{"id":27778,"date":"2022-05-09T23:52:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T23:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/09\/uk-spouse-visas-this-admin-issue-has-stopped-our-lives\/"},"modified":"2022-05-09T23:52:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T23:52:09","slug":"uk-spouse-visas-this-admin-issue-has-stopped-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/09\/uk-spouse-visas-this-admin-issue-has-stopped-our-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"UK spouse visas: ‘This admin issue has stopped our lives’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Couples being held in separate countries because of a visa backlog say the Home Office hasn’t told them how long the delays could be. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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British citizens told BBC News they hadn’t seen their spouses for six months – double the usual turnaround time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some spouses were only told days before the three months were up that there would be a delay and had already quit their jobs or ended leases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The interior ministry says the delays are due to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“In response to the humanitarian crisis being [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine has taken longer to process applications for study, work and family visas,” an official told BBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are working flat out to ensure these are issued as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But more than 150 people have contacted BBC News to raise the issue of delays. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And according to a crowdsourced spreadsheet of the details of more than 200 couples – created by an applicant in Los Angeles and shared with BBC News – some have waited more than twice as long as expected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Deon Barnard, 49, and Heather, 54, grew up in South Africa, have been together for 13 years and were married in a Lord of the Rings ceremony five years ago. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Before applying for the spousal visa, they were separated by only two days. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Deon’s mother was British and after he was granted British citizenship three years ago, the couple decided to move to the UK for better job opportunities and quality of life. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They submitted their application on 23 December 2021 and Deon moved to Uxbridge, west London, to start a new role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe calculated according to our calculations and according to our expectations [immigration] Agents, around March 28th would have been our date to receive ours [visa]’ he told BBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Heather would have been on a plane the next day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAbout March 26th we got a letter from the [Home Office] that visa applications have now been paused due to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“And there was no information, no date, no expectations set, nothing \u2014 that was just the end of the story. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“And we’ve been waiting ever since.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For a first fianc\u00e9 or spousal visa, once the Brit is living and working in the UK, the non-British partner must apply from their home country. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Applicants in some countries can usually pay an additional \u00a3500 to \u00a3800 for priority services, giving them a decision within a few weeks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But in March, all priority services for overseas applicants were suspended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Once their visas have been granted, the partners have a limited amount of time to relocate to the UK. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Many, including Heather, who only spoke of the delays after notifying her employers and landlords, now face an indefinite wait on their own, without jobs or a home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  • Where have the millions of refugees from Ukraine gone?<\/li>\n
  • Ukraine: Does the Interior Ministry need to get a grip?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    “She lives on beds on the floor with her parents, then she’ll spend two weeks with her sister, then two weeks with her brother … in a complete state of limbo,” Deon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “She can’t do anything, she can’t get a job.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “It’s an admin issue – but this admin issue just stopped life now.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The couple have also had to sell all their assets in South Africa to pay for their application, which has cost them several thousand pounds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “It’s an enormous amount of money, a spousal visa,” says Deon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “If you’re wealthy and you own a business or something, then it’s a different situation – but we’re just regular workers.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    They support Ukrainians coming to the UK but say more people should be hired to cope with the extra demand rather than let the backlog grow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Others who contacted BBC News said the process was “uniquely cruel and unbearable… we are being forced directly to be apart… with no clear end in sight”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    A young woman’s fianc\u00e9 missed the birth of her first child. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Another in New York, unable to afford private maternity care in the US, terminated an early pregnancy. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    An applicant who paid for the priority service earlier this year said the Home Office “will not give me any information about ETA [estimated time of arrival] or even confirm that I’m still in some kind of priority queue”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Mariam Khaliq, head of immigration at the law firm Bishop and Sewell, was among several immigration lawyers who told BBC News the problem affected “the majority” of clients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “Whether applicants are applying from within the UK or from outside the UK… there just seems to be delays across the Home Office,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Another couple, James and Adriana, who asked for their names to be changed out of fear of jeopardizing their application, also struggled to find the money. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    They had to take out a loan to pay the fees, which has cost them more than \u00a35,000. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “When we applied, we were told it would be 60 [working] days,” said James.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “Now we are here, almost 100 working days later.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
      \n
    • Visa rules create \u201cPrice on Love\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n

      The couple married in Gibraltar in November 2021. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      Adriana returned to Brazil to submit her application while James waited for her at his home in Essex. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      Both moved back to their parents to save money. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      And like Heather, Adriana had to resign from her employer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      If they had any idea how long the delays would be, the process would be “a lot easier,” James said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      “We would be frustrated – but we could deal with it, we could plan.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      Instead, James and Adriana, who regularly suffers from anxiety, have started seeing therapists because of the stress. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n

      “I honestly feel punished for falling in love with someone who isn’t British or European,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Couples being held in separate countries because of a visa backlog say the Home Office hasn’t told them how long the delays could be. British citizens told BBC News they hadn’t seen their spouses for six months – double the usual turnaround time. 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