HSMP Extension Rejections: UK panel upholds right to family life
There may be some respite for professionals who came to the UK holding HSMP visas and are now facing deportation as a result of the strict new rules which were published by the British government in November 2006.
Fortunately, the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal upheld that the right to family life in Britain under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights was applicable for an HSMP holder who had been denied the right to carry on living in the UK in line with the recent rules.
The decision by the Tribunal court clearly points towards the unjust approach taken by the UK government with the new HSMP rules. The judge said the appellant had a solid legitimate belief that the HSMP visa extension would be allowed based on the rules which he migrated under.
Amit Kapadia, a director of the HSMP Forum which came about in order to deal with problems resulting from the new strict immigration rules said that there were many people who were facing deportation because of unfair treatment by the British government. The success of this case provides hope to others who are in the same predicament.
The judgement was for a chemist who had migrated to the UK in December 2005 after being approved entry clearance for a period of 12 months as an HSMP holder. In the judgement reference was made to guidance notes provided by the UK Home Office for the period between 2002, when the plan was proposed until November 2006.
The guidelines stated that applicants who already held HSMP visas would be permitted to remain and make an application for settlement once they had completed the four years qualifying residence. Despite this, the UK government announced that according to the latest changes to the rules applicants who already hold an HSMP visa would be required to satisfy the new specifications of the points based system in order to be permitted to remain the UK after the first year.
The applicant was previously employed the Oman government since 1992 and resigned from his job, sold his home and belongings in order to be able to live in the UK. When he made his application to extend his stay on 29 November 2006, he was unable to satisfy the new requirements under the points based system and was told to apply under the work permit scheme, which was also refused.
