are most affected by changes to family migration policy' - http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press-releases/women-young-people-and-non-londoners-are-most-affected-changes-family-migration-polic ) :
61% of women and 32% of men will not qualify to bring in a family member.
(In addition to regional, class and race discrimination - The areas of England with the lowest eligibility are Merseyside, where 56% of people will not be eligible, North West England (53%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (52%). There's also a strong ethnic element to this - see the Middlesex University submission to the APPG inquiry 'Divided families but some more divided than others' : http://www.ctbi.org.uk/pdf_view.php?id=862
Ethnicity Male median wage Female median wage
UK population £24,000 £15,000
British £24,000 £14,600
Other White £22,000 £15,600
Pakistani £15,500 £9,700
Indian £23,000 £18,000
Bangladeshi £8,400 £10,700
Chinese £20,000 £19,000
Other Asian £18,000 £13,200
Black Caribbean £20,800 £19,200
Black African £19,500 £15,600
Other Black £19,800 £16,900
White & B Caribbean £28,000 £18,000
White & B African £24,000 £15,600
White Asian £26,400 £19,200
Other Mixed £22,000 £17,500
Clearly women, and especially women from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, are hit hard by these rules.
'Can't buy me love' - 'As of 9 July, the UK will have one of the world’s highest income requirements for people to reunite with their family.' : http://www.mipex.eu/blog/cant-buy-me-love
It's also worth noting the underhand way the rules were brought in in the first place ( http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/introduction.html ). The rules, which have been so far-reaching and had such dramatic, life-altering consequences for so many people ( http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories ) was brought in through secondary legislation. Through no vote in Parliament. When the courts forced the government to do something about that ('Alvi' - http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/18/analysis-of-alvi/ ), there was a somewhat lacklustre debate in the Lords (as the Commons had gone to recess - http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/19/new-immigration-rules-brought-in-immediately/ )
Life-altering for many, yes. Even for me. I -meet- the requirements but might not have done under slightly different circumstances. I'm a placid kind of fellow. It takes a lot to get me this wound up, for so long - every day for over a year now.
https://twitter.com/BaileyYamamoto :
Votes for Women! - ooops sorry that was last century, this century - Family Life for Women!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/14/coalition-accused-of-assault-on-equality
Campaigners call for new family migration rules on one-year anniversary.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2013/07/campaigners-call-new-family-migration-rules-one-year-anniversary
What a day! 9 July 2013 was one to remember in the Divided Families campaign with a lively day of action in Westminster.
Last Tuesday showed the united front in support of the campaign against the new family migration rules, as people from across the UK gathered in Westminister to make their voices heard. MRN, JCWI, Britcits and the Family Immigration Alliance organised a day of action to spread the word about the campaign, with the close involvement of many other organisations and affected families.
Lovely photos from 9th July : http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrants-rights-network/page1/
Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net
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https://twitter.com/dc_stevens :
@nusuk has voted to officially affiliate with the @migrants_rights & @JCWInews and to help their campaigns for migrants in the UK. #nusnec
https://twitter.com/Michael_K_Allen :
@dc_stevens @nusuk @migrants_rights @JCWInews That's really great news.
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https://twitter.com/anamacouzet :
Apparently the High Court Judgement will have consequences
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsfragments/87-min-income-threshold
On 5 July 2013 the High Court delivered its judgment on a legal challenge to the minimum income threshold for spouses/partners and children applying in the family route.
The Home Office has paused decision-making on some spouse/partner and child settlement visa and leave to remain applications to enable us to consider the implications of the judgment.
The pause applies to applications made under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules where the application would be refused solely because the rules relating to the minimum income threshold are not met, including where relevant the evidence requirements in Appendix FM-SE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law
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The Life in the UK: Impractical and Unfair.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2013/life-uk-impractical-and-unfair
Impractical, unfair and ERROR-PRONE. http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/error-in-life-in-uk-book-image-below-is.html … #epicmedievalhistoryfail
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http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/15/weekend-twitter-catch-up/ :
Morning! Unusually, there were several interesting snippets on immigration over the weekend. Here’s a reasonably random small selection via Twitter for your Monday morning delectation...
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2013/07/campaigners-call-new-family-migration-rules-one-year-anniversary
What a day! 9 July 2013 was one to remember in the Divided Families campaign with a lively day of action in Westminster.
Last Tuesday showed the united front in support of the campaign against the new family migration rules, as people from across the UK gathered in Westminister to make their voices heard. MRN, JCWI, Britcits and the Family Immigration Alliance organised a day of action to spread the word about the campaign, with the close involvement of many other organisations and affected families.
Lovely photos from 9th July : http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrants-rights-network/page1/
Photos courtesy of Jason Wen www.jasonwenphoto.net
https://twitter.com/dc_stevens :
@nusuk has voted to officially affiliate with the @migrants_rights & @JCWInews and to help their campaigns for migrants in the UK. #nusnec
https://twitter.com/Michael_K_Allen :
@dc_stevens @nusuk @migrants_rights @JCWInews That's really great news.
---
https://twitter.com/anamacouzet :
Apparently the High Court Judgement will have consequences
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsfragments/87-min-income-threshold
On 5 July 2013 the High Court delivered its judgment on a legal challenge to the minimum income threshold for spouses/partners and children applying in the family route.
The Home Office has paused decision-making on some spouse/partner and child settlement visa and leave to remain applications to enable us to consider the implications of the judgment.
The pause applies to applications made under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules where the application would be refused solely because the rules relating to the minimum income threshold are not met, including where relevant the evidence requirements in Appendix FM-SE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law
---
The Life in the UK: Impractical and Unfair.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2013/life-uk-impractical-and-unfair
Impractical, unfair and ERROR-PRONE. http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/error-in-life-in-uk-book-image-below-is.html … #epicmedievalhistoryfail
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http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/07/15/weekend-twitter-catch-up/ :
Morning! Unusually, there were several interesting snippets on immigration over the weekend. Here’s a reasonably random small selection via Twitter for your Monday morning delectation...
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Leanne
“My husband is my life and he's the best thing that's ever happen to me..it kills me every day I am forced to be without him”
Leanne is a British citizen. Her husband is Egyptian and therefore not allowed to live in the UK with
her.
Leanne met her husband in Greece, where he has lived and worked for over six years. They have been together for the last four, and got married in April 2013, in Greece. They know they will need to be apart for over six months – possibly twelve if not longer. Six months to show Leanne’s payslips and savings (she earns less than £18,600 but together they have £22,000 savings to supplement this for satisfying the financial requirement). Another six months or longer for processing of the application.
Although the financial considerations are in hand, Leanne is petrified her husband’s visa will be refused. Their view very much (not surprisingly!) is that UKBA seems to be finding reasons to refuse visas left, right and centre, often for spurious reasons.
At 31, Leanne already feels like she doesn’t have enough time. Her hospital has indicated she may be able to have IVF..another ray of hope for having dreams fulfilled; however they can’t take it further without her husband by her side. Leanne is scared..if her husband can’t join her any time soon, with that not only are her rights as a British citizen jeopardised, but so is her very natural human right to have a family
On 25th June 2013, Leanne cried tears of joy. This is the day she was returning from hospital after one of her regular checkups for cancer. She was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 20; after bouts of chemotherapy and surgery, she was told she would not be able to have her own biological kids, hence the IVF option so urgent and important.
However, the reason for the tears was the ray of hope for her being united with her husband. Leanne’s brother sent her a link to a BBC article, following which she watched a Newsnight programme telling her of EU providing justice where the British government snatched it away, via the Surinder Singh route.
The resulting questions though show more than anything that this route isn’t one taken lightly; nor are British citizens with non-EEA families expecting our streets to be paved with gold. They also show the shameful fear the government has successfully instilled in the very people it’s being paid to represent.
Does this mean I don’t have to be apart from my husband any longer?
Can the government close this route too?
How long do I have to be working there?
Can my husband work there as well?
Will my husband then be allowed to work in the UK, if we return here using Surinder Singh route?
At no point have there been any questions on accessing benefits which under UK’s immigration rules non-EEA family members don’t qualify for any way. If anything people have been adamant that with their spouse here they would have less need to claim benefits because of the multiple incomes the family would be earning.
---
An important, and relevant, piece of research -
Revealed: The financial cost of Theresa May's immigration policy.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/09/revealed-the-financial-cost-of-theresa-may-s-immigrationl
The UK will lose £850 million over ten years as a result of new visa restrictions on foreign spouses of British citizens, new research suggests.
Analysis of the government's impact assessment from Middlesex University strongly suggests income requirements on foreign spouses could be putting an additional burden on the taxpayer.
"It appears the government got its sums wrong when designing this policy," said Dr Helena Wray, from the School of Law at Middlesex University, who co-authored the research.
“My husband is my life and he's the best thing that's ever happen to me..it kills me every day I am forced to be without him”
Leanne is a British citizen. Her husband is Egyptian and therefore not allowed to live in the UK with
her.
Leanne met her husband in Greece, where he has lived and worked for over six years. They have been together for the last four, and got married in April 2013, in Greece. They know they will need to be apart for over six months – possibly twelve if not longer. Six months to show Leanne’s payslips and savings (she earns less than £18,600 but together they have £22,000 savings to supplement this for satisfying the financial requirement). Another six months or longer for processing of the application.
Although the financial considerations are in hand, Leanne is petrified her husband’s visa will be refused. Their view very much (not surprisingly!) is that UKBA seems to be finding reasons to refuse visas left, right and centre, often for spurious reasons.
At 31, Leanne already feels like she doesn’t have enough time. Her hospital has indicated she may be able to have IVF..another ray of hope for having dreams fulfilled; however they can’t take it further without her husband by her side. Leanne is scared..if her husband can’t join her any time soon, with that not only are her rights as a British citizen jeopardised, but so is her very natural human right to have a family
On 25th June 2013, Leanne cried tears of joy. This is the day she was returning from hospital after one of her regular checkups for cancer. She was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 20; after bouts of chemotherapy and surgery, she was told she would not be able to have her own biological kids, hence the IVF option so urgent and important.
However, the reason for the tears was the ray of hope for her being united with her husband. Leanne’s brother sent her a link to a BBC article, following which she watched a Newsnight programme telling her of EU providing justice where the British government snatched it away, via the Surinder Singh route.
The resulting questions though show more than anything that this route isn’t one taken lightly; nor are British citizens with non-EEA families expecting our streets to be paved with gold. They also show the shameful fear the government has successfully instilled in the very people it’s being paid to represent.
Does this mean I don’t have to be apart from my husband any longer?
Can the government close this route too?
How long do I have to be working there?
Can my husband work there as well?
Will my husband then be allowed to work in the UK, if we return here using Surinder Singh route?
At no point have there been any questions on accessing benefits which under UK’s immigration rules non-EEA family members don’t qualify for any way. If anything people have been adamant that with their spouse here they would have less need to claim benefits because of the multiple incomes the family would be earning.
---
An important, and relevant, piece of research -
Revealed: The financial cost of Theresa May's immigration policy.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/09/revealed-the-financial-cost-of-theresa-may-s-immigrationl
The UK will lose £850 million over ten years as a result of new visa restrictions on foreign spouses of British citizens, new research suggests.
Analysis of the government's impact assessment from Middlesex University strongly suggests income requirements on foreign spouses could be putting an additional burden on the taxpayer.
"It appears the government got its sums wrong when designing this policy," said Dr Helena Wray, from the School of Law at Middlesex University, who co-authored the research.
Hayley & Mehmet
“We won’t ever give up, we will win, we will be together”
Hayley is a British citizen. Mehmet, her husband is Turkish. So for reasons only due to accident of birth, this married couple has seen each other for one week since their wedding in September 2012.
They expect to have seen each other for a total of two weeks by the time of their first anniversary.
Hayley lives in South Wales, where finding a job in her line of work, paying over £18,600 is very difficult. And so Hayley works two jobs. One as a selfemployed beauty therapist, and the other as an administrator. So she works from 9am to 3pm in the office job, and 4pm to 9pm running her own business. That’s twelve hours. Every working day, and often, Saturdays as well.
She has been doing this since March 2012 because rules for proving income as a self-employed person in love with a non-EEA citizen are anything but simple.
Hayley has never worked this hard. She is extremely tired and has no life outside of work. Because of the rules as they were; because of the July 2012 rules making it even more difficult.
Hayley recalls the change in her life, after returning from their lovely wedding in Turkey with family and friends bearing witness, when she started to gather everything they needed for the spouse visa, only to realise after many many late nights pouring over the UKBA website that because she was self-employed, they could not actually apply until April 2013, to allow for the relevant tax year to end.
She was absolutely devastated reading this and realising that they had a long wait before they could even apply. So they both cracked on, working hard, sitting it out, battling on.
Mehmet’s spouse visa is in process. However, she is very worried reading of people being refused even where they meet the income requirement. This couple has been working hard, saving up for their future together and they have borne the time apart, anticipating they will be together before long.
Hayley considered sharing her story only after receiving a response to the visa application, but often a burden shared is a burden halved..and so she decided to share with BritCits and somehow ease the enormous burden of stress they are under.
She is alone, she is lonely. Although she was welcomed in Istanbul in January 2013, where she went for a week to support her husband through the English exam, that’s the last time she saw him. Though they Skype regularly and speak over the phone several times a day, it’s just not the same.
For this couple time is also more precious with Hayley being in her 40s. Hayley lost a child 17 years ago, leading to a failed marriage..and years before she was granted this second chance at happiness. The couple want kids, but are being forced to postpone it because of these rules. We only hope it won’t be too late. Keeping a married couple apart is bad enough, but the government interfering on a couple’s decision to have kids is untenable.
Hayley just wants the chance to be happy, live with her husband, wake up to him every morning and come home to him every night. Is that really too much to ask for? They don’t want to claim benefits, just both work hard and be together like ‘a normal’ married couple.
They found the visa application process laborious – whichever way it goes, and we hope the result is positive, it has aged Hayley ten years. However, the couple love each other; there is nothing they wouldn’t do for the other...they just want to be together like all couples do.
“We won’t ever give up, we will win, we will be together”
Hayley is a British citizen. Mehmet, her husband is Turkish. So for reasons only due to accident of birth, this married couple has seen each other for one week since their wedding in September 2012.
They expect to have seen each other for a total of two weeks by the time of their first anniversary.
Hayley lives in South Wales, where finding a job in her line of work, paying over £18,600 is very difficult. And so Hayley works two jobs. One as a selfemployed beauty therapist, and the other as an administrator. So she works from 9am to 3pm in the office job, and 4pm to 9pm running her own business. That’s twelve hours. Every working day, and often, Saturdays as well.
She has been doing this since March 2012 because rules for proving income as a self-employed person in love with a non-EEA citizen are anything but simple.
Hayley has never worked this hard. She is extremely tired and has no life outside of work. Because of the rules as they were; because of the July 2012 rules making it even more difficult.
Hayley recalls the change in her life, after returning from their lovely wedding in Turkey with family and friends bearing witness, when she started to gather everything they needed for the spouse visa, only to realise after many many late nights pouring over the UKBA website that because she was self-employed, they could not actually apply until April 2013, to allow for the relevant tax year to end.
She was absolutely devastated reading this and realising that they had a long wait before they could even apply. So they both cracked on, working hard, sitting it out, battling on.
Mehmet’s spouse visa is in process. However, she is very worried reading of people being refused even where they meet the income requirement. This couple has been working hard, saving up for their future together and they have borne the time apart, anticipating they will be together before long.
Hayley considered sharing her story only after receiving a response to the visa application, but often a burden shared is a burden halved..and so she decided to share with BritCits and somehow ease the enormous burden of stress they are under.
She is alone, she is lonely. Although she was welcomed in Istanbul in January 2013, where she went for a week to support her husband through the English exam, that’s the last time she saw him. Though they Skype regularly and speak over the phone several times a day, it’s just not the same.
For this couple time is also more precious with Hayley being in her 40s. Hayley lost a child 17 years ago, leading to a failed marriage..and years before she was granted this second chance at happiness. The couple want kids, but are being forced to postpone it because of these rules. We only hope it won’t be too late. Keeping a married couple apart is bad enough, but the government interfering on a couple’s decision to have kids is untenable.
Hayley just wants the chance to be happy, live with her husband, wake up to him every morning and come home to him every night. Is that really too much to ask for? They don’t want to claim benefits, just both work hard and be together like ‘a normal’ married couple.
They found the visa application process laborious – whichever way it goes, and we hope the result is positive, it has aged Hayley ten years. However, the couple love each other; there is nothing they wouldn’t do for the other...they just want to be together like all couples do.
Families divided then and now: UK spousal visa requirements in 1976 and 2013.
http://hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/families-divided-then-and-now/
'It is unsurprising to see that the bureaucratic requirements needed to be fulfilled have grown exponentially over the last 40 years as the legislation regarding who can enter the country has grown tighter and tighter. The fear by the authorities that people are exploiting the spousal visa system far outweighs the numbers of people ‘caught’ doing so and disproportionately places an unnecessary bureaucratic burden upon those wishing to accompany/join their families in the UK. The result of British immigration control policy is the 1970s-80s, as it is now, is families divided.'
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It shouldn't be this hard to bring in your spouse.
http://descrier.co.uk/magazine/2013/07/immigration-it-shouldnt-be-this-hard-to-bring-home-your-spouse/
'The immigration policy for Settlement Visas is now being dictated by one consideration and it sadly and somewhat enigmatically doesn't possess that humanistic quality one would expect from a party that has claimed to champion the institution of marriage and protect the family unit. The financial credentials of the sponsoring spouse (UK Citizen) is the only consideration that is of interest to the Government, and as with most Tory policies there is no Plan B (or a Plan A+, or a U turn) on the horizon.'
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Group rally outside the Home Office : more pictures.
http://www.demotix.com/news/2241591/group-rally-outside-home-office-against-separation-families
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Home Affairs Select Committee: Immigration casework backlog hits half million.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/home-affairs-select-committee-immigration-casework-backlog-hits-half-million
'The Chair of the Committee, he Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP commented on the launch of the report:
“The backlog of cases has now hit a staggering half a million people. This could fill Wembley Stadium to capacity six times over. It has risen by 56% in just three months. At the current rate it will take 37 years to clear and the Home Office cannot confirm that this is the last of the backlogs.
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'Teather said Tories had argued in coalition that no Briton earning less than £40,000 should be able to apply for a visa to bring a non-European spouse into the country.'
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/13/immigration-language-sara_n_3590594.html
However, Lib Dem ministers successfully got the threshold reduced to £18,600.
'As well as plans to criminalise landlords who let property to illegal immigrants, the government has announced plans to charge immigrants to use the NHS and give UK citizens priority for social housing, and are even considering asking schools to check whether pupils are illegal migrants, according to leaked emails revealed by the Guardian.
'"We're going to end up in a situation where if you look a bit foreign or sound a bit foreign, you'll struggle to rent a property from a reputable landlord," Teather said.'
---
'Last year the coalition introduced a rule that prohibits any Briton earning less than £18,600 from sponsoring a visa for a non-European spouse, rising to £22,400 for families with a child, and a further £2,400 for each extra child. “It’s just a disaster,” Teather despairs. “Lots of British citizens who never expected to be caught up in the immigration system are about to see their families split up. You may have tens of thousands in savings, you may have extremely rich grandparents, your spouse may be a high earner – a whole set of things that would clearly demonstrate that you meet the criteria whereby you’d be no burden on the taxpayer – and yet you’re still not allowed to bring your spouse here, because we want to demonstrate that we are bringing numbers down.”'
http://www.libdemvoice.org/sarahteather-immigration-35304.html
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Marseille's history as a city of refugees.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n14/neal-ascherson/marseille-1940-43
---
https://twitter.com/MigRightsScot :
While Sarah Teather gets angry theres no altrntve 2 party rhetoric, Green Party leader slams #immigrant #scapegoating
http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2013/07/green-party-leader-slams-immigrant-scapegoating/
---
https://twitter.com/HannaIngber :
Powerful personal stories on what it means to be Muslim in Myanmar. My blog on the Lede: http://nyti.ms/16z2KVe
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Fara
“My parents need us..but all three of their kids are British citizens living in the UK and so we don’t qualify to look after them when they need us most.”
Fara is a British citizen living here since 2001. Her husband is also British. Her parents are Indian, aged 59 and 69.
Due to a death in the family, her parents 'home must be sold (as per the terms of her uncle’s will who owned their apartment). Her parents don’t have enough money to buy their own home, and because of their ages, are unable to obtain a mortgage. They get by, with the pension her dad receives, and help from their three children. Children all of whom are British citizens, yet unable to bring over their parents to live with them, and care for them.
There is no financial clause Fara or her siblings can satisfy to show they have the means to look after their parents. The rules just don’t allow this, no matter how well off you are; no matter if all your children are British citizens living in the UK.
Fara is considering going down the EEA route – the only route left open to her. However with two children under the age of six, one of whom is physically disabled, it’s not going to be easy. Fara is feeling the weight of the burden of having a child requiring surgery and parents due to become homeless.
Three British siblings, British spouses and British kids - being denied the right to look after their parents without recourse to public funds.
“My parents need us..but all three of their kids are British citizens living in the UK and so we don’t qualify to look after them when they need us most.”
Fara is a British citizen living here since 2001. Her husband is also British. Her parents are Indian, aged 59 and 69.
Due to a death in the family, her parents 'home must be sold (as per the terms of her uncle’s will who owned their apartment). Her parents don’t have enough money to buy their own home, and because of their ages, are unable to obtain a mortgage. They get by, with the pension her dad receives, and help from their three children. Children all of whom are British citizens, yet unable to bring over their parents to live with them, and care for them.
There is no financial clause Fara or her siblings can satisfy to show they have the means to look after their parents. The rules just don’t allow this, no matter how well off you are; no matter if all your children are British citizens living in the UK.
Fara is considering going down the EEA route – the only route left open to her. However with two children under the age of six, one of whom is physically disabled, it’s not going to be easy. Fara is feeling the weight of the burden of having a child requiring surgery and parents due to become homeless.
Three British siblings, British spouses and British kids - being denied the right to look after their parents without recourse to public funds.
David
“It took 8 months for UKBA to process my wife’s application..and we had to jump through hoops to prove we had a real marriage in spite of having a child together. So my complete sympathy is with others going through the process.”
David is a British citizen who has personally been affected by the new immigration rules.
Since David married his Filipina wife nearly three years ago, the British government has made their lives a misery; causing unnecessary stress, worry and suffering in trying to prove that their marriage is genuine even though they have a son together. David finds this outrageous and ridiculous – how can you ‘prove’ you are in a genuine marriage if the proof of a child is insufficient?
They had to submit David’s passport while his wife’s application for indefinite leave was being considered; they had to send countless documents and fill out lots of forms. They had to pay an extortionate amount of money even for applying for his wife to remain in the country that is that of her husband’s and son’s.
Although David is in the fortunate position of having received a successful decision on his wife’s application, it was after eight months of stress, worry and anxiety. His complete sympathy goes out to all families that affected caught in the complicated web of these immigration rules.
“It took 8 months for UKBA to process my wife’s application..and we had to jump through hoops to prove we had a real marriage in spite of having a child together. So my complete sympathy is with others going through the process.”
David is a British citizen who has personally been affected by the new immigration rules.
Since David married his Filipina wife nearly three years ago, the British government has made their lives a misery; causing unnecessary stress, worry and suffering in trying to prove that their marriage is genuine even though they have a son together. David finds this outrageous and ridiculous – how can you ‘prove’ you are in a genuine marriage if the proof of a child is insufficient?
They had to submit David’s passport while his wife’s application for indefinite leave was being considered; they had to send countless documents and fill out lots of forms. They had to pay an extortionate amount of money even for applying for his wife to remain in the country that is that of her husband’s and son’s.
Although David is in the fortunate position of having received a successful decision on his wife’s application, it was after eight months of stress, worry and anxiety. His complete sympathy goes out to all families that affected caught in the complicated web of these immigration rules.
White weddings and forced marriages.
The plight of the couple kept apart by immigration rules shows the UK is again tying itself in knots over international unions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/19/forced-marriage-legislation-immigration
---
https://twitter.com/jitjindar - new on my Twitter radar, covering these issues. Think you'd do well to follow her.
The plight of the couple kept apart by immigration rules shows the UK is again tying itself in knots over international unions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/19/forced-marriage-legislation-immigration
---
https://twitter.com/jitjindar - new on my Twitter radar, covering these issues. Think you'd do well to follow her.
Congressman responds like real human person would after getting an absurd letter from his co-workers
http://www.upworthy.com/congressman-responds-like-real-human-person-would-after-getting-an-absurd-letter-from-his-coworkers-8?g=2&c=ufb1
Once a teacher always a teacher. Congrats on winning the Internet today.
http://www.upworthy.com/congressman-responds-like-real-human-person-would-after-getting-an-absurd-letter-from-his-coworkers-8?g=2&c=ufb1
Once a teacher always a teacher. Congrats on winning the Internet today.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Daniel & Kelsey
“I satisfy the requirements, yet they rejected my wife’s application.”
Daniel is a British citizen, living in China with his wife. They have been living there together for five years, and have been married for one.
Daniel is keen to return to the UK to be closer to his family. However they have had two UK settlement visas refused already. In both cases they found ECO cited incorrect immigration rules to refuse them, even though Daniel is confident, that having used a well-reputed London lawyer, they did meet all the requirements, including financial.
They have appealed the result of both applications, however it takes over nine months for any result.
Despite now also meeting the savings requirements, Daniel is not confident the application, third time round, would be processed correctly either. So he is considering using his rights as an EU citizen.
Yet another British citizen forced to leave his home just to live with his family.
“I satisfy the requirements, yet they rejected my wife’s application.”
Daniel is a British citizen, living in China with his wife. They have been living there together for five years, and have been married for one.
Daniel is keen to return to the UK to be closer to his family. However they have had two UK settlement visas refused already. In both cases they found ECO cited incorrect immigration rules to refuse them, even though Daniel is confident, that having used a well-reputed London lawyer, they did meet all the requirements, including financial.
They have appealed the result of both applications, however it takes over nine months for any result.
Despite now also meeting the savings requirements, Daniel is not confident the application, third time round, would be processed correctly either. So he is considering using his rights as an EU citizen.
Yet another British citizen forced to leave his home just to live with his family.
Brian
“ I won’t give up and will move to Ireland if that’s the only way I can be with my family.”
Brian is a British citizen. He is 70 years old and retired.
Brian is also married to a Brazilian woman – they knew each other for a year before getting married nearly a year and a half ago.
As almost every single married couple does, this couple too wishes to live together. As Brian needs to be in the UK – with 4 children and 10 grandchildren here, this isn’t surprising - he wishes to settle in the UK, with his wife.
However, the Secretary of State does not see it that way. Brian’s wife’s application for leave to remain was refused, with the advice they received from the government being that there was no reason why the couple could not carry on with their family life in Brazil.
Brian’s wife would have qualified under the pre-July 2012 rules, increasingly being dubbed inhumane, unfair and xenophobic.
Brian will not give up, however is considering exercising his treaty rights as an EU citizen to ensure his family is now broken up – which would mean coming out of retirement and finding a job in another EU/EEA country, just to be able to one day, return home. At any age, but especially his, he shouldn’t have to fight for his right to live with his own family, in his own country.
Putting a 70 year old in a situation where he has to come out of retirement, move countries and prove his right to be with his wife is something worthy of politicians hanging their heads in shame.
‘No free man shall be arrested, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or in any way victimised, or attacked except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land' - Magna Carta.
“ I won’t give up and will move to Ireland if that’s the only way I can be with my family.”
Brian is a British citizen. He is 70 years old and retired.
Brian is also married to a Brazilian woman – they knew each other for a year before getting married nearly a year and a half ago.
As almost every single married couple does, this couple too wishes to live together. As Brian needs to be in the UK – with 4 children and 10 grandchildren here, this isn’t surprising - he wishes to settle in the UK, with his wife.
However, the Secretary of State does not see it that way. Brian’s wife’s application for leave to remain was refused, with the advice they received from the government being that there was no reason why the couple could not carry on with their family life in Brazil.
Brian’s wife would have qualified under the pre-July 2012 rules, increasingly being dubbed inhumane, unfair and xenophobic.
Brian will not give up, however is considering exercising his treaty rights as an EU citizen to ensure his family is now broken up – which would mean coming out of retirement and finding a job in another EU/EEA country, just to be able to one day, return home. At any age, but especially his, he shouldn’t have to fight for his right to live with his own family, in his own country.
Putting a 70 year old in a situation where he has to come out of retirement, move countries and prove his right to be with his wife is something worthy of politicians hanging their heads in shame.
‘No free man shall be arrested, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or in any way victimised, or attacked except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land' - Magna Carta.
Izzy and Phil
Argus hoping letter will help Haywards Heath dad stay in UK.
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
BritCits Phil and Izzy step up their campaign. It was a real pleasure to meet Izzy and their lovely son Cooper at the 9th July demo. Cooper even led some chanting - 'Don't deport my daddy'. The question arises - why does a 9 year old know what the word 'deport' means? What kind of society is this???
There is also a magnificent campaign on behalf of the family, with support from the local press. Beautiful to see.
The Argus has sent a letter to the Home Secretary as it steps up its Don’t Deport Our Daddy campaign.
Australian father-of-three Phil Sommerville was told in April that he will be sent back to Australia – despite his British wife of 12 years and their three children who live in the UK.
His worried wife, Isabel, hopes the letter will spark an interest from Home Secretary Theresa May.
She said: “I hope the letter will be taken seriously and that TheresaMay will listen to us. As a family we have to have hope because what other choice do we have?
“It’s such a terrible situation to be in and I can’t really believe that it is my situation, mine and my family’s.”
The nightmare is based on a letter the Home Office claims to have sent in March requesting more documents to support Mr Sommerville’s visa application, but the family say it never arrived.
The family sent off the required papers for their second appeal on July 3, however they are still in the dark about when the judge will make his decision.
Mrs Sommerville said: “We are just playing a waiting game.
“We don’t get a court date as we chose not to go to court in the original appeal because we were assuming the outcome of the appeal would be fine.
“We appealed in April and only got the decision last week so we don’t know if it will take another three months or will it be quicker. We’re just in limbo really.”
Yesterday, Mrs Sommerville and her son Cooper, 12, were among hundreds who attended a protest outside the Home Office in London.
The demonstration marked a year to the day from when immigration laws ruled the spouse of the visa applicant must earn at least £18,000 before their visa can be approved.
MrsSommerville said: “There must have been a good couple of hundred people there and sadly there were about 35 other families that have an equally terrible story to tell.”
Links :
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10533520.Support_for_Haywards_Heath_father_facing_deportation/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10529653.___Mistakes____by_Home_Office_in_case_of_Haywards_Heath_dad_facing_deportation/?ref=nt
---
Argus hoping letter will help Haywards Heath dad stay in UK.
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
BritCits Phil and Izzy step up their campaign. It was a real pleasure to meet Izzy and their lovely son Cooper at the 9th July demo. Cooper even led some chanting - 'Don't deport my daddy'. The question arises - why does a 9 year old know what the word 'deport' means? What kind of society is this???
There is also a magnificent campaign on behalf of the family, with support from the local press. Beautiful to see.
The Argus has sent a letter to the Home Secretary as it steps up its Don’t Deport Our Daddy campaign.
Australian father-of-three Phil Sommerville was told in April that he will be sent back to Australia – despite his British wife of 12 years and their three children who live in the UK.
His worried wife, Isabel, hopes the letter will spark an interest from Home Secretary Theresa May.
She said: “I hope the letter will be taken seriously and that TheresaMay will listen to us. As a family we have to have hope because what other choice do we have?
“It’s such a terrible situation to be in and I can’t really believe that it is my situation, mine and my family’s.”
The nightmare is based on a letter the Home Office claims to have sent in March requesting more documents to support Mr Sommerville’s visa application, but the family say it never arrived.
The family sent off the required papers for their second appeal on July 3, however they are still in the dark about when the judge will make his decision.
Mrs Sommerville said: “We are just playing a waiting game.
“We don’t get a court date as we chose not to go to court in the original appeal because we were assuming the outcome of the appeal would be fine.
“We appealed in April and only got the decision last week so we don’t know if it will take another three months or will it be quicker. We’re just in limbo really.”
Yesterday, Mrs Sommerville and her son Cooper, 12, were among hundreds who attended a protest outside the Home Office in London.
The demonstration marked a year to the day from when immigration laws ruled the spouse of the visa applicant must earn at least £18,000 before their visa can be approved.
MrsSommerville said: “There must have been a good couple of hundred people there and sadly there were about 35 other families that have an equally terrible story to tell.”
Links :
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10544301.Argus_hoping_letter_will_help_Haywards_Heath_dad_stay_in_UK/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10533520.Support_for_Haywards_Heath_father_facing_deportation/
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10529653.___Mistakes____by_Home_Office_in_case_of_Haywards_Heath_dad_facing_deportation/?ref=nt
---
Revealed: The financial cost of Theresa May's immigration policy.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/09/revealed-the-financial-cost-of-theresa-may-s-immigrationl
The UK will lose £850 million over ten years as a result of new visa restrictions on foreign spouses of British citizens, new research suggests.
Analysis of the government's impact assessment from Middlesex University strongly suggests income requirements on foreign spouses could be putting an additional burden on the taxpayer.
"It appears the government got its sums wrong when designing this policy," said Dr Helena Wray, from the School of Law at Middlesex University, who co-authored the research.
"When the cost-benefit calculations for this policy in the impact assessment are properly carried out, the figures actually show that the income requirement could cost the public purse £850 million over ten years.
"It will not reduce the benefits bill; in fact, it is likely to increase it as single people are more likely to claim benefits than those living with a partner."
Not to mention the unquantifiable loss - already starting to happen - to Britain's previously golden international reputation. This will never be repaired.
---
Facebook campaigns are flowering. New on my radar :
Family life is a right not a privilege
https://www.facebook.com/FamilyLifeIsARightNotAPrivilege
I just want to be able to live with my husband/wife in my country
https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-just-want-to-be-able-to-live-with-my-husbandwife-in-my-country/170309133150324
You can't buy love, but the UKBA think you can
https://www.facebook.com/pages/You-cant-buy-LOVE-but-the-UKBA-think-you-can/174992366006252
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-i-dont-earn-enough-for-my-children-to-have-the-right-to-a-family/323622374426634
Keep the campaigns coming, I'd love to provide links to each one - this is a family-by-family battle in many ways, and it's very empowering to tell one's own story. (One nice thing about the 9th July demo was seeing the megaphone being passed between speakers, telling their own stories - the real heart of the day, I thought).
---
A heartbroken husband who has fought for almost two years to bring his wife to the UK claims immigration laws discriminate against working class people.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/it-is-derogatory-fife-man-kept-apart-from-kenyan-wife-because-of-low-earnings-1.111702
James McAllister, 50, of Kirkcaldy, wed Vera Akinyi, 32, in a ceremony in her native Kenya in August 2011.
They remain separated by more than 4,500 miles as supermarket employee Mr McAllister’s wages fall short of UK Border Agency requirements.
Before a UK citizen can bring a spouse into the country from outside the EU they need to earn an annual salary of at least £18,600 to support them. Those also bringing a child need to prove an income of £22,400.
Former Black Watch soldier Mr McAllister, who desperately wants Vera and her six-year-old son Steve to come to Scotland and live with him, said: “It is derogatory to working class people that because you don’t earn enough you can’t be with your spouse.
Mr. McAllister, if you are reading this (via a Google search, link etc), we are with you. Get in touch!
---
Sarah Teather: 'I'm angry there are no alternative voices on immigration'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2013/jul/12/sarah-teather-angry-voices-immigration
Last year the coalition introduced a rule that prohibits any Briton earning less than £18,600 from sponsoring a visa for a non-European spouse, rising to £22,400 for families with a child, and a further £2,400 for each extra child. "It's just a disaster," Teather despairs. "Lots of British citizens who never expected to be caught up in the immigration system are about to see their families split up. You may have tens of thousands in savings, you may have extremely rich grandparents, your spouse may be a high earner – a whole set of things that would clearly demonstrate that you meet the criteria whereby you'd be no burden on the taxpayer – and yet you're still not allowed to bring your spouse here, because we want to demonstrate that we are bringing numbers down."
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration :
Lab MP & Chair of @CommonsHomeAffs @Keith_VazMP asks how many family visa applications have been cancelled since 08
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-07-04a.162744.h
I hope he keeps pushing.
During the 9th July meeting in Parliament, Mr. Vaz committed to make the Home Affairs Select Committee - which he chairs - continue to look at family migration rules. Let's hold him to it.
---
https://twitter.com/BIHRhumanrights :
good to be involved in divided families action day, #BIHR's 1yr on briefing & other work
http://www.bihr.org.uk/policy/Family-Migration
---
Press hysteria and UK government migration research: a contagious syndrome.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/simon-parker/press-hysteria-and-uk-government-migration-research-contagious-syndrome
... In other words, the authors don't have the data to draw any robust conclusions about the impact of immigration on local communities, services and economies. Even they admit that "a combination of statistical profiling, consultation with local authorities and other service providers, and discussions with relevant experts" is no substitute for a proper quantitative survey of the entire United Kingdom.
The report admits that international students (the exclusion of whom makes up the bulk of the government’s immigration reduction figures) and skilled European Economic Area workers (whom UKIP and much of the Tory party would like to ban) have a low impact on public services. Low skilled workers present a more "mixed picture", although the authors lack the data to demonstrate exactly how the costs and benefits stack up.
Then we get to "asylum-seeking and refugee groups" who are likely to have "the highest impact on services compared with other groups, especially in health, because of their particular characteristics and needs". Well yes, one might expect people fleeing from persecution, rape, violence and torture to have elevated health needs—that's the whole point of humanitarian protection!
---
https://twitter.com/Beschizza :
Today at the Daily Mail: DO WOLVES CAUSE CANCER
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2361758/The-wolfs-door-Killer-beasts-roaming-Western-Europe-time-100-years-sparking-fears-soon-arrive-Britain.html
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Open letter to the Children's Commissioner, from someone affected by the family division rules
Per a previous post ( http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/u-rgent-message-from-migrants-rights.html ), the Children's Commissioner for England has requested stories from families affected by these devastating family division rules.
Here is one family's story, shared with permission.
Get in touch with her at childrens.commissioner@childrenscommissioner.gsi.gov.uk
Dear Maggie Atkinson;
I received your information through a group that I am involved in trying to fight the immigration rules. My name is John Cobb and I am an English citizen currently living in Texas, in the US. I want to tell you my story and explain why we need your help changing these unfair rules.
I was born in England, as was my father, and his parents. I came to the US 7 years ago. I met my wife, Hayley in 2009 and married her in 2011. In 2012 we had a beautiful baby boy who we call Ryan in honor of my late mother. I also have a 17 year old daughter from a previous relationship who is still in England named Lauren. Lauren comes to visit us whenever possible and she and Ryan adore each other. Hayley and I always intended to move back to the UK but it was only once we had the baby that we began to seriously look into the process and realized how difficult this move would be. Our son, Ryan has a British passport and we foolishly believed once we had that the hard part was over.
You see, I'm an unskilled laborer. In England I worked for Royal Mail for 10 years and I enjoyed my time there and hope to return to that position once I am finally home again. In America I work part time for a bank. Hayley, my wife, is the primary wage earner here. She works as a supervisor in a corporate office for JP Morgan Chase & Co. We had hoped she would be able to use her reputation with the bank to find a new position in England. Hayley works during the day while I take care of our son, and I work in the evenings. We make enough to support ourselves without government assistance and have no reason to believe we wouldn't be able to find work in England. However, the amount of money that must be in savings to qualify to bypass the minimum wage requirement is simply impossible.
To meet the minimum wage requirement to bring my family to England I would have to leave Texas, find a job (Possibly two depending on the area of the country we decide to settle in and the wages available there) and wait for 6 months to qualify to apply for a visa for my wife. I would expect to be away from my family for at least 9 months, and from what we are finding out the more we research it will probably be a lot longer than that.
If I want to return to the place of my birth, the only place I have ever considered home I have to make an impossible decision: When do I leave my family? Do I leave now, when Ryan is too young to ask where his Daddy is and miss his first words, his first explorations into art, his discoveries on what he is capable of? Do I leave when Ryan is older, when his memory will have the ability to miss me, to wonder where I went and why I'm not there to kiss him each morning? If I have to force my wife to live as a single parent do I do it now while so much of our energy is spent worrying over teething and ear infections, or do I do it later when she'll need help preparing him for school and the life ahead?
I hope you understand the difficulty here. Of course neither of those options is a good choice for my son. What he needs is his mother and father together, working to raise him to be the man we both know he can be. What he needs is a stable home near his sister in a good community with people who know him and care for him. However, what he's got right now is a father who is not meant to be an American but is no longer allowed to be British.
Please help us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
---
No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.
- Magna Carta.
Per a previous post ( http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/u-rgent-message-from-migrants-rights.html ), the Children's Commissioner for England has requested stories from families affected by these devastating family division rules.
Here is one family's story, shared with permission.
Get in touch with her at childrens.commissioner@childrenscommissioner.gsi.gov.uk
Dear Maggie Atkinson;
I received your information through a group that I am involved in trying to fight the immigration rules. My name is John Cobb and I am an English citizen currently living in Texas, in the US. I want to tell you my story and explain why we need your help changing these unfair rules.
I was born in England, as was my father, and his parents. I came to the US 7 years ago. I met my wife, Hayley in 2009 and married her in 2011. In 2012 we had a beautiful baby boy who we call Ryan in honor of my late mother. I also have a 17 year old daughter from a previous relationship who is still in England named Lauren. Lauren comes to visit us whenever possible and she and Ryan adore each other. Hayley and I always intended to move back to the UK but it was only once we had the baby that we began to seriously look into the process and realized how difficult this move would be. Our son, Ryan has a British passport and we foolishly believed once we had that the hard part was over.
You see, I'm an unskilled laborer. In England I worked for Royal Mail for 10 years and I enjoyed my time there and hope to return to that position once I am finally home again. In America I work part time for a bank. Hayley, my wife, is the primary wage earner here. She works as a supervisor in a corporate office for JP Morgan Chase & Co. We had hoped she would be able to use her reputation with the bank to find a new position in England. Hayley works during the day while I take care of our son, and I work in the evenings. We make enough to support ourselves without government assistance and have no reason to believe we wouldn't be able to find work in England. However, the amount of money that must be in savings to qualify to bypass the minimum wage requirement is simply impossible.
To meet the minimum wage requirement to bring my family to England I would have to leave Texas, find a job (Possibly two depending on the area of the country we decide to settle in and the wages available there) and wait for 6 months to qualify to apply for a visa for my wife. I would expect to be away from my family for at least 9 months, and from what we are finding out the more we research it will probably be a lot longer than that.
If I want to return to the place of my birth, the only place I have ever considered home I have to make an impossible decision: When do I leave my family? Do I leave now, when Ryan is too young to ask where his Daddy is and miss his first words, his first explorations into art, his discoveries on what he is capable of? Do I leave when Ryan is older, when his memory will have the ability to miss me, to wonder where I went and why I'm not there to kiss him each morning? If I have to force my wife to live as a single parent do I do it now while so much of our energy is spent worrying over teething and ear infections, or do I do it later when she'll need help preparing him for school and the life ahead?
I hope you understand the difficulty here. Of course neither of those options is a good choice for my son. What he needs is his mother and father together, working to raise him to be the man we both know he can be. What he needs is a stable home near his sister in a good community with people who know him and care for him. However, what he's got right now is a father who is not meant to be an American but is no longer allowed to be British.
Please help us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
---
No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.
- Magna Carta.
Beautiful
Out of the blue, this arrived in the BritCits inboxes this morning :
Please find attached a copy of the judgment in our Jr against the Imm Rules - we were successful in part you will be pleased to hear!
Thank you for your contribution. -
Stuart Luke
Bhatia Best Ltd
A copy of the judgement was attached, which I've uploaded here for posterity : http://www.scribd.com/doc/153242486/05-07-13-approved-judgment
A number of BritCits and Family Immigration Alliance supporters and associates contributed evidence to this case, in the form of their stories.
When we were approached, we rounded a few people up whose stories fitted the profiles they were looking for, and let them tell their stories.
Getting a note like this is the icing on the cake which was a truly excellent week. Thanks to all who contributed, WE MADE A DIFFERENCE. I can't emphasise that enough.
Along with the APPG report, this emphasises to me how all aspects of this campaign - legal, political, grassroots, social media, even academic and artistic - are intedependent, and move forward together. And how people supporting each other and showing solidarity can make a difference.
Previously : 'High Court finds minimum income rules disproportionate and unjustified.' - http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-big-news.html
Almost exactly a year after they were first introduced, Mr Justice Blake sitting in the High Court has in a lengthy, complex and very carefully considered judgment found that the controversial immigration rules requiring a minimum income of at least £18,600 for spouse visa applications are ‘unjustified and disproportionate’ where the sponsor is a refugee or a British citizen.
So - if you are affected by the iniquitous family division rules and haven't sent your story in yet, get in touch. You never know where it might lead.
Out of the blue, this arrived in the BritCits inboxes this morning :
Please find attached a copy of the judgment in our Jr against the Imm Rules - we were successful in part you will be pleased to hear!
Thank you for your contribution. -
Stuart Luke
Bhatia Best Ltd
A copy of the judgement was attached, which I've uploaded here for posterity : http://www.scribd.com/doc/153242486/05-07-13-approved-judgment
A number of BritCits and Family Immigration Alliance supporters and associates contributed evidence to this case, in the form of their stories.
When we were approached, we rounded a few people up whose stories fitted the profiles they were looking for, and let them tell their stories.
Getting a note like this is the icing on the cake which was a truly excellent week. Thanks to all who contributed, WE MADE A DIFFERENCE. I can't emphasise that enough.
Along with the APPG report, this emphasises to me how all aspects of this campaign - legal, political, grassroots, social media, even academic and artistic - are intedependent, and move forward together. And how people supporting each other and showing solidarity can make a difference.
Previously : 'High Court finds minimum income rules disproportionate and unjustified.' - http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-big-news.html
Almost exactly a year after they were first introduced, Mr Justice Blake sitting in the High Court has in a lengthy, complex and very carefully considered judgment found that the controversial immigration rules requiring a minimum income of at least £18,600 for spouse visa applications are ‘unjustified and disproportionate’ where the sponsor is a refugee or a British citizen.
Another step forward in the Divided Families Campaign.
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/07/10/another-step-forward-divided-families-campaign
9 July marked the first anniversary of the divisive and cruel family immigration rules, and was marked by a very successful day of action in and around Parliament. It also came at the end of a period of about a month that saw the campaigning take great leaps forward.
Over the previous month we’ve seen the excellent report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration launched, which condemns the Rules in no uncertain terms, we’ve seen Mark Reckless, Tory MP admit freely in the media that these rules are designed to curb immigration (and not to increase integration or lighten the burden on the taxpayer as claimed by the Home Office). We’ve had good coverage in the media about the rules and ways of dealing with them. There’s also been the good result in the court case in Birmingham, where Mr Justice Blake, sitting in the High Court, found these rules to be "disproportionate and unlawful" which has tempered the Home Office’s enthusiasm to refuse applications for want of satisfying the income requirement.
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Don't forget...
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/u-rgent-message-from-migrants-rights.html
We gained a new influential supporter - the Children's Commissioner for England, Maggie Atkinson - who voiced her concerns about the impacts of the family migration rules on children in Parliament.
Her office would now like to hear directly from families about how these devastating rules are affecting children, so that she can keep speaking out on this issue.
If your children or grandchildren are being affected by the rules, please take 10 minutes as soon as possible to write an email about it to Maggie on childrens.commissioner@childrenscommissioner.gsi.gov.uk
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https://twitter.com/migrants_rights :
Completely packed room in parliament. Over 140 ppl.
pic.twitter.com/lXlD5HZKUf
A beautiful day, to see so many standing up for their rights, and for the rights of others too.
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Spotted on Facebook, breaks my heart :
I've taken my son from last year in primary school to do the EU route. He is already feeling homesick, most days he is ok but some nights he is very upset because he misses his grandparents and just our old life generally. Also our new baby only 2 months old. Given up our home, my business. So I will send them a letter definitely.
And putting people in this position helps the economy, HOW, Cameron, May?
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"You know the best welfare system of all, it's called the family." - David Cameron.
"Stronger families and a more responsible society - is so vital for the future of our country." - David Cameron.
What an absolute joke.
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Here's another quote...
No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.
- Magna Carta.
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Introducing our new 'co-conspirators' - the Children's Commissioner for England ( https://twitter.com/ChildrensComm ), Sarah Teather MP ( https://www.facebook.com/sarahteather ), and Julian Huppert MP ( https://twitter.com/julianhuppert ).
They are of course in good company on the right hand panel ----------->
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Travel requirements for non-EU family members.
http://www.euronews.com/2013/03/07/travel-requirements-for-non-eu-family-members/
Spotted on Facebook :
This video explains amazingly as to what the travel requirements are for Non-EU citizens who are travelling with or joining their EU family members, detailing the process that the border authorities should adhere to and what evidence is required.
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Visa rules for Chinese people visiting are "colonial" and costing Britain "£4m-£5m a day", said Simon Thomas, chief executive of the Hippodrome Casino in London's West End.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/10173095/Visa-rules-for-Chinese-cost-Britain-5m-a-day.html
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