You know they encourage 'highly trained' immigrants to come to the UK?

[DoctorTwo]

Woman with TWO Masters Degrees given 28 days to leave the UK. Fucking hypocrites.

[DoctorTwo]

Picking on kids is a new low.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

“I have been in this country for nine years. In the whole of that time I have worked for the NHS, in the child and adolescent mental health sector, helping young people of this country through sometimes quite severe mental health problems.”
She added: “I have also contributed in taxes that whole time. I have never been unemployed, I don’t have children and I don’t have a disability. In other words, I have paid my taxes but have never required, thankfully, to draw on benefits for anything. Ever.
“As of Friday, I was given just 28 days to pack up my house, my home, my life and leave. As of Friday, I am no longer allowed to work. Yesterday, I was formally dismissed from my job without notice or severance pay, after nine years’ dedicated to the UK National Health Service, reaching a senior position in which I was held in high esteem.”

I'm glad one of the newspapers picked this up. It is absolutely ridiculous.

[TheSporkforeatingkyriarchy]

As an immigrant, I find this confusing (though good in highlighting that immigration cases can take two years to get through).

It wasn't the British who encouraged her here, she and her ex moved here and she took a job. As her partner is Italian, surely her spousal visa was with Italy (which would explain its length).

Her visa ran out. It happens to a lot of people with many qualifications - they were documented immigrants, then their documentation runs out, they become undocumented immigrants - that's how most undocumented immigrants become undocumented both here and in Australia. I'm not sure why she considers herself a special case when this happens to lots of people every day, other than she's gotten the media's attention. I'm not sure why she waited until 2011 when she was told in 2008 about her right to be here ending when her visa runs out. As she was told, she should have looked into arrangements or getting other documentation then. I can feel for her that this is difficult, but the highly trained jobs are listed on the UK's immigration website, hers isn't one of them (which is why the NHS couldn't give her a work visa, rules on that have become very strict).

The systems are screwed up and fighting for a more fair system is one thing, but the way she's coming across is that the rules should be bent for her because a she's special one - but there are hundreds upon hundreds with more qualifications and inspiring jobs just like her that are pushed out every day. The government is getting harder and harder on immigration, at the most vocal's insistence, and these things will happen in that kind of system. I suspect we'll get a lot more stories like these in the years to come as more visas come to their end. No matter the job or qualification, with the way things are going, it's going to get a lot rougher and most will leave completely ignored and the elites will pat themselves on the back for how many fewer there are.

[EBearhug]

If she's been here 9 years, couldn't she have applied for citizenship in her own right?

[Morloth]

When you are living in a country other than your own you really need to stay on top of your visa situation.

Your host country owes you nothing.

I have been an expat many times in different countries. You don't fuck around with visas. You do as the rukes state or you leave.

[madwomanintheatt1c]

As such an educated woman, you would have thought she'd have got her shit together to arrange the paperwork so as not to get kicked out, really.

Entitlement much?

(I am an immigrant. It isn't hard to read the rules, understand how they apply to you, and abide by them, whether you have no qualifications or multiple doctorates...)

[Longdistance]

I agree. Common sense hasn't kicked in with her, to sort her visa out.

We lived in Oz, and had to keep within the laws there, and paying higher taxes being temporary residents. When my dh was made redundant, we abided by the rules and left, as it stated on the visa.

When my mother applied for a British passport after being in the Uk since 1972, it took them 18 months to sort out, but this was about 10 years ago. She just used to travel on her Hungarian passport, but she paid her taxes too, but kept her end of the bargain up by renewing her visa, to be able to work.

[Morloth]

As for the case with the Canadian. If we had received a letter like that about either of our kids we would have gone, eh? Can't be right and got in contact with the relevant authorities to sort out.

It would appear that they have simply not mentioned that his mother at all in the application, just that he was living with the UK citizen but could not prove any relation there (indeed because there isn't yet as they are not married). That is what I got from the end of the article.

In any case, being deported to Australia or Canada (assuming the mother wouldn't let it get to the stage where her son was forcibly removed and would in fact return to a country where they both had residence and sort it out from there) is not the same as being sent to a war zone/somewhere you would be deliberately hurt.

It isn't rocket science, it is a PITA certainly but it comes down to the traveller to sort out - or (and I am going to get flamed, go home).

[arfishy]

Same applies here in Australia. Visa rules are clearly stated - I'm on a temporary 4 year visa and unless I get permanent residency or a new visa then I will have to leave in 2017. Immigration rules apply whether you are a boat person or a "highly skilled professional" although if you've got loads of cash you can buy your way in with an "investment" visa in both countries .

[nooka]

Getting immigration paperwork right is very stressful, but when you emigrate you do so knowing that you can only stay for as long as your visa or equivalent is valid and that it is up to you to cross every t and dot every i. If you get it wrong that's really unfortunate, but it is your responsibility, not the immigration authorities.

In the two cases there were clearly errors or misunderstandings in the applications. The therapist did not have 28 days notice, she knew in 2008 that she'd need to find a way to extend her visa/get residency and she had three years to do so. That's pretty generous, some countries would have pretty much thrown her out then.

The case of the little boy does seem on the face of it a bit crazy, but it sounds as if there was significant information missing in his application, and presumably the expectation was that he would rejoin his Canadian father. According to the link neither his mother or his soon to be step father were referenced on his application so something must have gone fairly wrong with it.

I am sympathetic as an emigrant myself and I'm sure that the Border agency is as rule bound and slow as any other immigration authority, but getting applications in in good time and with every scrap of relevant info is essential. Hoping it will be OK just doesn't work.

[WidowWadman]

Another case of a family being broken up. This can't be right, surely?

[Morloth]

I would think possibly getting married in China and then applying would help in that case.

I wonder what sort of visa the Mum was on before she had a baby?

This sort of stuff needs to be sorted out before you have children, it really does. Love is nice, but it doesn't sort out visas.

Obviously the mother and baby need to stay together, it might be that that would need to happen initially in China.

Visas are a PITA, but this isn't new. I don't think the UK has ever had an 'anchor' baby thing so surely this couple knew this would come up?

[Morloth]

It is a bugger, but there has to be a line in the sand unless you want an open door policy.

EVERY story is a real human story, all of them.

[nooka]

Immigration rules are not hard to find. The best way to make sure that your partner can stay with you is to get married. I couldn't figure out from that page what the issue was for that family, but it is likely that they will now need to go to her country, get married and then apply for a spousal visa for the UK from there. It does say that they have been together for five years (in the UK?) so they did have time to get things sorted. It's obviously very difficult for them now, but the UK's rules are pretty similar to most Western countries.

[Roshbegosh]

No one is saying the mother and child can't be together. Having babies here shouldn't change her visa status.
I agree with the other posters, the boy's application had important information missing and the systemic therapist employed in the NHS hadn't sorted out leave to remain. I don't think there is a shortage of systemic therapists here and many would have a DPsych so two MSc's is nothing to get excited about in that field. She is not filling a gap in the workforce.

[madwomanintheatt1c]

Out of interest, when we applied to emigrate, it initially looked as though dd2 would be refused permission to come with us. she was 5 at the time.

We moved to the country on work permits ahead of any immigration ruling. If she had been refused permission to stay, we would all have had to leave, you know. It's not like we would have stayed and shipped her off alone. We could have appealed, but ultimately we knew there was a good chance it would be refused.

I have zero sympathy, I really do. It's not like the rules are any sort of surprise. You just need to do your paperwork properly, and understand what it means if you don't meet the regulations.

[Morloth]

It happens all the time madwoman anyone with an ounce of sense just sorts it out within the rules.

We had DS2 in the UK, neither of us are UK Citizens so neither was he, he was entitled to Australian Citizenship but there were all sorts of hoops we had to jump through to get his paperwork all done.

We were also given advice (in writing! It has to be IN WRITING people) that there was no need to get him a visa for the UK whilst we were staying there, but if we left then he would not be able to re-enter.

Obviously this meant that we were in effect stuck in the UK until he was sorted. Of course we were.

Why do people not sort this stuff out properly/ahead of time/at least have a plan?

[nooka]

We lost ds's PR card just before we were due to come back to the UK for a family wedding. No problem for leaving, but a major problem coming back. We could have taken the risk and hoped that the border agent might have taken pity on us and let him back in, but we decided against it because it was just too high a risk, and the idea of him being sent back to England, or stopped from traveling was too much for us. So we were going to leave him behind with friends. Which was not great. Luckily he found his card and we were fine.

One thing you quickly learn when you emigrate/live abroad temporarily is that immigration/citizenship have you over a barrel - the power is totally in their hands.