❗Part 2. Immigration articles worth reading (and worrying). NHS doctor is threatened with deportation over basic visa mistake.

NHS doctor is threatened with deportation over basic visa mistake. How a basic, non-common-sense rule can stop from securing a UK visa. And why you shouldn’t worry if your refusal letter says “You must now leave the UK”. 

Was it correct under the law to deny a visa? Bizarrely, yes, it was. 

In this article, a Taiwanese junior doctor was refused a work visa because of a small mistake, a technicality. She applied under the sponsorship of the NHS (no less), to work as a much-needed junior doctor.  

The problem: 

It was Maintenance requirement. She must have had £945 held continuously for 90 days. She had it but the balance fell below £945 for a few days. A small mistake, a technicality, yet the outcome was a visa refusal and what newspapers called a ‘deportation letter’. 

The rule of “held for X days” means the balance must not have fallen below the minimum amount even for 1 day even by £1.

Although this situation is about a Tier 2 sponsored work visa, the same logic applies to other categories. For example, for a Spouse visa, if you are using Savings to meet the Financial Requirement, you need a balance of £62,500 held for 6 months. Not falling before even by £1 for 1 day. Here we have ‘only’ £945 held for 90 days, and yet it created such a stir!

Solutions? 

As usual, the press to dramatise such events, so they report that “the doctor is threatened with deportation”. In fact, not only can she re-apply for her visa, her NHS sponsor can certify this rule for her. The latter solution is not even available to spouse of Brits, where help from any third party is not considered. 

What about a ‘deportation letter’? 

This comes up a lot in the press, again, this is a good way to add some drama! In reality, it is a standard letter that comes with every refusal. It is a pre-typed wording, generated by a computer. It does say ‘you must now leave the UK’, which is not helping. It means you must leave if you don’t make a new application, don’t or can’t appeal, and there is no other basis of remaining in the UK.  

Further question to think (and worry) about: 

What happens with the right to work while waiting for a new visa? 

Next time: 

Girl, two, faces deportation even though both of her parents hold British passports because she hasn't lived in the UK for seven years. It is as ridiculous as it sounds! And the wrong application to start with.

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