The Reunite Families UK Letter March 2023
Issue no 1 | March 2023
Welcome to the first Reunite Families UK Letter! With our new newsletter we will be able to share with you what has been happening in the Reunite Families UK community as well as keeping you up to date with the latest development/news with everything spouse visa! If there is anything you’d like to see in the newsletter do get in touch with the team at hello@reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk.
CALLING ALL FAMILIES
We are co-producing a research project with families affected by the MIR and an expert advisory group and as such your input is extremely important. Thanks to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, we have recently started a research project which explores the impacts of the spouse visa rules on children and the prolonged separations they cause. If you would be willing to share your/your children’s experience with us and a group of mental health experts in a safe focus group setting, we would love to hear from you ASAP. You can contact us by emailing Caroline at caroline@reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk.
PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE YOU KNOW IS AFFECTED
CALLING PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH CHILDREN SEPARATED FROM A PARENT
As part of the focus groups we would also like to invite professionals who work closely with children separated to hear their opinion on the issue. This is a critical point of view that will provide extra insight into the impacts of the rules. If you are a parent willing to be involved/know a professional working with children separated by the spouse visa rules, we love to hear from you ASAP. You can contact us by emailing Caroline at caroline@reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk.
PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE YOU KNOW IS AFFECTED NB: Whilst the adult focus groups by their nature will most likely not be anonymous, information used in the report can be done so anonymously
Our letter to the PM and his response (or lack of)
Back in December, our Christmas break was cut short by a briefing to the press that indicated the Government was planning to increase the Minimum Income Requirement at a time of increasing cost of living pressures.
For this reason, we coordinated a letter which was signed by so many of you (thank you !!) that asked for the Minimum Income Requirement not to be increased and instead to be scrapped altogether.
However, we were extremely disappointed by the response received on behalf of the Prime Minister to the letter. The response we received only repeats government lines we have heard countless times before without addressing the substance of our arguments or the offer we have made to the government of meeting with people who are affected daily by the UK spouse visa rules. We are now working with RAMP to respond to this and to engage, educate and update MPs accordingly
Does the Appendix FM baffle you?
Well, you’re not the only one!
But the good news is that RFUK/Fragomen Law are putting on what we hope will be a very useful webinar which is free for you to attend. A team from Fragomen will go through this unnecessarily complex visa route. Please note they will not be able to answer specific case queries. The webinar will be at 11am on 28th March. Please share this event on your social media/with those affected by the rules.
To attend please register here: https://bit.ly/3Lbht6P
Share our UnReunited Mothers cards
Thanks to our amazing colleague Cian who prepared this “unreunited mothers” cards for Mother’s Day.
With it we want to highlight the countless policies with which mothers in our communities are blocked from being reunited with their loved ones.
Share them in your social media post to ask the Government to finally scrap the MIR.
Download them from here !
Are you our next volunteer ?
As a small (but rapidly growing!) organisation we are looking to recruit more volunteers to help us grow more organically and support even more families affected by the spousal visa rules.
We are looking for a variety of skills (from admin to event organising to comms and social media wizardry ) so if you can give us a hand give us a shout at hello@reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk !
Become part of our spokesperson network through the media training sessions!
In the coming weeks we will be putting on a media training for people in our community who would like to help us share with the media the devastating impact of the Minimum Income Requirement.
Follow our Facebook page and website for more information including how to register for it.
Reports continue to prove failure of family migration policies
The last few weeks have seen the publication of several hard-hitting reports that highlight once again the failure of family migration policies as well as the permanent limbo in which many people on the 10-year route are forced to remain due to harsh immigration rules.
Family migration policies are failing both families and society as a whole. This was one of the key conclusions (not surprising for us unfortunately) contained in the report published by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.
We were really pleased to having been asked to provide in person and written evidence.
A new research report by Praxis, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and Institute of Public Policy Research shows the devastating impact of extortionate fees and long waits as a result of the 10-year route to settlement.
Responses