"NEW UNITED KINGDOM LAW IS TEARING FAMILIES APART"

I am a Tanzanian citizen who currently resides in
Istanbul, Turkey.
I am married to a British citizen who is at the moment working at the British International school of Istanbul as a Geography teacher. Between us we have three beautiful children with our eldest being our daughter who is 19 years old and currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our second born is our daughter who is 12 years old and lives with us here in Istanbul along with our son, who is 10 years old. All four members of my family are British Passport holders.

My husband's contract here in Istanbul ends on the 15th August 2013, and we as a family have already made our decision to move back to Scotland where my husband originates from following the end of his contract. His whole family is there, including his mother, who is aging and becoming very frail and our eldest child as mentioned above currently lives there.

As a Tanzanian passport holder, I had to follow up the Visa Application procedure here in Istanbul where it has been our home since 2007. I had to send my Resident/ settlement Visa Application forms to the British Consulate early this January 2013 and after a few long weeks of waiting, we finally received a notification letter from the World Bridge Agency on the 7th of March 2013 to inform us that my visa results had been processed and were ready to be collected.

The outcome was “Refusal of entry” based on the grounds that my husband has to provide proof that he has in his saving account 18,600 Pounds plus a potential job to go to in Scotland. This was very confusing and difficult to process as in the summer of 2007; I was granted the UK resident permit with the act Law of 2002 which is the same Law act that has been used to refuse my entry now in 2013.

News of the refusal came as a great shock and disappointment to the family, and has made us all absolutely devastated, making the children fear that the family will no longer be together.

We do feel that this violation of basic Human Rights as a mother should not forcefully be separated from her children or husband. Simply, my husband and my children are allowed to come to Scotland and settle there with or without a potential job to go to, but they are to do so without their wife or mother.
My husband is a very hard working and dedicated teacher who has promoted his British culture through education around the globe. I have no doubt that because of his qualification and his experience he will be able to get a job in Scotland.

My family is a very happy, loving and caring family but at the moment we are all feeling very distressed and fearful at the concept of not continuing that happy, loving and caring home together. Is it for someone else to decide that we should no longer be a family? At the moment we are feeling lost, angry, and have been treated unfairly and as a result that, the happiness of our family has been taken away.
How is a mother supposed to answer and explain to her children that she cannot join them in Scotland?
We immediately went through the process of appealing after having gotten the first answer, and after yet another delay, the court has gotten in touch with us to let us know that we will hear from them the earliest 2nd September.

This is yet another piece of truly disappointing news!! This can't be right... Something has to be done for the sake of my family... Where is the Human Right?
Please advise us on how we are supposed to find school for my two youngest children?view the school,register for the Hospital etc.

I have never seen my family in such a state as they are in now, this is affecting us emotionally, mentally, and physically and is not healthy for any of us especially our children.

After my husband's contract ends, the school he works for now will have to cancel our Resident permit and at some point I will have to come back to Istanbul to collect my Appeal outcome.
And normally when the appellant is needed to collect the Appeal results they are given the window period of 7 days.

I am worried as I have no idea where we will be next, and for me as a Tanzanian passport holder, to be able to apply for the Turkish Tourist/holiday visa, I need at least 4 weeks in advance. Not only is this an inconvenience and extra stress on top of all that we already have, but it will also be costly financial wise. This whole application process is not free and for every visa and flight ticket that I will have to apply for it will cause a reduction in money that we cannot afford to waste with the way things are. Money that should remain as savings for the future of my children. How are we supposed to deal with all of this and still manage a daily family life and make sure that we remain a healthy and happy family?

What suprises me the most my husband is now back in the United Kingdom with our children and he did not have to prove to anyone or provide any evidence to show that he has 18600 pounds and potential job to go to even though he took the children with him and this is just because our children's have British passports?.
Where is my rights as a mother to be with my childrens?where is my children's rights to be with both their parents ? how will this affect children's life? surely this has to be against human right and this has to stop and it should stop now"

I strongly believe this new British law's entry for the spouses visa's and its requirements it is against human's rights and must change now .
Surely falling in love to a non European citizen happily married for 15 years and have 3 beautiful happy children is not a crime.
The British perliament should look into the human rights Act and change this Law as soon as possible as it is affecting innocent people and children's and this should not be allowed to happen.

The refusal of my entry to the United Kingdom has now caused me to miss such important events in my childrens life, such as my daughter's 19th Birthday 12th March and my youngest daughter's who turns 13th 2nd August. I am yet to miss their first day of school 14th August 2013 which I cannot bear the thought of .

I am sure someone somewhere in the World is going through the same hell my family is going through,but at this moment we almost feel we are the only family that is going through this brutal separation and a very long nightmare which we can't wait to come to an end.

This is important for the whole World to understand,take action to stop this family separation and we should never be scared to talk about Immigration Law.

My hope is to get as many people as possible to sign up to this pettition to make sure this new brutal Law is changed for good and that it may be reconsidered by those who created it.

“I feel an awful fear that I have never felt before that a rule somewhere could separate my family"

Thank you GC

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
― Nelson Mandela