Deported grandmother : what is the government trying to prove

[alwaysprepare]

There is a story of a woman originally from Singapore who lives here and has been married to a Brit for 27 years, they have 2 kids and a grandchild.
Her parents had been ill and she has spent the last few years going home to take care of them. They have now passed away. She had indefinite leave to remain which has been revoked and was apparently taken on a Sunday by authorities and sent to a detention centre before being put on a flight with £12 and the clothes on her back. Her husband is poorly after a heart bypass, I think it was.

You are not allowed to leave the country for a certain amount of time on the visa she has, but she probably needed to take care of ailing parents. Also Singapore does not Allow dual citizenship which maybe why she did not apply for UK passport as that probably would have been tricky for her parent emergencies etc.

We are no better than Trump.

Sorry cannot paste it right now, but it's on Google.

@iamfriedspam the government expect the rules to be followed, yes even for people who have been given indefinite leave to remain. it's not done on a subjective basis of what's the harm in letting this or the person stay.
This will be sorted it's an administration issue

So sad. Whatever people's politics are, I like to think we could all agree that treating people like this with such a lack of basic respect, dignity and care isn't right.

I have many friends very worried about their status re: immigration at the moment, and it's awful watching how anxious they are. I hope we have some clarity and some sensible, humane decisionmaking soon.

To top it off, the government has been the public to take care of elderly parents, so why is she being penalised for it. Not just her, but her whole family too.

They are married and have been for 27 years (and it's quite clear that it's a genuine marriage) so yes, they should be allowed to live together either in her country or his, or between the two if that's what works best for their family. That is very different from coming here purely as an NHS tourist.

LucilleBluth, of course you and your DH had to fulfil visa requirements since neither of you was Canadian! And your daughter is also different as she has no reason to live in Canada as a child if you and your DH are elsewhere, so there would be no logical need for you to be granted a visa purely in order to stay together as a family. This British man clearly wants or needs to live in the UK and his wife of 27 years should have a right to be with him, regardless of where she has spent the past 27 years!

She's being hit by the requirement for the UK spouse to earn over a certain amount of money to be able to sponsor his wife. It is designed to ensure that people don't bring over their families from abroad, then claim benefits to support them.

In the US, either spouse can earn that money, or a third party can sponsor the immigrant, or you can prove that you have over a certain amount in savings.

In the UK, only the UK citizen can earn that money, and you cannot use savings, I believe.

She was caring for her elderly parents for a long time then.

Alternatively she wanted to live in Singapore with her family but still come back to the Uk as and when she wanted. People who are married don't usually choose to live across the world from each other for years and years. You can't have your cake and eat it. Live here, pay tax, reap the rewards. Don't live here, don't pay tax, but come back and avail yourself of U.K. sevices as and when you please. Nope.

Clearly not as cut and dry as it's made out to be.

People just can't simply break the terms of their visa or right to stay in a country. Lots of countries have very strict rules. We are very lenient with people. which is why we're seen as a soft touch throughout the world. Try just staying in Australia and NZ. You will be thrown out pronto.

Oh for goodness sake, if you marry a British citizen you know what you need to do to be able to live her legally long term. Anyone who doesn't bother to do it only has themselves to blame no matter how sad the 'human story angle' is. Twenty seven years she's had to sort this out and she's been daft enough to leave the UK for years at a time without sorting out her status and then expect to just be allowed to come back in and stay for good no questions asked.

What do you want? To live in a country where laws mean nothing and any foreigner with a plausible sob story or enough charm/money/influence can sway decisions and persuade immigration and government and security officials to just sweep things under the carpet and let them waltz off into the British sunset? Good grief.

Try just staying in Australia and NZ. You will be thrown out pronto.

They have similarly restrictive rules for immigration of genuine spouses of citizens? And throw out said spouses pronto?

They are married and have been for 27 years (and it's quite clear that it's a genuine marriage)

Is it really when they've spent most of it apart?

The OP states she had indefinite leave to remain. This is not the same as a visa. If someone has indefinite leave to remain they are said to be "free from immigration control". It can only be revoked if you commit an offence that leads to you being deported or you stay too long outside the country, which is what it sounds like has happened here. Yes she should have been more careful and adhered to the time constraints but it's pretty heartless IMO to just dismiss it as "well it's her own fault" as some PP have done. She has a British husband, kids & grandchildren & has been here for nearly 3 decades.

Shes spent most of her married life in Singapore without her husband. He lived there for 5 years with her and then came home.

and

People who are married don't usually choose to live across the world from each other for years and years.

This is very interesting, Qqnamechange do you have a link to these facts?

Because that's not what I've read elsewhere.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/26/grandmother-deported-from-uk-despite-being-married-to-briton-for-27-years

“For 30 years, my sister-in-law Irene has lived in Britain after arriving here from Singapore. She has a British husband, two wonderful British children and a granddaughter she dotes upon. She has worked hard for those 30 years raising her family and being an important and beloved member of the local community."

It's pretty explosive to have evidence that this lady's sister-in-law is a liar.

Just read the story in the Guardian. I love the way her SIL is playing on how ill her husband is and how cruel it is to rip a happy marriage apart when he will need her there to care for him and they don't know how he will survive without her and how much she dotes on her granddaughter.

Well he's done alright for the last two years on his own while his wife's been in Singapore, not seeing him or the granddaughter.

Of course I think she should ultimately be able to rejoin her family but only after going through the appropriate appeals and processes otherwise it makes an utter farce of the system. Especially in these times of heightened security.

FrenchLavender, you are all heart aren't you? I am in the same boat as the Singaporean lady. I currently live with English husband and work full time in the UK. Parents are getting older and I feel so guilty leaving them in my home country. If they are ill and unable to take care of themselves, the choice would be easy and I'd be flying home, else I couldn't live with myself. My husband would support my decision 100%. My country does not allow dual nationality either and I can't own a property if I were a foreigner. My parents have considerable assets in the millions, and this is one of the reasons I can't apply for UK citizenship. Would you rather deport me when I come back after taking care of my parents? I earn above average income and pay more taxes than average people. I have skills that are clearly desirable and two degrees from top universities in the world. And I have never asked for a single penny from the UK government, and I can't see myself ever needing to rely on benefit. Shame on you to even mention the 'sad human story' angle. People have their own personal reasons, why not deport the illegals or scroungers?

FrenchLavender "heightened security" don't make me laugh! Have you ever been to Singapore? It's more of an advanced country than UK, the chance she can cause security problem is less than you!

Mrs Clennell and her husband moved to Singapore in 1992, before Mr Clennell returned to the UK in 1998 with their children.

Mrs Clennell remained to care for her mother and says she came back to the UK several times for short visits. She lived in the UK in 2003 until January 2005 and says that during this time she made numerous applications for leave to remain, which were all rejected.

After being turned back at a UK airport in 2007, she makes another application at the British High Commission in Singapore in 2012. However, Mrs Goh-Piper says, this was rejected on the basis that Mrs Clennell did not provide proof of contact with her family.

From the BBC

Well he's done alright for the last two years on his own while his wife's been in Singapore, not seeing him or the granddaughter.
Of course I think she should ultimately be able to rejoin her family but only after going through the appropriate appeals and processes otherwise it makes an utter farce of the system. Especially in these times of heightened security.

Did you miss that she has tried and tried to go through "the system"?

"She has made repeated attempts – in Singapore and back in the UK – to reapply for permission to live with her husband."

I wouldn't call it explosive evidence. But pretty clear cut that this isn't a happy family ripped apart at the seams.

Well said Carrie.

TheElements

But they didn't believe she had sufficient contact with her family to warrant it. I.e. This wasn't a normal marriage/family.

Carrie. Nobody is saying don't go home. They're saying don't go for years and years and years!

The UK is one of the VERY FEW countries who do not take the fact someone is married to a British citizen into consideration when granting indefinite leave etc...
One of the reason most countries do take it into account is because it's protecting families and protecting families is actually part of the Human Rights and the United Nations pledge (international convenant).

This lady is one of many many cases that we don't normally hear about.
Families ARE being separated by the new immigration laws implemented by Theresa May. It also stops British citizens from coming back home if they have dare fall in love and get married abroad with non brit.

This is also what is likely to happen to EU citizens once the uk will have left the EU, on the grounds that they will be subjected to the same rules (which was one one of the reasons some people voted to leave).

I reckons there will be many many more families suffering like this.

We don't know the full details of this story, particularly how many opportunities she had to rectify the situation. My dh is not British and had a ILR status for a while. He applied for citizenship as soon as possible because he wanted to be secure, particularly as he was the only non-citizen in the family. I don't understand anyone who wouldn't do that. His job involves a lot of travel and he had to be careful not to exceed the number of days allowed. He didn't just take things for granted.