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First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe
Vol 46 | Issue 24
TM
14th October to 20th October 2017
Let noble thoughts come to us from every side
TEARING FAMILIES APART
l Home Office rule changes are discouraging people to join their British families l Leave to remain granted to foreigners has plummeted by 73% since 2006 Rupanjana Dutta
A recent report has revealed that the number of foreigners including Indians granted leave to remain in the UK has plummeted by 73% since 2006. Analysis of immigration statistics published by The Independent, reveals that the number of children, partners and dependant relatives able to live permanently in the UK through a “grant of settlement” has been declined, including entry clearances, creating more and more 'skype families'. Campaigners and politicians have told the media, that the ongoing clampdown on immigration by the Conservatives through rule changes, have discouraged people to join their British families. Speaking to Asian Voice, a woman said how her husband has not been able to move to the UK for
London witnesses a spectacular display of collaborative culture at the Independence Gala See page 14
over a year, ever since they have been married in India. Ratna Srivastava from Liverpool told Asian Voice, “I married my husband a year back. For him to move to the UK, I need to earn around £18,600 per annum as well as have a fixed bank balance for a continuous period, and I don't earn so much. So he is still away from me, and we talk every day over facetime. It's painful. This is not how I thought my marriage will turn out to be.” A rule change in 2012,
which saw the period one had to live in the UK before applying for a permanent residency increase from two years to five years, will also have contributed to the steep decline in grants of settlement, which has plummeted by 77% since the change took place. Visas granted for partners of British nationals have fallen by 45% since 2006, with success artes down from 86% to 76%. Entry clearance visas granted to “other” family members, which refers to those who have dependent
relatives in the UK who require their support, has decreased even more dramatically, by 57%, indicating that far less foreigners are now able to move to the UK as carers for vulnerable family members. Brit Cits a campaigning group were fighting for the rights of settlement for elderly parents of naturalised British Indians in the UK, but even after trying for a considerable time, they were not successful. Continued on page 16
GP Hinduja and Lakshmi Mittal at JITOPRENEURS 2017, London. See page 8
Mayor of London to visit India and Pakistan on a trade mission See Page - 5