ORAC
8th Mar 2020, 20:41
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/08/commonwealth-veterans-accuse-uk-immigration-limbo-home-office-mod
Commonwealth veterans accuse UK of leaving them in immigration limbo
A group of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking legal action against the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/ministry-of-defence) over an alleged systemic failure to assist them with complex, unaffordable immigration rules on discharge, leaving them classified as illegal immigrants, facing unemployment and homelessness and fearing deportation.
In the unprecedented group action taken against the two government departments, the group of Commonwealth-born veterans, each of whom served between seven and 12 years in the British army (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/british-army), say immigration difficulties have left them feeling betrayed by the country they served. Military charities say hundreds more are similarly affected.
MoD rules state that Commonwealth-born service personnel are eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discharge if they have served four years. But the claimants state that the army failed to inform them that they needed to make an immediate application to the Home Office (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/home-office) for leave to remain in the UK on discharge, despite a clear MoD requirement that the process should be explained to all non-British veterans in the period before they leave the army.
Most assumed that after four years of service, the immigration process was automatic; the Home Office stamped their passports on joining the military with a note stating that they were exempt from immigration restrictions, and that they were “not subject to any condition or limitation on the period of permitted stay in the UK”. The stamps were not marked with an expiry date but nevertheless became invalid on discharge; veterans say they were not informed.
When they discovered, with the tightening of the Home Office’s “hostile environment (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/17/theresa-mays-hostile-environment-policy-at-heart-of-windrush-scandal)” regulations after 2012, that they were in breach of immigration rules, they struggled to adapt themselves, mainly because of the cost of regularising their situation. Home Office visa application fees have risen sharply from £1,051 in 2015 to the current fee of £2,389. This means a service leaver and their partner with two children would have to pay nearly £10,000 to continue to live in the UK, an unaffordable sum for most on army pensions.
As a result of immigration problems, some lost their jobs, while others chose to live semi-clandestine lives, avoiding contact with the authorities, afraid that an immigration application could be rejected and they could be detained and removed from the UK. One family was visited at home by immigration officers. Some have been too scared to seek medical help, in case the NHS refers them to immigration enforcement. Others have chosen to return to their country of birth rather than risking detention, despite having the legal right to remain.
Their concerns have been exacerbated by the well-publicised 2013 case of Filimone Lacanivalu, who was arrested and detained when he tried to rectify his immigration status after discharge despite nine years of service, including two tours of Afghanistan. His situation was only resolved (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/fijian-soldier-army-filimone-lacanivalu) when the then home secretary, Theresa May, intervened 48 hours before his scheduled deportation to Fiji.
The current action involves eight former soldiers, who were all recruited to the army from Fiji (https://www.theguardian.com/world/fiji), but the lawyers believe hundreds of ex-service personnel are similarly affected. The armed forces employ about 4,500 Commonwealth citizens; recruitment in Commonwealth countries has recently been stepped up “to build on the long-held links Britain’s military has with Commonwealth countries”, according to the MoD.........
Commonwealth veterans accuse UK of leaving them in immigration limbo
A group of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking legal action against the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/ministry-of-defence) over an alleged systemic failure to assist them with complex, unaffordable immigration rules on discharge, leaving them classified as illegal immigrants, facing unemployment and homelessness and fearing deportation.
In the unprecedented group action taken against the two government departments, the group of Commonwealth-born veterans, each of whom served between seven and 12 years in the British army (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/british-army), say immigration difficulties have left them feeling betrayed by the country they served. Military charities say hundreds more are similarly affected.
MoD rules state that Commonwealth-born service personnel are eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discharge if they have served four years. But the claimants state that the army failed to inform them that they needed to make an immediate application to the Home Office (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/home-office) for leave to remain in the UK on discharge, despite a clear MoD requirement that the process should be explained to all non-British veterans in the period before they leave the army.
Most assumed that after four years of service, the immigration process was automatic; the Home Office stamped their passports on joining the military with a note stating that they were exempt from immigration restrictions, and that they were “not subject to any condition or limitation on the period of permitted stay in the UK”. The stamps were not marked with an expiry date but nevertheless became invalid on discharge; veterans say they were not informed.
When they discovered, with the tightening of the Home Office’s “hostile environment (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/17/theresa-mays-hostile-environment-policy-at-heart-of-windrush-scandal)” regulations after 2012, that they were in breach of immigration rules, they struggled to adapt themselves, mainly because of the cost of regularising their situation. Home Office visa application fees have risen sharply from £1,051 in 2015 to the current fee of £2,389. This means a service leaver and their partner with two children would have to pay nearly £10,000 to continue to live in the UK, an unaffordable sum for most on army pensions.
As a result of immigration problems, some lost their jobs, while others chose to live semi-clandestine lives, avoiding contact with the authorities, afraid that an immigration application could be rejected and they could be detained and removed from the UK. One family was visited at home by immigration officers. Some have been too scared to seek medical help, in case the NHS refers them to immigration enforcement. Others have chosen to return to their country of birth rather than risking detention, despite having the legal right to remain.
Their concerns have been exacerbated by the well-publicised 2013 case of Filimone Lacanivalu, who was arrested and detained when he tried to rectify his immigration status after discharge despite nine years of service, including two tours of Afghanistan. His situation was only resolved (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/fijian-soldier-army-filimone-lacanivalu) when the then home secretary, Theresa May, intervened 48 hours before his scheduled deportation to Fiji.
The current action involves eight former soldiers, who were all recruited to the army from Fiji (https://www.theguardian.com/world/fiji), but the lawyers believe hundreds of ex-service personnel are similarly affected. The armed forces employ about 4,500 Commonwealth citizens; recruitment in Commonwealth countries has recently been stepped up “to build on the long-held links Britain’s military has with Commonwealth countries”, according to the MoD.........