The heartaches of UK spousal visas

Children protesting the Home Office’s refugee family reunification rules. Credit: Refugee Council

By Cryton Chikoko

“This is the grim reality of Patel’s ‘hostile environment‘. My daughter-in-law has just been refused a spousal visa after paying £3,000 and waiting 9 months. She does not have a ‘genuine and subsisting’ relationship with my son or granddaughter according to the Ministry of Truth,” @PrNickGay tweeted. “We were given a 300 character box to justify why our 2-month-old son needed to be in the same country as his mother,” lamented @FeeshKeeng. 

These are some of the many responses on Twitter that followed the news that the wife of a British wrestling champion was twice refused the UK visiting visa. Muhammad Mokaev told The Independent, “it’s not just me, it’s many people they do this to. I don’t like to say it but the Home Office is treating people badly.” 

Muhammad Mokaev, a professional fighter who has won gold medals for Britain, was surprised when the Home Office declined to issue his Russian wife, Khava Eldarbekova, a visitor’s visa for the second time. The second application included additional evidence yet the Home Office said Ms. Eldarbekova had £4,884 in her bank account of which the source was unaccounted for and therefore could have been inflated for the purposes of obtaining an entry clearance. Mokaev told the paper, “there was exactly the same amount of money in her bank account the first time but they didn’t include it in that refusal, only the second time it was an issue. Why didn’t they include it the first time?”

Visa algorithms

Is Eldarbekova’s refusal case the result of computer algorithms making visa decisions?  This is most unlikely because last year the Home Office was forced to abandon ‘its racist visa algorithm’ after the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) sued them with the help of Foxglove. JCWI argued that the algorithm entrenched racism and bias into the visa system by automatically giving a ‘Red’ traffic-light risk score to people of some countries and thus discriminating against them by reducing their chances of being accepted for a visa. Pre-lockdowns, circumstances deteriorated to such an extent that academic and non-profit organisations stopped trying to bring colleagues from African countries to visit the UK to work with them. While Patel pledged a full review of the system, including assessing the prevalence of ‘unconscious bias’ and discrimination, many will rightly be left wondering if the algorithm review actually took place. @VermisstPfarrer wrote, “I have just been through this with a family member too. It’s just so awful and, in our case, so blatantly racist. I feel for you all. It’s sickening”. @2ears2wheels had some advice for Muhammad Mokaev, “Have you tried renaming yourself John Smith? I’ve heard the Govt are a little bit racist…” 

The Home Office does not like bad publicity 

When high-profile individuals have their immigration cases in the media, decisions are often quickly overturned and visas granted. Recently, the Home Office reached out to BBC journalist Dahaba Ali, who was initially refused EU settled status once her plight attracted media attention. It will be unsurprising for many if the gold medalist’s wife visa case is also fast-tracked due to his high profile. Understandably, Cambridge University Professor @PrNickGay remonstrated, “my concern though is for the many people who are less able to fight back against this tyranny than we are.” The poor are hated even by their neighbours, but those who love the rich are many.

Spousal visas split families

The rules on spousal visas are causing so much heartaches and distress and keeping families apart. The Minimum Income Rule requires an income of at least £18,600 for British citizens and others to sponsor a foreign spouse. This increases by £3,800 for a first child and £2,400 each additional child meaning that many migrants are denied their right to a family life. 

Some couples have been forced to leave the UK because of the rules. @AlfieJapanorama who left the UK had this to say, “it’s one of the main reasons, along with Brexit, why I’ll never return to live there.” @Jacqcos tweeted, “My son has gone living his life in Denmark now. His partner and their child cannot live here ripping my family apart.” @Divitissimus wondered, “How does having to pay such a huge sum of money entice the best to want to come to the UK knowing decisions are based on such capricious methods? It is better to go to more welcoming countries. The UK is destroying itself with such nonsense and sending the best elsewhere.” The financial requirement may not affect Mokaev  and his wife but certainly it is a source of hardship for many families. 

Spousal visa reform

Spousal visa policies are the single most burden on migrant communities in the UK. They mercilessly split up families and contribute massively to forcing them into generational poverty. Last year Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) – a team of economists that advise the government on immigration policy – suggested in its annual report that the infamous Minimum Income Rule for spousal visas should be reconsidered and a report on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in Wales urged the UK government to reduce visa costs. Unsurprisingly, the government has since paid no heed to any of the recommendations.