Couple split by UK immigration laws: "I couldn't hold my newborn son"

Laura Clarke is 29. She lives in Rugby, with her parents, and her 16-month-old son, Elijah. Every day she shows Elijah a picture of his father, her partner Biniyam Tesfaye. It’s the best she can do: he lives over 3,700 miles away in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “He’s missing out on his son, and his son’s missing out on him,” she says. “We show Elijah pictures, but he’s not actually seeing him, so he’s not even using the word ‘Dada’ or ‘Daddy’. The longer this goes on, the more it will affect him.”

Clarke and Tesfaye first got together when she was teaching English at a primary school in Addis Ababa; he was one of her colleagues: “We met on my first day. We were friends for about a month, and then after that, things started to develop,” she says.

When her job came to an end, Clarke came back to the UK, assuming he could soon join her. “Then about three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is going to make life very difficult, but it’s still a gift – I’m happy. We’ll get through it.’ And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”

Elijah was born in October 2016. There was no mobile reception in the maternity ward, so Laura’s mother, Michelle, called Tesfaye to tell him his son had been born. “I was in hospital for two days afterwards,” says Laura. “I saw people with their husbands, and I thought, ‘I should have that opportunity.’” What kept her going, she says, was the fact that Tesfaye had applied for a visitor’s visa and was meant to arrive for a six-month stay that Christmas.

But then they heard that the Home Office had turned him down because he couldn’t supply the six months’ worth of bank statements it said was necessary. “That was hard. Really hard,” she says. “You can’t get that time back.” Seventeen months have passed since Elijah was born, and they’re still apart.

This type of shit is happening to thousands of people, every single day. Obviously it hits close to home for me, too.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/apr/14/couldnt-hold-newborn-son-families-split-visa-laws

Fuck sake. Didn’t I always tell you that being an immigration officer was something I could never do?
How do you decide a person’s future and be the judge and jury of their lives, their loves and their destinies?

I have no idea why anyone ever thought I was right wing, to be honest. It’s shit like this, that I can’t get to grips with.

eddie wrote:Fuck sake. Didn’t I always tell you that being an immigration officer was something I could never do?
How do you decide a person’s future and be the judge and jury of their lives, their loves and their destinies?

I have no idea why anyone ever thought I was right wing, to be honest. It’s shit like this, that I can’t get to grips with.

Well as long as nobody's getting any benefits they don't deserve

It’s just a shitstorm of red tape bullshit.

Humans are simply not free.

eddie wrote:Fuck sake. Didn’t I always tell you that being an immigration officer was something I could never do?
How do you decide a person’s future and be the judge and jury of their lives, their loves and their destinies?

I have no idea why anyone ever thought I was right wing, to be honest. It’s shit like this, that I can’t get to grips with.

She's not married to him.   This makes things harder.  Also, if they relaxed the rules, you'd have people having kids or using kids just to get into the UK.    People try to get married in order to do this all the time and get jailed for it.   They seem like a nice couple and obviously genuine.  But where do you draw the line?   Sadly, red tape and sorting the wheat from the chaff takes months or years.    But this situation would also occur in other countries with the same visa rules.   Not just the UK.   Most countries insist that you have a de facto relationship and have been living together as partners for at least 12 months.  They clearly haven't.

HoratioTarr wrote:

eddie wrote:Fuck sake. Didn’t I always tell you that being an immigration officer was something I could never do?
How do you decide a person’s future and be the judge and jury of their lives, their loves and their destinies?

I have no idea why anyone ever thought I was right wing, to be honest. It’s shit like this, that I can’t get to grips with.

She's not married to him.   This makes things harder.  Also, if they relaxed the rules, you'd have people having kids or using kids just to get into the UK.    People try to get married in order to do this all the time and get jailed for it.   They seem like a nice couple and obviously genuine.  But where do you draw the line?   Sadly, red tape and sorting the wheat from the chaff takes months or years.    But this situation would also occur in other countries with the same visa rules.   Not just the UK.   Most countries insist that you have a de facto relationship and have been living together as partners for at least 12 months.  They clearly haven't.

But most countries have these rules because of RW cowardly Racists

if you relaxed the Rules and Told the Cowardly Racists to STFU, well you don't really need to worry about the line at all since in the greater scheme of things it is bugger all effect on the nation, it is only import in the minds of Right Whingers

eddie wrote:It’s just a shitstorm of red tape bullshit.

Humans are simply not free.  

the people voted

the freedom to Fear Foreigners was voted more important than the freedom to fall in love with one

HoratioTarr wrote:

eddie wrote:Fuck sake. Didn’t I always tell you that being an immigration officer was something I could never do?
How do you decide a person’s future and be the judge and jury of their lives, their loves and their destinies?

I have no idea why anyone ever thought I was right wing, to be honest. It’s shit like this, that I can’t get to grips with.

She's not married to him.   This makes things harder.  Also, if they relaxed the rules, you'd have people having kids or using kids just to get into the UK.    People try to get married in order to do this all the time and get jailed for it.   They seem like a nice couple and obviously genuine.  But where do you draw the line?   Sadly, red tape and sorting the wheat from the chaff takes months or years.    But this situation would also occur in other countries with the same visa rules.   Not just the UK.   Most countries insist that you have a de facto relationship and have been living together as partners for at least 12 months.  They clearly haven't.

But can you deny that they're in love?

For fuck's sake.

In order to win public confidence on immigration, the Conservative-led Coalition Government, under the then Home Secretary Theresa May, imposed a new requirement that anyone wanting to bring a spouse and any children to the UK needed to earn a minimum of £18,600 a year. The policy was designed to ensure that family members brought to the UK did not become a burden on taxpayers, labelling their partner a “sponsor” who would, by their own earnings, pay for any benefits they qualified for.

As we head into a general election in which immigration numbers will play a key part, the Prime Minister will be attempting to paint this as one of her crowning achievements. But the policy simply doesn’t work.

First, it doesn’t make any practical sense. Migrants from outside the EU, children or spouses included, are not entitled to any public benefits. “Sponsoring” them to compensate taxpayers makes little sense; it is a cheap gimmick to fool those who have little understanding of our immigrants and benefits system. I should know. I am an immigrant, and my visa is incredibly clear: I am entitled to nothing.

The second problem is that this policy does not account for the wealth of an incoming spouse. If one worker earning £18,600 or more is sufficient to guarantee their family will put no further stress on the UK’s public services, why must that worker be British? If someone from the UK married a non-citizen as wealthy as Donald Trump, they are still considered a drain on the state. It’s a meaningless test of self-sufficiency.

The flaws in this policy have created real hardships for many British citizens who are married or have children with non-UK nationals. In researching my book, Becoming British, I spoke to Britons who shared with me depressing accounts of their desire to live in their own country and raise their children, but that the income threshold – designed to reduce net migration overall rather than thwart the life chances of existing citizens – prevented them from exercising their right to a family life in the UK.

Some described the Home Office as going well beyond their role, interfering in personal lives by determining who does, and who does not, have the right to fall in love with a non-British citizen based solely on their income, and with no consideration given to the integrity, strength and commitment of their relationships.

A UK Supreme Court case challenged the minimum income requirement earlier this year, giving such families fresh hope. The court ruled that the income requirement was permissible, but the Government – now, of course, a Conservative majority administration, at least until 8 June – was required to consider more substantively the income of those affected.

So why did the judges conclude that the current scheme could nonetheless continue while these considerations took place? Though they agreed that minimum income requirements were acceptable in principle, they raised serious concerns about their use in practice. That should warrant at least a temporary freeze until the Government can measure and better understand the damaging effect of breaking up legitimate families and preventing some British citizens from raising their children in their home country.

The Government claims its policy is necessary to address a public interest in reducing net migration. And that long-promised reduction is happening because these inhumane rules are forcing British citizens and their families out. Net migration figures are down by 49,000, but 54,000 extra British citizens chose to leave the UK. Is Theresa May really “getting it right” on immigration?

The Government has form in this area, quite literally. In 2015, the Home Office had created an administrative form for British citizens to use to report their former lovers so they could be deported, leading to a national outcry and the Government burying its bad policy as swiftly as it was launched.

The form was intended as a way to provide evidence over invalid spousal visas, but it was clearly unfit for purpose. In the rush to get this out, the Government forgot to include a line where informants could give an address to verify what they were reporting; they forgot to ask how to contact the person identified as illegally in the country; and they did not provide an email or postal address for where any paperwork required could be sent.

Its biggest failing, however, was that it put spouses at risk of domestic violence. Abusive partners could potentially record their spouse as in the country illegally as an act of aggression or control, despite their possession of a valid UK visa.

The Government is clearly desperate to reduce net migration and the public supports this general aim. But breaking up families and putting vulnerable women and children at risk is no way to improve public confidence in the Government or the Home Office and its ability to manage our borders.

Our immigration policies should support British citizens, not encourage more of them to leave their country and their Government behind. Theresa May, now is your chance to prove that you’re listening.

Thom Brooks is head of Durham Law School and professor of law and government

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-general-election-immigration-brexit-policies-spouse-via-wage-18600-cap-driving-citizens-a7703031.html

Ben Mothafuckin' Reilly wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

She's not married to him.   This makes things harder.  Also, if they relaxed the rules, you'd have people having kids or using kids just to get into the UK.    People try to get married in order to do this all the time and get jailed for it.   They seem like a nice couple and obviously genuine.  But where do you draw the line?   Sadly, red tape and sorting the wheat from the chaff takes months or years.    But this situation would also occur in other countries with the same visa rules.   Not just the UK.   Most countries insist that you have a de facto relationship and have been living together as partners for at least 12 months.  They clearly haven't.

But can you deny that they're in love?

For fuck's sake.

Of course not. But you don't base immigration on love alone. There have to be criteria. That applies to most countries not just here.

She could always move to Ethiopia. Alternatively, people should think about this kind of thing before they have children.

Raggamuffin wrote:She could always move to Ethiopia. Alternatively, people should think about this kind of thing before they have children.

You could also go fuck yourself before making incredibly inhuman comments such as this one.

Ben Mothafuckin' Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:She could always move to Ethiopia. Alternatively, people should think about this kind of thing before they have children.

You could also go fuck yourself before making incredibly inhuman comments such as this one.

and some one green'd it too

Ben Mothafuckin' Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:She could always move to Ethiopia. Alternatively, people should think about this kind of thing before they have children.

You could also go fuck yourself before making incredibly inhuman comments such as this one.

She's got a point though. Whether you like it or not. Why should someone go fuck themselves for having a perfectly valid opinion. Why couldn't she move to Ethiopia? Apart from the obvious reason she won't? If you love someone you'll follow them anywhere, as you clearly want to with Eds. Attacking your posters like this is just rude and ignorant.

veya_victaous wrote:

eddie wrote:It’s just a shitstorm of red tape bullshit.

Humans are simply not free.  

the people voted

the freedom to Fear Foreigners was voted more important than the freedom to fall in love with one

I don’t necessarily think most people voted out in regards to Brexit because they “feared foreigners”.
A lot of older people voted out because what we ended up with wasn’t originally what that generation voted for.

+1

The regulations are true of most of the EU and most other countries too, that manage to have some sort of rule of law, the law has become as it is through criminals abusing the system - blame them. That said while I'm all for regulations the financial part is rough though, although he have to be able to look after yourself if you've not paid into the particular system.
My cousin came home after a lifetime of working all over the world, he had planned to retire in his last location and invested in a retirement scheme, which collapsed and the people running it exited the country sharpish, he had no option but to come home, he's of course not entitled to any benefits, he hasn't paid in, so his daiughter luckily can help him and he more or less works for her and her husband.

Ben Mothafuckin' Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:She could always move to Ethiopia. Alternatively, people should think about this kind of thing before they have children.

You could also go fuck yourself before making incredibly inhuman comments such as this one.

Hmmm, maybe I don't want your sort over here - intolerance of people's opinions is not very British.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Ben Mothafuckin' Reilly wrote:

You could also go fuck yourself before making incredibly inhuman comments such as this one.

She's got a point though.   Whether you like it or not.   Why should someone go fuck themselves for having a perfectly valid opinion.    Why couldn't she move to Ethiopia?   Apart from the obvious reason she won't?   If you love someone you'll follow them anywhere, as you clearly want to with Eds.   Attacking your posters like this is just rude and ignorant.  

Thank you.

'...Clarke and Tesfaye first got together when she was teaching English at a primary school in Addis Ababa; he was one of her colleagues: “We met on my first day. We were friends for about a month, and then after that, things started to develop,” she says.

When her job came to an end, Clarke came back to the UK, assuming he could soon join her. “Then about three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is going to make life very difficult, but it’s still a gift – I’m happy. We’ll get through it.’ And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”

Elijah was born in October 2016. There was no mobile reception in the maternity ward, so Laura’s mother, Michelle, called Tesfaye to tell him his son had been born. “I was in hospital for two days afterwards,” says Laura. “I saw people with their husbands, and I thought, ‘I should have that opportunity.’” What kept her going, she says, was the fact that Tesfaye had applied for a visitor’s visa and was meant to arrive for a six-month stay that Christmas.

But then they heard that the Home Office had turned him down because he couldn’t supply the six months’ worth of bank statements it said was necessary...'



This story stinks...

Tommy Monk wrote:'...Clarke and Tesfaye first got together when she was teaching English at a primary school in Addis Ababa; he was one of her colleagues: “We met on my first day. We were friends for about a month, and then after that, things started to develop,” she says.

When her job came to an end, Clarke came back to the UK, assuming he could soon join her. “Then about three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is going to make life very difficult, but it’s still a gift – I’m happy. We’ll get through it.’ And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”

Elijah was born in October 2016. There was no mobile reception in the maternity ward, so Laura’s mother, Michelle, called Tesfaye to tell him his son had been born. “I was in hospital for two days afterwards,” says Laura. “I saw people with their husbands, and I thought, ‘I should have that opportunity.’” What kept her going, she says, was the fact that Tesfaye had applied for a visitor’s visa and was meant to arrive for a six-month stay that Christmas.

But then they heard that the Home Office had turned him down because he couldn’t supply the six months’ worth of bank statements it said was necessary...'



This story stinks...

Your feet stink.