Author: Migrant Tales

Alan Anstead

PM Theresa May has now set out her vision for a UK outside the EU. UKREN Coordinator Alan Anstead takes a look at what this could mean to real families where one partner is from an EU country and the other a Brit. Along the way he shares his personal story as someone in just this situation.

From reading Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech about the UK’s departure from the EU, it is quite clear that her government’s highest priority is to limit immigration. It would appear this is categorized above all other negotiable issues. What state the UK economy would be left in after Brexit appears to matter little so long as those horrible foreigners could be kept out or kicked out. Is this about protecting British people’s livelihoods? I think not.

Skype families

Monique Hawkins is a Dutch passport holder who is married to a British man and has two children, who are British citizens, and has lived in the UK for 24 years. To get some kind of guarantee in the midst of much uncertainty over the residence rights of UK-based EU nationals she applied for permanent residence status. This was rejected and she received a letter from the Home Office telling her to make arrangements to leave the UK.

The government already has a track record of breaking up families. Non-EU spouses who wish to live in the UK to join their British husband or wife have to prove that the British person earns at least £18,600 (more if you have dependent children), which is some £5000 above the minimum wage. This has created ‘Skype families’, families separated because of immigration controls whose contact is via the internet.

Continue reading “Migrants’ Rights Network: Immigration controls, but at what cost?”