How New Uk Spouse Visa Rules Turned Me Into An Englishman In Exile

[Markham]

Ah, yes the "Surinder Singh Route". The British government is unique in Europe in its refusal to acknowledge that British citizens are also citizens of the European Economic Area - that's basically all EU members plus a few others including Switzerland and Norway. EEA citizens can quite freely take their non-EEA citizen spouses to Britain using a Family Permit which the British government can neither deny nor make a charge.

 

As Brock may know, there's a member of another Forum who originates from a country that has only very recently become a member of the EU. He will shortly be travelling to the Philippines to marry his girlfriend and will take her back to the UK - which he can do, by exercising his Treaty Rights, and she will be granted an initial six years' leave to remain; that permit is renewable. Britons can not do so and those who can not fulfil the financial requirement for a spousal visa - because they have been living here and therefore not earning a salary in the UK - have to resort to what's become known as the "Surinder Singh Route". That currently means living and working in another EEA country for as long as it takes for their non-EEA spouse to acquire a residency permit for that country. Then and only then can they apply for a Family Permit to move to the UK.

 

It works at the moment but Immigration Minister Mark Harper and his boss, Home Secretary Teresa May, are seeking to change the rules by which Britons living in Europe can bring their non-EEA spouses under the Family Permit. As things stand, the Briton has to prove either full-time or part-time employment or that he has sufficient means to support him and his family. Messrs May and Harper want to modify that such that the Briton has to be earning at the same level as is required for a spousal visa (currently £18,600) to be granted a Family Permit. Even that financial level may be revised upwards.

 

The High Court in London has recently determined that the requirements for a spousal visa for non-EEA citizens is "onerous" in that around 47% of the UK population would not qualify and has suggested a more modest level of £13,000 be adopted. But Messrs May and Harper actually want to increase the financial requirement to at least £30,000 in order to reduce even further non-EEA immigration. The changes last July were introduced by a Ministerial Order and not debated in Parliament; changes could also be introduced by a further Ministerial Order.

 

The British Government cherry-picks those parts of European Human Rights legislation that it will abide by. Whereas all other EU/EEA nationals have a right to family life, British citizens do NOT.

 

Now Immigration is a hot issue in the UK - not least because the Labour government that preceded it had an "open door" policy: provided you were warm and breathing, you could get a Visa to enter and live in the UK. However during those Labour years (1997 - 2010) the EU has been enlarged to include former Soviet satellite states such as Poland and the three Baltic states. That led to a huge influx of "new Europeans" coming to the UK to take advantage of its benefits system and many did take employment, but not all. The average man on the Clapham Omnibus doesn't understand the difference between immigrants from the EU and those from Australia, the Philippines or India. All he knows is that his country has been invaded by people who talk funny. The UK has always welcomed immigrants but this uncontrolled - and uncontrollable - migration from the poorest nation members of the EU is putting a massive strain on the country's economy, jobs, health and social services, housing and the Police.

 

Bulgaria and Romania have recently joined the EU and it is estimated, by Migration Watch, that when Britain formerly opens its doors to Bulgarians and Romanians at the end of this year, over half-a-million will board trains and planes heading for our small island. Messrs May and Harper - seeking to downplay the effect - have publicly stated that only the brightest and best will come here. That's not what's happening though: Romanians have already invaded our capital and taken-up residence in some of London's Parks. Last Friday, the Police served them with "cease and desist" notices, translated into Roma, and moved them on. They were back yesterday in force and the result is human defecation in bushes and rubbish strewn all around. These are not "the brightest and best" promised by May and Harper, these are unemployed, unskilled and homeless people seeking to sponge off the British taxpayer. These Roma have demanded housing and jobs.

 

A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for UKIP - the United Kingdom Independence Party whose manifesto is anti-EU - to have MPs let alone be the party in power. The next General Election will be in May 2016, by which time the "Roma Effect" will have taken full effect and possibly further additions to the EU: the British public may well vote for a right-wing party such as UKIP but, hopefully, not the extreme British National Party or England's Defence League.