The portfolio will be introduced tomorrow at the IT’S OUR DAY: International Migrants Day event at the Scottish Parliament!
Check back here regularly for updates and links to the cases.
Stay informed and follow us
Key Points about Migration in Scotland
Hi everyone! I am an Indian citizen, currently living in India.I was in the UK on student visa from September 2009 to September 2011. While I was there I entered into a relationship with a British girl and we both started living together.For about 18 months we lived together and in September 2011 I had to leave the UK as my studies were finished and my visa was running out.At the time I left the UK, my partner was 4 months pregnant and I had to apply for the post study work visa from India but I couldn’t apply due to the instant rise in currency exchange rates. The February 11th 2012 was the biggest day of my life, my beautiful baby boy was born on this day, in the meanwhile I applied for two visitors visa back to back in order to see my partner who went through a very complicated cesarean operation which putted her and my baby’s life in a risk, so I got panicked and I applied for the visitors visa in Jan 2012 which the UKBA refused so I applied again giving them every single information about our relationship followed by the letters from her GP saying how urgent it is for me to be there with her as she has no family, no support whatsoever, but that wasn’t enough for UKBA, so they refused my application again on the grounds of insufficient evidence of our relationship and apparently because of the fact I was not working in my country.
I didn’t give up and i decided to consult a solicitor who could help me getting back to my family.The solicitor told me to that I could either go with the appeal or I could apply for a fresh fiance visa .There was no point of lodging an appeal because even if the decision was overturned I would have to come back to India after 6 months which would have been the worst situation because it would have nearly killed me and my family to be separated again when no one knows how long this time. So I instead started preparing for the fiance visa but one day I was reading the latest updates on the internet about the immigration and it was like nothing is left for me to live on now, because the new rules were so hard that I has become almost impossible for a single parent to sponsor his/her non EU partner and earn 18600 pounds every year. That news just devastated me and shattered every dream I had to be with my family back in the UK.My son is 10 months old today and I have never ever touched him or seen him apart from looking him and my partner on skype every day, I wake up every day morning and the very first thing I do is start my laptop, check the latest immigration news and see if there is any hope which could take me back to my son and my partner.
My partner suffers from a health condition called”SVT” and she has no family, no friends, no support whatsoever and she is living on social benefits. my little baby has a disability of not hearing from his left er and slowly losing the power to hear from his right one also. I have not been working or able to do anything here in India since my child is born because I am mentally disturbed and in depression and have been trying to find some way out which could take me back to my family.so all this is affecting my ability to work or find my professional job as well.Despite of all this I have been sending money, cloths, toys and other necessary things for my partner and my child every month and my parents have been supporting me for all this and now I have recently found a job but I don’t get paid very much in this job, just about 200 pounds a month, which is nothing when you have a child and a partner to look after, but I any how manage to make it sufficient enough so that my partner and my child don’t suffer in any way.
Its my request that please help us out and rise our voice to the politicians and people who can actually change the system and the rules which are destroying peoples lives.
Thank you
Regards
Ankit Verma
(Telephone number withheld)
Thank you, Ankit for sharing this case with us. It has been very difficult for you! We will be in touch by email to clarify your intention but hope to include you in the material we will share at the All Party Parliamentary Group Migration Inquiry early in 2013.