Former RAF airman banned from moving his wife and daughter to Britain because authorities ‘don’t believe his marriage of TWENTY TWO YEARS (with two grown children) is real
- Mike Bates wants to move family back to South Wales from Middle East
- His daughter was born in Wales and his son is studying at UK university
- Daughter has suspected Asperger’s Syndrome and needs assessment
- But Home Office turned down visa for his wife of 22 years, Jieb Bates
- Officials question the couple’s marriage, despite them having home here
- Mr Bates now fears the family could be split up until she can enter country
- He said his daughter, who is entitled to NHS treatment, is likely to have to return to Britain without her mother
A former serviceman has hit out at government bureaucrats who refused his wife of 22 years the right to enter the UK.
Mike Bates, his wife, Jieb, and British-born daughter, Jamie, currently live in Saudi Arabia but need to return home after 13-year-old Jamie developed suspected Asperger syndrome.
But the family have been left stunned after the Home Office turned down his wife’s visa application due to suspicions over their marriage.
marriage and said officials did not believe they intend to live together permanently in the UK.
That is despite the couple already having a joint mortgage for the house in Mr Bates’ hometown of Aberbargoed, South Wales, which they use for up to two months of the year when visiting family and friends.
Among the reasons listed for rejecting Mrs Bates’ visa application, officials claimed copies of the children’s birth certificates and passports were not been included in the applica
Mr Bates, who served in the RAF and is now a technician trainer for BAE Systems in the Middle East, married his wife in Hong Kong in 1992 and the couple now have two children.
Their eldest, Andrew, 20, is half way through a construction and civil engineering degree in Newport, and Mr Bates, 50, decided to move back to the UK due to concerns over their daughter’s health.
He applied for the £1,200 visa, which is non-refundable, for his wife and said he sent off several documents including their marriage certificate.
But the family were horrified when a reply from the Home Office questioned the couple’s marriage and said officials did not believe they intend to live together permanently in the UK.
That is despite the couple already having a joint mortgage for the house in Mr Bates’ hometown of Aberbargoed, South Wales, which they use for up to two months of the year when visiting family and friends.
Among the reasons listed for rejecting Mrs Bates’ visa application, officials claimed copies of the children’s birth certificates and passports were not been included in the application.
But Mr Bates said he has the documents and could have sent them if they had contacted him, and if the requirement had been made clear on a government website.
He said: ‘For my daughter this is already quite a stressful time and the thought of her moving without her mum is even worse.
‘Officials said that how much I provided in paperwork was up to me.
‘My mother is 85 and she’s distraught about this. I’m on blood pressure, stress and heart tablets and this is a phenomenally stressful thing to be going through.’
He added: ‘I appreciate that there are many foreign nationals moving to the UK but we have been married 22 years with two British children.
‘I’ve been paying National Insurance for the whole time I’ve been over here and my daughter is British – she is entitled to be treated on the NHS.
‘I will have to move with my daughter no matter what’.
Mr Bates wants his daughter, who was born in Merthyr Tydfil, to be assessed and treated in Wales where she will be able to receive more support at school.
He said he has already made contact with a local school for Jamie to attend from September so she can started preparing for her two important GCSE years.
His wife is already booked in for an English exam on June 5 and he has handed in his notice to his employer BAE Systems.
‘I’ve been paying National Insurance for the whole time I’ve been over here and my daughter is British – she is entitled to be treated on the NHS’
– Mike Bates
Residency rules mean he and his family will be unable to continue living in the Middle East after his job ends on July 17.
He said this means he and his daughter may have to move to South Wales without his wife if the decision is not overturned and she could be forced to go to her native Thailand.
He added: ‘Our children do not speak Thai, my youngest possibly has autism. She will now have to start school in the UK without her mother while I try to resolve this.’
Mike has set up a petition calling on Home Secretary Theresa May to reverse the decision, which has already garnered more than 1,700 signatures.
He was given 28 days to lodge an appeal and is doing so with the help of his MP in south Wales.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: ‘All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules.
‘The onus is on the individual to ensure they provide all necessary evidence when submitting an application.’
Foxnwolf comments…….
The above has hints of the “Keir Hardie” ex RM and his wife and daughter who returned from holiday a few years ago and was denied permanent entry (to leave within 3 months) by some Jobsworth at Glasgow airport. After having served in the RM, Fire Brigade plus nursing etc, etc… I hope the RAF blogs and sites create a fuss over this one as we all did with Keir and his family (they are here “Legally” now) ?!?!?.
