A Canadian woman who has been married to her British husband for 45 years is to appeal after her application for a UK visa was turned down for a second time.
Immigration officials originally told Maria Summers that they did not believe her marriage to David Summers was long-term or genuine, even though the couple have a grown-up son together.
Now a court has told her that she does not meet the financial criteria and has not provided the correct documents to settle in the UK with her husband, who has returned to Britain to care for his terminally-ill 95-year-old mother. If Mrs Summers loses her new appeal, her mother-in-law will have to enter a care home, because her husband is unable to manage her care on his own.
Mrs Summers will have to return to Canada while her latest appeal is heard because she only has leave to remain in the UK until the end of August.
The new court decision has ‘conceded’ the couple’s relationship is genuine after they provided supporting evidence of letters and photographs.
Mrs Summers told Canada’s City News: “They’ve taken back the part about our relationship, they don’t seem to be harping on that anymore, so now there’s something different for them to harp on.”
The new ruling found that the Summers’ joint income was less than £1,000 short of the minimum requirement and their savings were £742 less than the minimum. The court also said it had not received bank statements from the couple as proof of their financial standing.
Mrs Summers disputed the finding and said her salary and Canadian pension put her well over the minimum requirement. She also claimed the court had failed to take into account that the couple own their own house outright.
She added: “We’re not asking for anything. I just want to live there.”