Monday 28 May 2018

Double standards on UK residence rights

It looked for a short while as if the campaign to give Afghan interpreters sanctuary from reprisals in their own country was beginning to succeed. Then it transpired that the government has not made it any easier for these brave people to get here and settle.

At about the same time, Inga Lockington, who has given this country at least a score years of public service, revealed that she had given over a thousand pounds in order to apply to be safe from expulsion to her native Denmark and still has failed. (Time was when Danes automatically gained British status by marrying here.) As Mrs Lockington pointed out, she was able to afford the fees; what has happened to other continental European wives who could not?

All these people committed the sin of not being rich enough. As iNews reports:

For the discerning tycoons who made their fortunes abroad, Britain is still very much open for business. Foreign investor guidance published this year bends over backwards to welcome immigrants who have a spare £2m to invest in the UK. The Home Office has become so accommodating to oligarchs that one Russian immigration consultancy based in London now proudly advertises a personal service where “Home Office employees come to our office to take fingerprints and photos”. The company claims that a visa is granted in “99 per cent of cases, within 3 days”.

It should be stressed that the source of the wealth is clearly not a bar to entry.

1 comment:

Frank Little said...

Even when the UK authorities do raise doubts, Israel is ready to step into the breach. Abramovich's access to Britain will be practically unaffected. It is a different story for Jews with a dark skin.