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MNHQ have commented on this thread

Petitions and activism

Need support in remaining in UK with my family. Can you help?

251 replies

englishgarden370 · 10/10/2015 23:31

Hi Everyone,

I am an American citizen. My husband and two children are British citizens. I am having to make an application for Leave to Remain in the UK with them and as a precautionary measurement I have started a petition to aid in my application to remain in them. It used to be that anyone who married a British citizen had the right to stay in the country with them but so many immigrants have taken advantage in the past just to gain citizenship that the government has made it much more complicated and expensive now. My three year old son had autism and Sensory Integration Disorder. I am everything to him and my family is my whole world. If any of you could possibly take a second to read my petition and if you were happy to sign it, in support of my application to remain with them, I would be extremely grateful!

Thank you so much for your consideration!
Jennifer

Need support in remaining in UK with my family. Can you help?

OP posts:

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KittTheGreat · 11/10/2015 14:14

It's difficult to refuse the application on the deception grounds (although they sometimes do!) but the application is normally refused on the 'insurmountable obstacles' test in EX.1 b) I quoted earlier, it's a very high test. The test is slightly easier if you're not in a relationship with the child's other parent. Also, the general grounds for refusal do not apply to applications outside the Rules.

It is very difficult to get residence here, even if you have a child here, the Home Office suggest that either you can relocate outside the UK with your family or alternatively that you can maintain a relationship through Skype etc. However, the bulk of this thread has been talking about deception and that's not really the difficult issue for this application.

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KittTheGreat · 11/10/2015 14:18

Also, if successful under EX.1 OP would be granted leave to remain not indefinite leave to remain. It's highly unlikely she'd be granted ILR outright, that would be an exercise of discretion and extremely unusual.

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juneau · 11/10/2015 14:22

What I don't understand is why, if the OP is turned down for ILR (having apparently screwed around with our immigration rules for five years - I'm married to a US citizen so I can clearly see the subterfuge you've engaged in to stay here under the radar all this time), she and her family can't all just move to the US? Its not like you come from some scary country with no rule of law, institutions, benefits or help for the disabled. In many US states the provisions for the disabled are actually significantly better than here in the UK, so why the angst? You've played fast and loose with the immigration laws of the UK for the past several years, so why should they be reasonable with you? I'd say you'll be very lucky indeed not to be deported - and rightly so. Why should it be one rule for you and one for everyone else?

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Patapouf · 11/10/2015 14:23

It's a shit situation OP and I'm sympathetic even though it is very much one of your own making.
I have been through the process with DH and it is a veritable nightmare but I don't think a petition is going to help. There are thousands of families who have been separated by the 2012 rule change and I don't see how UKVI will see your family as exceptional. If anything, your disregard for the rules and your illegal entry on visitor visas will override any sympathy they have.

Is there a reason relocating to the U.S. Isn't feasible? Good news is, you can live anywhere in the EU as a family except the UK and won't have arbitrary minimum salaries applied to you. If you choose to be separated if you are denied ILR, it is just that, a choice.

I'm suspicious of this so-called solicitor who suggested a petition. Furthermore I don't see how you will be eligible for ILR after no legal residence in the UK?

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 11/10/2015 14:27

There are some horrible replies on here

Op, I apologise for the fact that some people (including, by the looks of it, many on the thread) voted for the shower of shites that is the Conservative government. As others have said though a petition is unlikely to help if "normal procedures" are failing you. The UK government (and the people who voted for them) and by extension the UKBA are heartless bastards and they don't give a shit about your family life or your disabled child.

I wish I had something more useful to say. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that whatever happens your family finds stability and happiness

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BubsandMoo · 11/10/2015 14:45

Wow, ItsAllGoingToBeFine, aren't you lovely.

(That was sarcasm. Calling millions of people you don't know heartless bastards is not a lovely thing to do).

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Fairenuff · 11/10/2015 14:47

Of course lots of people voted Conservative, that''s how they got elected so no big surprise that some of those voters will also be posting on this thread but you have no way of knowing, you are just making an inaccurate link between political leanings and immigration procedures.

That's the same as saying if Labour or Liberal get in power, they will change immigration laws and let anyone who has a child in the uk stay here.

It's just not that straightforward. They are still going to have to put a limit on it. And there will still be sob stories from those who don't qualify.

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EatSleepWorkRepeat · 11/10/2015 14:53

So sorry you're in this position OP, I hope you manage to find a way to meet the rules and keep your family together. The income rules do seem so arbitrary and pay no attention to the realities of the cost of either staying together as a family or being forced to live in different countries.
good luck

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AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 11/10/2015 14:55

You know what? I didn't vote Conservative - I favour Labour tbh. I'm American. I have 2 children with SNs/disabilities. I have ILR, as I followed the correct procedure to get it.

I completely understand the OP's concerns, but I cannot in good conscience sign a petition in this situation. The OP and her DH have been married for over 3 years, and only now are looking at getting Leave to Remain. She should have been on a Fiance visa before getting married and then applied for a spousal visa, but they didn't. Loads of other couples follow the rules, working hard to make sure they meet the criteria, rather than just taking a jaunty walk around the rules and doing whatever they want.

It's frustrating to remember all the work we did to make sure we did everything the correct way, and then to see someone completely disregard it, actively go around the laws, then make a public bid for support to be rewarded with Leave to Remain when they couldn't be bothered to follow the rules that the rest of us did.

So while I understand her situation and her fear, I can't ignore her actions. And that means I can't sign. It's a personal decision that I stand by.

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starlight2007 · 11/10/2015 14:56

who are you Miss Fitts..I can't decide if you are OP or some friend?

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AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 11/10/2015 14:57

FWIW, I detest the current income standards that have been set and I feel it's making immigration a rich person's arena with no chance of a look in for those that are not wealthy. But that doesn't change the circumstances here.

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Fairenuff · 11/10/2015 15:02

I think that's fairly standard for anyone who wants to migrate isn't it? If you can't show that you are able support yourself and your family, the country don't want to take you in unless you are a refugee.

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juneau · 11/10/2015 15:06

Get yourself pregnant, get to stay.

That's all you have to do in the US. Its called having an 'anchor baby' i.e. the baby is an automatic US citizen and therefore mum gets to stay - voila! Except the OP apparently didn't bother to find out whether that's the rule here - which it most certainly isn't. With immigration its never a good idea to make assumptions.

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saucony · 11/10/2015 15:07

Whatever you think of the OP's choices, she is a carer to a child with significant needs. Yes, of course she bears responsibility but compassion for the child who seeks all his comfort, support and love from his mother wouldn't go amiss.

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juneau · 11/10/2015 15:11

And yes, our financial regulations for immigrants are pretty standard and are designed to stop migrants from coming here to abuse our system of benefits. So if you (or, in this case, the OP's husband), want to sponsor a non-EU spouse coming to live in the UK the financial rules are to try and prevent said spouse becoming a drain on the UK tax payer. The salary requirements hardly make immigration 'a rich person's arena' . You're talking about an annual salary of less than £20k to bring a spouse here and under £25k for a spouse with two DC. In order to support a family of four without recourse to the state that seems reasonable to me.

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AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 11/10/2015 15:11

I said I did feel compassion and that I hope she is able to get it sorted and stay. I also expressed a wish that from now on, she take the time to follow the appropriate laws. They are there for a reason, and it's highly irritating to see people flout them because they don't feel the need to follow them.

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Fairenuff · 11/10/2015 15:17

It's not clear from OP that she actually has been his carer saucony, she says that she's been flying back to the US and possibly spending up to six months away from him. But without her engagement we can't know for sure.

What I would like to know is what on earth is a person thinking when they decide to have a child in the full knowledge that they might have to be separated from them. Where is the OP's compassion for her own children in all of this?

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Bullettoothtony · 11/10/2015 15:22

I agree saucony

'Anchor baby' is a repugnant term

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AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 11/10/2015 15:25

Frankly, the law in the US that you are automatically eligible for US citizenship if you are born in the US is outdated and IMO should be changed. But the US is loath to let go of anyone that's a potential tax payer once they have them on the books.

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BubsandMoo · 11/10/2015 15:29

I have a lot of compassion for the OP's children (she does have two, I think, although at one point in the petition waffle she refers to her three amazing children). If she is not legally able to remain in the UK however it does not mean that she has to be separated from them. They can all legally move to the US together. Denial of ILR does not mean seperating her from her children, unless she chooses for it to.

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Fairenuff · 11/10/2015 15:32

Provided that the US will let her dh live there or, alternataively, he will let her take them away from him.

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AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 11/10/2015 15:34

The third child, I believe, is her DH's child from a previous marriage, who he is raising "by himself" so should be able to relocate with them if needed, either to EU or US.

Academic, really, as she hasn't been denied Leave to Remain yet. I do think she needs to get a better solicitor.

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HamaTime · 11/10/2015 15:53

I know several people who are in similar circumstances and I am sympathetic. I do think migrants should be able to support themselves but one of the things that makes it difficult is the income of the non EU citizen is discounted. If the British person has been a 'trailing spouse' then their earning potential may be considerably reduced. The income requirement can't come from overtime or a second job, it has to be a 'proper' regular, permanent income which makes it hard for anyone who can push themselves over the bracket by picking up extra shifts or for self employed people.
There was a case in Scotland where the government intervened because the non EU spouse was a rural headteacher and they didn't want to lose him due to the chronic shortage. There are a lot of families where one person is a high earner (headteacher, for example) and the spouse earns less than £18600 but this isn't allowed for UK citizens married to non EU citizens.

US teacher story - ironically his family fled to the US during the Highland clearances

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 11/10/2015 16:13

Calling millions of people you don't know heartless bastards is not a lovely thing to do).

Apologies -that was wrong of me. The millions of people who voted for the Tories were heartless bastards or stupid or naive. Not all were heartless bastards.

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RoisinIwanttofightyourfather · 11/10/2015 16:14

I've signed op.

From the father's perspective, hasn't he the right to have his wife and mother of his children resident with him? Even if she is furrin? I thought ,apparently incorrectly, that a British citizen had that right.

Good luck, OP. I hope things go well for you and your family. I'm sorry you have had some shit thrown at you. Feck em.

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