A British mother is fighting to get hold of a UK spouse visa for her husband in order to allow him to visit his son and create a firm family foundation in Britain.
Lynda Bishop has a son with Hermes Nguluwe, who she met in Essex when Mr Nguluwe was studying in London but living in Chelmsford in 2005. However, his student visa expired in 2007 and he was forced to leave the country in 2007 and return to his native Malawi.
Ms Bishop has claimed that numerous spouse visa requests to allow her husband to move to the country have been rejected by the UK Border Agency. The couple has spent significant amounts of money trying to reunite the family, but unfortunately recent immigration law changes look likely to only make things harder.
Spouses looking to sponsor a partner on a UK visa need to earn a minimum of £18,600 a year before they can apply, leaving Ms Bishop somewhat short with her £7,000 a year salary.
Ms Bishop spoke to the Essex Chronicle about the problems the family are facing: “It breaks my heart to see a father and son so far away, it is not right, it is against my son's human rights. He left when Leon was only 18-months-old.
"Leon has never met his dad properly and he cannot understand how far away he is and why we can't go and see him. We hardly get a signal to talk on the phone, and Hermes has to travel to the next village for the internet.”
She added: “Since the day he left in 2007 I have been trying to save the money to get him back, but it just is not possible."
The UKBA has not commented on the individual case but have said that there are certain rules that all UK spouse visa applicants need to adhere to. “If they fail to do so, their application will be refused,” a spokesperson added.