The Student Room Group

Petition to change Immigration Rules

I really hope that this does not go against any forum rules and, if so, I apologise in advance.

I hope that this may spark some discussion regarding current immigration rules, especially towards dependents who rely physically, emotionally and financially on British nationals living in the UK.

My family and I lived in Dubai as expatriates due to the nature of my father's work and, in 2006, my grandparents moved in with us from South Africa as, after multiple burglaries of their home in a span of a month, they were afraid for their safety and they had nothing left to stay for in South Africa.

In 2012, my grandfather died and so my nan now has nobody left to take care of her apart from the family unit she has lived with for so long.

In 2013, my father was made redundant and so my family made the decision to move to the UK (my dad, me and my sister are all British nationals) so that my sister and I could begin to settle down in a country we could call home.

But, since 2012, the immigration rules have made it almost impossible for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to the UK to care for them even when the family do not expect any government or taxpayer's funds to support the elderly dependent.

The Home Office refused my nan's application to reside in the UK and she now risks being removed back to South Africa where she has nothing left there. No family. No friends. No home. No job. It's not a fair and just life for a vulnerable 71-year-old who is reliant on her family for day-to-day care to live.

We have submitted substantial medical and humanitarian evidence to justify our application to keep my nan in the UK as well as financial proof that she would not be a burden on the British taxpayer yet we have received nothing but a hostile approach from the Home Office.

We have a parliamentary petition that went live yesterday which will fight for my family to stay together and not get torn apart by the current immigration rules. I really hope that if you believe that the new immigration laws are absurd for families who only wish to take care of their elderly dependents, you could help my family as well as other families like mine by signing the petition and sharing it around to people you know so that we can get parliament to hear us out.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/219993

I will be forever grateful if you could help me and my family attempt to change the law back to pre-2012 Immigration Rules which will help many elderly dependents who want nothing more than to be emotionally, physically and financially supported by their families.

Scroll to see replies

No because it will be abused by millions of immigrants who will bring their parents over andbthey will add to the burden on the NHS and social care.
oh boi
I deeply empathise with you and your family, it must be deeply frustrating and worrying for both you and your gran. I also agree with you that the immigration rules have tightened considerably across all visa sectors making it extremely difficult for people you would ordinarily think would be able to acquire residence to acquire one.

As for the actual technicalities of getting your gran residence, I highly doubt the Home Office will budge on this issue at all unless of course the case gathers an enormous amount of media coverage or alternatively you somehow get evidence to prove to them that your gran qualifies on her own merit under another visa stream (such as the retired person of independent means visa for instance - which is also a very difficult stream to qualify under). Unless one of the two factors mentioned are fulfilled I think the road to residence will remain quite tough. I just had a quick look at the figures and in 2016 it seems that only 33 people where granted permanent residence in the UK on the basis of being parents or grandparents of British citizens, that figure is down by a factor of about 50 from just 2010, so the odds are definitely not in your favour.

If your family is willing to leave the UK temporarily then it may be worth considering going to another EU country (such as Ireland for example) and establishing residence there (so renting, working and supporting your gran there for some time) and then moving back to the UK after some time (I think the set minimum time is 3 months to my knowledge but in practice you would need to spend much longer, say at least ~12 months, so you can comfortably satisfy the 'centre of life' requirements that will allow your case to be considered under EU law instead of British law). It's quite popular route commonly called the "Surinder Singh" route. You could look into immigration forums to find on how this works, and interact with people who have used the route for advice. Once your 'centre of life' transfers from the UK to another EU state then when you come back to the UK the UK's immigration laws will no longer apply and your case will be considered on the basis of EU immigration laws.
Original post by megan_el_g
I really hope that this does not go against any forum rules and, if so, I apologise in advance.

I hope that this may spark some discussion regarding current immigration rules, especially towards dependents who rely physically, emotionally and financially on British nationals living in the UK.

My family and I lived in Dubai as expatriates due to the nature of my father's work and, in 2006, my grandparents moved in with us from South Africa as, after multiple burglaries of their home in a span of a month, they were afraid for their safety and they had nothing left to stay for in South Africa.

In 2012, my grandfather died and so my nan now has nobody left to take care of her apart from the family unit she has lived with for so long.

In 2013, my father was made redundant and so my family made the decision to move to the UK (my dad, me and my sister are all British nationals) so that my sister and I could begin to settle down in a country we could call home.

But, since 2012, the immigration rules have made it almost impossible for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to the UK to care for them even when the family do not expect any government or taxpayer's funds to support the elderly dependent.

The Home Office refused my nan's application to reside in the UK and she now risks being removed back to South Africa where she has nothing left there. No family. No friends. No home. No job. It's not a fair and just life for a vulnerable 71-year-old who is reliant on her family for day-to-day care to live.

We have submitted substantial medical and humanitarian evidence to justify our application to keep my nan in the UK as well as financial proof that she would not be a burden on the British taxpayer yet we have received nothing but a hostile approach from the Home Office.

We have a parliamentary petition that went live yesterday which will fight for my family to stay together and not get torn apart by the current immigration rules. I really hope that if you believe that the new immigration laws are absurd for families who only wish to take care of their elderly dependents, you could help my family as well as other families like mine by signing the petition and sharing it around to people you know so that we can get parliament to hear us out.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/219993

I will be forever grateful if you could help me and my family attempt to change the law back to pre-2012 Immigration Rules which will help many elderly dependents who want nothing more than to be emotionally, physically and financially supported by their families.

My thoughts are with you.

Yeah, the laws these days are so unfair but don’t loose hope. I am pretty sure I have heard of Similar cases to yours which have worked out.

Just don’t give up and do what you can
Yeah, I'm open to this. As far as I care resident immigrants shouldn't receivefinancial assistance whatsoever, should be forced to pay an immigration tax to cover their fair share of the public goods and shouldn't have access to the nhs
Original post by Miss Maddie
Yeah, I'm open to this. As far as I care resident immigrants shouldn't receivefinancial assistance whatsoever, should be forced to pay an immigration tax to cover their fair share of the public goods and shouldn't have access to the nhs


What kind of nonsense
Original post by Miss Maddie
Yeah, I'm open to this. As far as I care resident immigrants shouldn't receivefinancial assistance whatsoever, should be forced to pay an immigration tax to cover their fair share of the public goods and shouldn't have access to the nhs


There are already migrant specific taxes (called migrant surcharges) and they are the primary costs that now drive costs extremely high and effectively make the UK the most expensive major country to migrate to from within the work related streams. In general, for a single skilled migrant (i.e with no dependents at all) being hired from abroad it costs around £11000 to support him throughout the entire visa period up until citizenship in hard home office costs (this excludes employer admin costs, employer time costs and cost to the employer for even holding the sponsorship licence e.t.c.). This is made up a £5000 migrant skill surcharge, £1000 health surcharge (this charge is doubling later this year), £3579 for ILR and citizenship, £200 CoS issuance fee cost e.t.c
Nope, we're full. We need to take the advice of Farage and severely clamp down on immigration.
Unfortunately youre might be genuine and in need, which U can fight for.

However, I doubt the UK will change all their laws, because there are people, unlike you, who will ABUSE that to the next level. I know some people personally who will bring in their entire family if this law came in.
As sad as this is, there will be MILLIONS who will completely abuse this like no tomorrow.
Reply 11
Original post by Mair18919
No because it will be abused by millions of immigrants who will bring their parents over andbthey will add to the burden on the NHS and social care.


You'd be better petitioning for white S.Africans to be given asylum due to the murder of white ppl in S.Arica.
But maybe youre not white.


Millions of immigrants may be a bit of an over exaggeration there mate
Original post by Mair18919
No because it will be abused by millions of immigrants who will bring their parents over andbthey will add to the burden on the NHS and social care.


Did you not read the original post? They have no expectation of using the NHS and it would be perfectly reasonable for the NHS to bill any immigrants for treatment they receive, a bit like universities bill foreign students in full for their studies. As a result universities get more money from foreign students than they do from loans / government grants. Perhaps getting immigrants to pay for their treatment on the NHS might be a way to solve part of the funding problems the NHS currently has.

And if any group of people could be charged with taking advantage of the NHS, it would be we Brits. You only have to talk to the average GP to find out about the thousands of missed appointments that go on each year, not to mention the time wasters that end up in A+E with colds or diarrhoea.
Original post by ByEeek
Did you not read the original post? They have no expectation of using the NHS and it would be perfectly reasonable for the NHS to bill any immigrants for treatment they receive, a bit like universities bill foreign students in full for their studies. As a result universities get more money from foreign students than they do from loans / government grants. Perhaps getting immigrants to pay for their treatment on the NHS might be a way to solve part of the funding problems the NHS currently has.

It certainly would be but that raises the issue of making the Nhs check identity of every patient and run a proper charging dept.

To make money from foreign patients you would have to charge more than the cost. Even if they pay they are still adding to pressure on the nhs.





And if any group of people could be charged with taking advantage of the NHS, it would be we Brits. You only have to talk to the average GP to find out about the thousands of missed appointments that go on each year, not to mention the time wasters that end up in A+E with colds or diarrhoea.


Yes there should be fines.
Original post by daizu
Millions of immigrants may be a bit of an over exaggeration there mate


Maybe but probably not.
How many immigrants do you think there are here?
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by megan_el_g
But, since 2012, the immigration rules have made it almost impossible for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to the UK to care for them even when the family do not expect any government or taxpayer's funds to support the elderly dependent.

Whilst I sympathise with your situation, the expected cost to the UK tax payer would be high. Your relative will need medical care, and potentially / eventually a care home. What you expect and what they would be legally able to claim may well be different, but none of us can see the future.
Original post by ByEeek
Did you not read the original post? They have no expectation of using the NHS
If you're in your 70s, you expect to need medical care, and increasing amounts of it.

and it would be perfectly reasonable for the NHS to bill any immigrants for treatment they receive, a bit like universities bill foreign students in full for their studies.

Actually, British students living overseas also get to pay international fees, but they're paid in advance. If you can't pay, you don't get service. The NHS cannot do that.

Perhaps getting immigrants to pay for their treatment on the NHS might be a way to solve part of the funding problems the NHS currently has.

The NHS was founded on the principle of giving care free at the point of use. IMO, that is very important for a humane health service.
Original post by Mair18919
It certainly would be but that raises the issue of making the Nhs check identity of every patient and run a proper charging dept.


Do you mean like they already do?
Original post by ByEeek
Do you mean like they already do?


They do not. Nhs billing is fragmented and chaotic. The problem is it is not set up as a fee paying service, and never demands payment for emergency care.
this is an effect of mass-immigration that no one talked about 10 years ago..

what happens when you import millions of working-age men+women from other countries?

Well, its fine at first.. but all of a sudden as time passes those immigrants have elderly parents who are stuck back in their own country, and are in need of care/support/help?

Should you let them be brought to the UK? if so.. say hello to millions of elderly people arriving. We already have an elderly population that we struggle to support, this is not an option..

Should you let them be brought to the UK, but not offered any benefits/support? Not possible, you can't have elderly citizens in your country, and watch them die.

-- so you end up with a sticky situation.. you want to help families individually, but on mass? its impossible.

This is one of many many long-term problems with mass immigration that we are only just starting to face.

Quick Reply

Latest