Thousands of people in the UK face the prospect of deportation from the country in a matter of weeks, because their stays will expire before the end of May. The British Home Office said on March 24 that any person whose residency had expired, or would expire, between May 24 and May 31, and who did not leave the United Kingdom due to the Corona virus epidemic, could extend their residency until the end of May. These instructions have not yet been updated.
accusation
Immigration attorneys have accused the British Home Office of making residents in a "tense and unstable" state, after confirming that their residency in the United Kingdom will be extended until the end of this month, and called on the government to extend the grace period to September.
Residents who do not qualify for extension, whose stays will expire after May 31, are also concerned, because quarantine means that they are unable to extend their stay, due to the closure of English language testing centers, and their inability to submit applications that must be submitted outside the UK.
Ben Hanks, 36, said that his family was in a state of confusion because they had become unable to know whether his Chinese wife, Tingting Jang, 36, who came from Wuhan, China, during an evacuation last February to be With her husband and daughter Sophie (five years old), she is able to stay in the UK.
Ms. Jang, who had been granted residency for six months upon entering the UK, was planning to submit the residency application as a wife before the epidemic began, in order to be able to live with her husband and daughter permanently, but given that the application was to be submitted from outside the country, she Unable to submit it now. The Home Office said that those whose residency expires at the end of May can submit such an application, from within Britain, but Mrs. Jang's visa expires at the end of August, and therefore does not apply to what the ministry announced.
Family life is suspended
Mr. Hanks, who met his wife 12 years ago, when they were working together on a cruise ship, said that he was unable to contact the Ministry of the Interior to inquire about what he needed to do, and that this situation made the family's life dependent.
The couple have had trouble since the beginning of their lives together when the Home Office refused to grant Jang a residence in 2014, claiming that Hicks was not working in the UK, as a result of working on the cruise ship. Since that time they have been spending long time away from each other, while Hicks is looking for a new job so that he can get the minimum salary that allows him to submit a residency application to the wife. "I have been working hard for nine months to solve this problem so that we can live together as a family. Without the Corona pandemic, this problem may have ended, but at this time if the Home Office does not review its procedures, my wife must leave the country by August," Hicks said.
Families are very concerned that many residency applications, including applications for spouses, require success in the English language test, but English test centers are currently closed until June at best.
Deadlines
“Many people are now facing deadlines for leaving the country, or this date has expired, or it is imminent,” said immigration lawyer, Harjap Bangal. The Ministry of Interior did not provide any clear guidance in order to help people facing such a situation. ” He added, “If they apply for extensions without an English test, they will face the possibility of rejecting their application, which means that they may face a financial loss ranging between 2000 and 3000 pounds, or that their stay in the United Kingdom becomes illegal, and therefore they will lose their business, and they may face deportation from Before the state, and thus separation from their families ».
Immigration attorneys accuse the British Ministry of the Interior of making the residents in a situation of "tension and instability", after confirming that their residency in Britain will be extended until the end of this month, and they demanded the government extend the grace period.
Families are very concerned that many residency applications, including spouses' requests, require success in the English language test, but English test centers are currently closed until June at best.