UKBA Does U-Turn: Grants Visa To Couple Previously Refused On Income Grounds

Markham · Dec 25, 2013

David Cameron has effectively torn-up his Home Secretary's £18,600 income requirement for marriage and spousal visas :-

A young mother forced to raise her daughter alone after immigration laws forced her to live 8,000 miles from her husband, received the' best' Christmas present when Home Office officials reversed its visa decision.

Elizabeth Celi-Parr was denied permission to bring Ecuadorian husband Alexander Celi-Moreno to the UK, where she lives with their baby daughter, Olivia, aged 21 months.

Mr Celi-Moreno, a doctor, was refused a spouse visa this year, because of new legislation introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May which requires the British partner to have a salary of at least £18,600 a year.

Elizabeth Celi-Parr said she has received the 'best' Christmas present she could have hoped for after the Home Office reversed a decision, allowing her Ecuadorian husband Alexander Celi-Moreno to move to the UK with her and their baby daughter Olivia.

Mrs Celi-Parr recieved the news while on a ferry to Ireland to celebrate Christmas with her husband, who had managed to secure a visa to visit the country.

The application was blocked by officials despite the couple being offered jobs with the family firm in Devon, and rent-free accommodation in the spacious family home.

Mrs Celi-Parr, frustrated with the time her appeal against the decision was taking, decided to organise a family Christmas reunion in Ireland, where Mr Celi-Moreno had been granted a tourist visa.

It was as Mrs Celi-Parr and her daughter Olivia were on a ferry crossing the Irish Sea that she was told her MP, Tory Neil Parish, had won her case.

'It was amazing, the best Christmas present, but I couldn’t tell anyone because I was on a ferry,' said Mrs Celi-Parr, who also celebrated her 30th birthday on Thursday.

'When I eventually found Alexander in the airport wandering around trying to find us, Olivia ran up to him shouting ‘Papa!’ - it was quite emotional.'

Mrs Celi-Parr met her 33-year-old husband, in 2006 when she faced problems registering her visa as an English teacher in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito.

They married in 2011 and lived in Argentina and Chile.

But when baby Olivia arrived, the couple realised they needed the support of their family and decided to settle in England, where Mr Celi-Moreno's medical training could lead to a well-paid job.

An application for a visa was submitted and Mrs Celi-Parr returned to Colyton where she began working for the family business J & FJ Baker & Co Ltd, Britain’s only remaining traditional oak bark tannery still in production.

Heartbreaking moment girl says goodbye to dad on skype

Mrs Celi-Parr and her husband after giving birth to baby Olivia, left. And right, the couple on their wedding day in 2011. They met in 2006 when Mrs Celi-Parr was having trouble getting her visa to teach English in Ecuador

Mrs Celi-Parr said: 'It was amazing, the best Christmas present' while husband Mr Celi-Moreno, a doctor, added: 'It's been the most beautiful time I have ever had'

Her father Andrew Parr and his wife Helen, who represents the Conservatives at East Devon District Council, now run the firm, which has been a family affair for 150 years.

Mrs Celi-Parr had assumed her salary, savings and the offer of free accommodation and work would persuade the authorities that the couple were unlikely to become a burden on the state.

Nevertheless the request was denied, forcing her to book a trip to Ecuador in the summer, just so that Olivia could see her father.

The mother-of-one then also turned campaigner, petitioning her MP and David Cameron to overturn the government decision while helping other families who have been similarly affected in the South West.

Mr Celi-Moreno has since received official notification that he must submit his passport to the Ecuadorian visa office, in Brazil, where they will stamp it with permission to live in the UK for two-and-a-half years.

Speaking from Dublin, he said he was delighted at the decision and excited but nervous about starting a new life in Britain.

'It has been the most beautiful time I have ever had - to see my wife and little baby at the airport - words cannot describe the sensation,' he said.
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(From the Christmas Eve edition of Mail Online.)

Aromulus · Dec 25, 2013

Some good news for some, not that the gov will relent anytime soon from this discriminatory policy.
Unless of course they realized that in a European court they don't have a leg to stand on and try to avoid some Human rights issues being raised before they occur.

blue_acid · Jan 4, 2014

This is pretty good news!

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UKBA Does U-Turn: Grants Visa To Couple Previously Refused On Income Grounds

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