This: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3618903/Hard-working-Australian-family-threatened-deportation-claim-set-fail-continue-battle-remain-UK.html photogenic (white!) family came to the UK in 2011 under a (Tier 4 I believe) Student visa, for the mother, which entitled them to bring their family with them to the UK for the duration of the course, which in Scotland I believe is 4 years (for a BA).
It appears from her LinkedIn profile that she has had a 1 year extension, so in total five years, so just now graduating
Meanwhile, back in April 2012, the Tier 1 Post-Study Work Visa, which provided a straightforward route for overseas students to remain in the UK, was abolished, which caused a massive (50%) drop in the number of Indian students applying to study in the UK - presumably the intention, in order to reduce net immigration.
So since 2012, graduating students must now prove that they are 'skilled', and working in a shortage occupation, in order to gain a visa.
So they have had four years notice of this fact, but they are complaining, and say, effectively, that they want to remain in the UK illegally, because look at us, we should be exempt from the rules, because, er look, here's our photo in the paper aren't we charming.
All of which is great, but you can hardly make exceptions for scrubbed-up families posing for newspapers but ignore the hundreds of thousands of others who are subject to the same rules. In the eyes of the law, they are NO different to students from India (also a Commonwealth country), who are a target for anti-immigration complaints, but there seems to be an implict racism here where they are somehow more deserving of sympathy because they are white.
Immigration rules are frequently strict: as guests in a country you simply do NOT have the same rights as a citizen. I have dealt with the immigration process both entering the UK and also abroad, and the rules very seldom seem 'fair'. There is always the sense that MY family should be allowed in, because we are awfully naice, but the one thing that the rules must be is impartial. You cannot have ministers intervening on behalf of Gregg and Kathryn when he refuses to do so for Samit or Mohammed.
AIBU?
to think immigration rules should be applied consistently
mamamea · 01/06/2016 12:16
The problem is that a one size fits all immigration policy plainly does not work for Scotland, which is already thinly populated compared to the rest of the UK and is suffering further depopulation. There's a reason why Scotland has taken far more than it's share of Syrian refugees, and it's not just that Scottish people are nicer (though they may well be 
).
The income requirements are now basically all but impossible for new graduates to meet, unless they are in London or are working in an area of significant skill shortage. There should at least be a provision to adjust the required income level according to typical incomes in the area where the applicant lives.
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