A campaign to ease the route for non-EU family members of British citizens visiting the country gained momentum, as over 60,000 people signed a parliamentary petition calling for the introduction of an automatic approval process.
The issue of the treatment of family members of British citizens has become part of a wider public and political debate about the state of Britain’s immigration system, and the impact it has on families and beyond.
Indian families’ backing
“Sadly, it’s a problem faced by a lot of Indian families in Britain, and often at the worst occasions such as when there is a family funeral and they are unable to come over,” says Harsev Bains of the Indian Workers Association. The campaign had garnered a lot of support from within the Indian community, (though not instigated by members of it) as many families had been impacted by it at one time or another, he said.
The petition on the parliamentary website, which is a means for members of the public to draw attention of Parliament to an issue — and elicit a response from the government — pointed to instances where close family members such as siblings or parents had been refused a visa to visit, despite never overworking or breaking other conditions of their visitors’ visas in the past, such as by working.
“A lot of families are heartbroken because relatives cannot visit,” reads the petition which has attracted over 63,117 signatories. The petition argues that the only requirement should be that a relative can sponsor them. “If we can support them there is no reason to reject an application,” it argues.
Govt.’s clarification
After the number of signatories reached 10,000, the Home Office said it had no plans to change the rules for visitors, and that visas remained an “important part of securing the U.K.’s border” and that an automatic process for relatives could lead to discrimination against those who did not have family members but had a valid reason for wishing to visit the country.
“Automatically approving visas for a select group of people would mean that important considerations against the Immigration Rules would not be applied consistently and could raise equality concerns.”
