| The Home Office.... 11:16 - Mar 30 with 3297 views | itfcjoe |
...went out for dinner last night with a mate who currently lives in Dubai, having previously lived in Hong Kong and Singapore.
They have a live in Nanny, who was due to come on their trip with them as they are attending a relatives wedding that the Nanny was close to from when lived in Singapore.
As part of Visa application had to submit 8 years worth of pay slips for her, loads of info - Visa denied and they got a letter back which said in no uncertain terms that they don't believe she will leave the country if she comes here and it is an unacceptable risk to issue a visa.
Alok Sharma been working on it on their behalf but they are here now and it's still not sorted. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 12:05 - Mar 30 with 3146 views | Steve_M |
It's a failed institution, not fit for purpose and needs to be abolished and then probably split between an immigration department and a crime and policing one. All exacerbated by Theresa's May's hostility to foreigners and Patel's casual hostility to just about anyone. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 13:06 - Mar 30 with 2966 views | ElephantintheRoom |
Ive a friend who’s son is married to a Sri Lankan girl. She’s been denied a visa despite working for the UK government in Japan and now the Australian government in Sri Lanka. They all sign on for benefits don’t you know if we let them in. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 13:46 - Mar 30 with 2852 views | Perublue |
I (British born and bred) and my daughter also born in the UK and lived there for years have had to exile ourselves from 'our' home country so that we can stay together as a family .. with my Wife and daughters mum due to the complicated one rule for all path taken and a bit/lot of bad luck and timing on our side...in fact self- exiled for a few years now with little or no hope of that ever changing ... this after my Wife lived in the UK for a decade which she still calls home fully employed and not breaking any laws.
I/we are many. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 13:49]
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| The Home Office.... on 13:48 - Mar 30 with 2831 views | Churchman |
| The Home Office.... on 12:05 - Mar 30 by Steve_M |
It's a failed institution, not fit for purpose and needs to be abolished and then probably split between an immigration department and a crime and policing one. All exacerbated by Theresa's May's hostility to foreigners and Patel's casual hostility to just about anyone. |
Home Office is essentially three departments mashed together that don’t like talking to each other. With in that are sub departments who are again pretty much independent of each other. ‘Keep your tanks off my lawn’ is very prevalent from what I saw, though in gov department terms, they’re not alone in that.
Their pay is relatively poor, not least because some do odd hours/shift work so their pay structure, grading in some instances, and allowances, are different to other government departments.
There are some highly skilled people there that do about as horrendous a job as you can dredge up in your worst nightmares. Others do more routine stuff and there’s everything going in between. It’s a right old mix and in my dealings with them in 2012 and 2017-19 it wasn’t always easy.
If ever a department needed splitting and reorganising properly it’s that one. A decent Minister might be useful too. |  | | |
| The Home Office.... on 14:03 - Mar 30 with 2721 views | Swansea_Blue |
| The Home Office.... on 13:46 - Mar 30 by Perublue |
I (British born and bred) and my daughter also born in the UK and lived there for years have had to exile ourselves from 'our' home country so that we can stay together as a family .. with my Wife and daughters mum due to the complicated one rule for all path taken and a bit/lot of bad luck and timing on our side...in fact self- exiled for a few years now with little or no hope of that ever changing ... this after my Wife lived in the UK for a decade which she still calls home fully employed and not breaking any laws.
I/we are many. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 13:49]
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Sorry to hear that. It's a disgusting state of affairs - our continuation of the hostile environment policy shames us all. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 14:03 - Mar 30 with 2721 views | BlueNomad |
My wife was born in Malta. Her father was in the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet so they flew her mother out there when she was pregnant.
Her previous passport showed her place of birth as "Malta (GB)" as it was then a British "possession". Following renewal it just says "Malta". Loads of questions when we last returned from a trip on the continent and she was, initially, suspected of entering the country illegally.
How many children of service men and women born abroad must have the same potential problem? In the US they say, "thank you for your service sir." We really have turned into a nasty country. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 14:06]
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| The Home Office.... on 14:16 - Mar 30 with 2664 views | Perublue |
| The Home Office.... on 14:03 - Mar 30 by Swansea_Blue |
Sorry to hear that. It's a disgusting state of affairs - our continuation of the hostile environment policy shames us all. |
Thanks for your kind words , we've tried to make the best of an awful situation we ended up in and when the story of our lives is written no doubt there will be some benefits to have come from it but the pain , heartache and damage also to all the individuals and also extended friends and family members really was uncalled for....and has caused unimaginable moments.....and we just wanted a simple , quiet life and our only crime was falling in love. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 14:20]
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| The Home Office.... on 14:48 - Mar 30 with 2588 views | itfcjoe |
| The Home Office.... on 14:03 - Mar 30 by BlueNomad |
My wife was born in Malta. Her father was in the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet so they flew her mother out there when she was pregnant.
Her previous passport showed her place of birth as "Malta (GB)" as it was then a British "possession". Following renewal it just says "Malta". Loads of questions when we last returned from a trip on the continent and she was, initially, suspected of entering the country illegally.
How many children of service men and women born abroad must have the same potential problem? In the US they say, "thank you for your service sir." We really have turned into a nasty country. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 14:06]
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My Mum was born on a British Air Force base in the Yemen when my Grandad was serving in Aden, it's very awkward when doing anything which involves form filling and nationality despite the fact she was born on british Soil | |
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| The Home Office.... on 16:10 - Mar 30 with 2453 views | jeera |
| The Home Office.... on 13:46 - Mar 30 by Perublue |
I (British born and bred) and my daughter also born in the UK and lived there for years have had to exile ourselves from 'our' home country so that we can stay together as a family .. with my Wife and daughters mum due to the complicated one rule for all path taken and a bit/lot of bad luck and timing on our side...in fact self- exiled for a few years now with little or no hope of that ever changing ... this after my Wife lived in the UK for a decade which she still calls home fully employed and not breaking any laws.
I/we are many. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 13:49]
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Disappointed for you and your family whilst feeling disgusted this problem even exists.
For someone like me who is fairly clueless on these matters would you explain how this works?
You are British, your daughter is British so you can naturally both reside in the UK.
But your wife, who is also your daughter's mother, cannot?
This is insane. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 18:18 - Mar 30 with 2306 views | factual_blue |
| The Home Office.... on 12:05 - Mar 30 by Steve_M |
It's a failed institution, not fit for purpose and needs to be abolished and then probably split between an immigration department and a crime and policing one. All exacerbated by Theresa's May's hostility to foreigners and Patel's casual hostility to just about anyone. |
Some twenty or more years ago a NAO audit of the Home Office identified three different payment & accounting systems. If the outputs of those were taken at face value, the NAO said, the Home Office had seen more money pass through its hands than existed in the country.
As a consequence the two Perm Secs there were moved. One was put in charge of the biggest spending dept (DWP). The other became a Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 20:53 - Mar 30 with 2125 views | Ewan_Oozami |
| The Home Office.... on 14:48 - Mar 30 by itfcjoe |
My Mum was born on a British Air Force base in the Yemen when my Grandad was serving in Aden, it's very awkward when doing anything which involves form filling and nationality despite the fact she was born on british Soil |
And the greatest irony is that people like your Mum were born in the remnants of the British Empire and Colonies which the Little Englanders think was the greatest thing ever!
As they're also fond of saying, "You couldn't make it up!" |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 20:53 - Mar 30 with 2125 views | unbelievablue |
| The Home Office.... on 13:48 - Mar 30 by Churchman |
Home Office is essentially three departments mashed together that don’t like talking to each other. With in that are sub departments who are again pretty much independent of each other. ‘Keep your tanks off my lawn’ is very prevalent from what I saw, though in gov department terms, they’re not alone in that.
Their pay is relatively poor, not least because some do odd hours/shift work so their pay structure, grading in some instances, and allowances, are different to other government departments.
There are some highly skilled people there that do about as horrendous a job as you can dredge up in your worst nightmares. Others do more routine stuff and there’s everything going in between. It’s a right old mix and in my dealings with them in 2012 and 2017-19 it wasn’t always easy.
If ever a department needed splitting and reorganising properly it’s that one. A decent Minister might be useful too. |
This, and this again.
In my former life as a miserable, somewhat exploited Tech consultant I did two years' of work with the Home Office, both in 2MS and in Croydon. In terms of their technology it was an utter shambles, almost entirely reliant on overpaid, badly motivated consultants like me (though my firm took most of the cut).
Don't get me wrong, there were/are a lot of really good people who work at the Home Office, from all sides of the political spectrum, often trying their darndest to mitigate the disastrous efforts of management, senior civil servants, and ministers. Mostly it's a failing endeavour though. I will never set foot in that place again. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 21:37 - Mar 30 with 2055 views | Plums |
| The Home Office.... on 14:48 - Mar 30 by itfcjoe |
My Mum was born on a British Air Force base in the Yemen when my Grandad was serving in Aden, it's very awkward when doing anything which involves form filling and nationality despite the fact she was born on british Soil |
Same for my sister who was born on a British base in Germany, it was a real palaver getting her citizenship sorted and that was before these clueless alt-right loons took over. |  |
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| The Home Office.... on 22:00 - Mar 30 with 1990 views | HARRY10 |
Hush, dear people
if you have a couple of million or more, are a friend of the Tories and are Russian, then the red carpet is laid out. And there is absolutely no truth in the suggestion that donations to various Tories are anyway linked to them being admitted for as long as they wish. нет.
A chap serving his country, and his children, or some extremely honest (ask Johnson) Russkie who earned his wealth through sheer hard work and honesty. According to an anti-corruption watchdog, 6,312 golden visas — half the number of all those issued — had been reviewed for “possible national security risks” ie very limited checks
"Now Comrade Ivan, have you the money you claimed"
'Yes, Mr Johnsonski, it is all in that brown envelope......... for a game of ten pin'
"Tennis, old chap. Remember, tennis"
'Yes, Mr Johsonski...... new balls pleaze, huh'
"What I'll need old chap, if this comes out" | | | |
| The Home Office.... on 22:39 - Mar 30 with 1944 views | Swansea_Blue |
| The Home Office.... on 14:16 - Mar 30 by Perublue |
Thanks for your kind words , we've tried to make the best of an awful situation we ended up in and when the story of our lives is written no doubt there will be some benefits to have come from it but the pain , heartache and damage also to all the individuals and also extended friends and family members really was uncalled for....and has caused unimaginable moments.....and we just wanted a simple , quiet life and our only crime was falling in love. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 14:20]
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I've seen it at work too with colleagues who've got spouses/families overseas they couldn't get into the UK. We've lost a fair few because they just got fed up battling an intransigent system and decided it wasn't worth the grief.
If it's any comfort, I don't think you're missing out on anything. We're not in a good place in the UK at all, with a very polarised population and hamstrung services and a lot of people struggling to make ends meet, but things will change. One day you'll all have the chance to come back to Blighty and be welcomed, but until then hopefully you can make the most of the experiences and opportunities of living somewhere else.
I assume you're in Peru (I'm a sharp one!). I spent some time working with the Ministry of Environment in Huaraz on the glacial and mountain hazards in the region. So loads of treks into the mountains, helicopter flights over them, etc. Amazing country.
I tagged on a few holidays to work trips and it was the first holiday I wooed the mrs with - it seemed to work! Arequipa, Cusco, Condors in Colca Canyon, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu at sunrise (truly stunning), learning to weave reeds with the Uru Tribe of Lake Titicaca, earning our board with a family on an island of Titicaca in the middle of nowhere with wall to wall sunsets and crystal clear, wide open night skies. A rickety, slow train across the grasslands and sweeping mountain-framed Andean plains through to Puno. Long, overnight dusty bus journeys back to the coast along death defying drops and past lakes dotted with pink flamingos. Dodgy internal flights with noisy old planes that felt like they were going to shake apart. Being chased through any tourist spot by kids: "Caramelos señor?". And bloody fantastic avocados the size of small footballs! Marvelous stuff! TWTD. | |
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| The Home Office.... on 08:31 - Mar 31 with 1783 views | ellerblue |
I am a british subject married to a German and living in Germany, my wife retires next month and as she has no living relatives in Germany we thought we would retire back to Suffolk to be with our family, prior to brexit it would have been fairly simple but now we have to obtain a visa for her, the initial application costs about 1550 pounds and then another payment after two and a half years and the finally the last payment after 5 years which results in settled residence, during the 5 year period she would pay an nhs surcharge each month (which we have no problem with as she has not paid into the system) the total cost exceeds 7000 pounds and the paperwork involved is massive, and as a sideline to move all our household and personal belongings into uk we have to obtain a transfer of residence form from hmrc listing every item, in the end we have reluctantly decided we will just visit the family and grandchildren every 3 to 4 months it is absolutly frustrating because if either my daughter or son wished to join us to live in Germany the cost would be 37 euros. | |
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| The Home Office.... on 09:25 - Mar 31 with 1698 views | mylittletown |
| The Home Office.... on 08:31 - Mar 31 by ellerblue |
I am a british subject married to a German and living in Germany, my wife retires next month and as she has no living relatives in Germany we thought we would retire back to Suffolk to be with our family, prior to brexit it would have been fairly simple but now we have to obtain a visa for her, the initial application costs about 1550 pounds and then another payment after two and a half years and the finally the last payment after 5 years which results in settled residence, during the 5 year period she would pay an nhs surcharge each month (which we have no problem with as she has not paid into the system) the total cost exceeds 7000 pounds and the paperwork involved is massive, and as a sideline to move all our household and personal belongings into uk we have to obtain a transfer of residence form from hmrc listing every item, in the end we have reluctantly decided we will just visit the family and grandchildren every 3 to 4 months it is absolutly frustrating because if either my daughter or son wished to join us to live in Germany the cost would be 37 euros. |
It is just absurd.
However this country is governed by xenophobic idiots at moment, so there is no immediate prospect of charge.
Apart from all of the family issues, it is also incredibly damaging to the economy. |  | | |
| The Home Office.... on 09:51 - Mar 31 with 1636 views | Churchman |
| The Home Office.... on 09:25 - Mar 31 by mylittletown |
It is just absurd.
However this country is governed by xenophobic idiots at moment, so there is no immediate prospect of charge.
Apart from all of the family issues, it is also incredibly damaging to the economy. |
Agree entirely. What has happened to people such as the experiences highlighted in these posts is is appalling and an absolute disgrace. There is no excuse for it. You are right about the damage to the economy too.
Two more years of these xenophobic idiots seems a lifetime, especially for those suffering at the hands of them, but the time will soon pass and then I hope sanity will prevail. There will be a lot of repairing to do for the next government. | | | |
| The Home Office.... on 10:43 - Mar 31 with 1569 views | ellerblue |
| The Home Office.... on 09:51 - Mar 31 by Churchman |
Agree entirely. What has happened to people such as the experiences highlighted in these posts is is appalling and an absolute disgrace. There is no excuse for it. You are right about the damage to the economy too.
Two more years of these xenophobic idiots seems a lifetime, especially for those suffering at the hands of them, but the time will soon pass and then I hope sanity will prevail. There will be a lot of repairing to do for the next government. |
It is absurb i spent over 30 years in uniform, i elected to have all my pensions taxed in uk as opposed to Germany and still do the most upsetting thing is if i had married a uk citizen and wanted to return with her to live in Uk no problem, but because i chose to marry a FORIEGNER, she is not wecome unless she jumps through all the home office hoops and maybe after 5 years she can obtain settled status, i felt ashamed to be british when i had to explain to her how things had changed for us after Brexit. | |
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| The Home Office.... on 10:46 - Mar 31 with 1544 views | mylittletown |
| The Home Office.... on 10:43 - Mar 31 by ellerblue |
It is absurb i spent over 30 years in uniform, i elected to have all my pensions taxed in uk as opposed to Germany and still do the most upsetting thing is if i had married a uk citizen and wanted to return with her to live in Uk no problem, but because i chose to marry a FORIEGNER, she is not wecome unless she jumps through all the home office hoops and maybe after 5 years she can obtain settled status, i felt ashamed to be british when i had to explain to her how things had changed for us after Brexit. |
Unfortunately, a lot of us feel ashamed to be British at the moment.
The country is in the worst state it has been in during my lifetime, and, in the short term at least, there is no prospect of things improving. | | | |
| The Home Office.... on 11:01 - Mar 31 with 1469 views | BlueNomad |
| The Home Office.... on 08:31 - Mar 31 by ellerblue |
I am a british subject married to a German and living in Germany, my wife retires next month and as she has no living relatives in Germany we thought we would retire back to Suffolk to be with our family, prior to brexit it would have been fairly simple but now we have to obtain a visa for her, the initial application costs about 1550 pounds and then another payment after two and a half years and the finally the last payment after 5 years which results in settled residence, during the 5 year period she would pay an nhs surcharge each month (which we have no problem with as she has not paid into the system) the total cost exceeds 7000 pounds and the paperwork involved is massive, and as a sideline to move all our household and personal belongings into uk we have to obtain a transfer of residence form from hmrc listing every item, in the end we have reluctantly decided we will just visit the family and grandchildren every 3 to 4 months it is absolutly frustrating because if either my daughter or son wished to join us to live in Germany the cost would be 37 euros. |
It's outrageous isn't it! I guess Farage has no difficulty in his German wife living here, something achieved under the "Brussells dictatorship." | | | |
| The Home Office.... on 11:02 - Mar 31 with 1466 views | Churchman |
| The Home Office.... on 10:43 - Mar 31 by ellerblue |
It is absurb i spent over 30 years in uniform, i elected to have all my pensions taxed in uk as opposed to Germany and still do the most upsetting thing is if i had married a uk citizen and wanted to return with her to live in Uk no problem, but because i chose to marry a FORIEGNER, she is not wecome unless she jumps through all the home office hoops and maybe after 5 years she can obtain settled status, i felt ashamed to be british when i had to explain to her how things had changed for us after Brexit. |
I am sure your wife is welcome to 99% of people in this country and has a perfect right to live here. I shall try and be optimistic and say things will change because what has happened with this makes no sense to anyone, bar the odd knuckle head, surely?
I am not ashamed to be British at all. There are too many wonderful people in this country doing amazing things for that.
I am though ashamed of the people that represent us and those that support them - mostly for their own ends. They don’t represent me. Things will change. | | | |
| [Redacted] on 11:21 - Mar 31 with 1422 views | victorywilhappen |
| The Home Office.... on 14:03 - Mar 30 by BlueNomad |
My wife was born in Malta. Her father was in the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet so they flew her mother out there when she was pregnant.
Her previous passport showed her place of birth as "Malta (GB)" as it was then a British "possession". Following renewal it just says "Malta". Loads of questions when we last returned from a trip on the continent and she was, initially, suspected of entering the country illegally.
How many children of service men and women born abroad must have the same potential problem? In the US they say, "thank you for your service sir." We really have turned into a nasty country. [Post edited 30 Mar 2022 14:06]
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[Redacted] |  | | |
| The Home Office.... on 11:44 - Mar 31 with 1370 views | BarcaBlue |
Pre-Brexit it was a doddle, my kids all have British citizenship / birth certificates / passports, they were all born in Catalunya but the process couldn't have been easier. Now my British daughter can't register her daughter as British. The Home Office never replied to our emails for clarification and we've had to give up.
Like you say, not important right now in our case either but some of the cases in this thread, and what must be countless others is just so depressing. |  | | |
| The Home Office.... on 12:57 - Mar 31 with 1294 views | Clapham_Junction |
My other half's parents have only been able to visit her once in 20 years. Last time they tried applying for a visa, a British official turned up at her Dad's work to check he was really employed there. In the end, he was given the visa but her Mum wasn't (she was already retired) so they didn't come.
The most ridiculous thing is that there isn't really a significant difference in the standard of living that her parents have compared to us - they wouldn't get any (financial) benefit out of coming to the UK, if anything quite the opposite.
I think I've mentioned before that she works as an immigration advisor, and that the Home Officer routinely reject applications without any proper grounds, and they almost always win the appeal - the approach seems to be to reject as many as possible in the hope that some people give up. |  | | |
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