3 hours ago
6
An American woman married to a British man feared she would have to leave the UK and lose her house and job after a Home Office error led to her being issued with a visa for less than two weeks.
Ashley, who requested that her real name not be published in the current UK migration climate, ended up having to apply for a second visa, paid for with savings for a deposit for a home.
Five months on, officials have yet to respond to an official complaint.
The 30-year-old spoke of her ordeal as the government considers lengthening the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five years to 10, which could mean skilled workers will pay NHS charges and visa fees for years more than they expected.
Ashley, from Sheffield, opposes the proposals, based on her experience of the 10-year route, which thousands of graduates and skilled workers are undergoing to qualify for ILR.
She said: “The longer you’re on a route, the longer you’re open to government changing their mind, the costs, or getting things wrong. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
The council worker came to the UK in 2017 to do an MA and a PhD. Marrying her British husband, Lewis, did not confer settled status on her automatically.
Their relationship, which began six years ago, simply allowed her to switch to a partner visa, which carries a five-year ILR qualifying period, and so would not reduce the overall wait for settlement in her case.
Ashley, who must apply for a new visa and pay for NHS care every 30 months, feared her life had been ruined by the Home Office’s response to her latest application.
She said: “I paid a lawyer to make sure I was doing everything correctly, but they accidentally put the wrong end date on my visa. It was meant to be for two and a half years but it arrived on May 22 and ended on June 4 – which gave me less than two weeks.”
Over the next fortnight, a distraught Ashley could only get through to a chatbot and a call handler who, she said, told her “that’s bureaucracy”.
After Ashley spent £2,500 on a fresh visa application and appealed to her MP, Abtisam Mohamed, the Home Office corrected the error. Officials refunded the cost of the second application after Ashley withdrew it but she remains out of pocket with legal costs.
She added: “I was freaking out that I would have to go back to the US. I don’t have a job there and don’t know anyone there any more. I could theoretically leave and come back, but my husband wouldn’t be able to afford the house without me.”
The visa process has limited the couple’s access to mortgage finance, affecting their careers because of nationality rules and restrictions specifying how long each has to have been in a role before each application.
Ashley added: “I’m happy to pay towards the NHS. I wanted to come to a more socialised country. But putting people on the 10-year route, making us feel insecure for a very long time, has repercussions for health and for the NHS. The far right say we cost the taxpayer, but I am a UK taxpayer.”
A Home Office spokesperson said they “apologise” for the “rectified” error and were in touch regarding Ashley’s complaint.
