Tory MPs intervene in Commonwealth veterans immigration row

Tory – Senior Conservative MPs have called on the government to look into the cases of Commonwealth-born military veterans who are struggling with complex and expensive immigration rules after leaving the army.

Lawyers representing the soldiers, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that after the Guardian highlighted the situation on Sunday they had been contacted by veterans from Fiji and South Africa who returned home after being unable to negotiate the post-discharge immigration system.

The lawyers said the situation resembled the immigration problems faced by UK citizens from the Windrush generation, with “hundreds, if not thousands of veterans left in limbo”.

Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Territorial Army, said ministers should look at the situation. “It’s hard to imagine people more entitled to live on our islands than those who have fought to defend them,” said the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee. “We need to look hard at these cases and ensure we support those who should have been able to stay all along.”

Under Ministry of Defence rules, Commonwealth-born military personnel who have served four years or more are eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discharge.

However, the claimants say the army failed to tell them they needed to make an immediate application to the Home Office once they left the military. They also say increased visa fees are unaffordable. One former soldier who has a partner and two children needs to pay nearly £10,000 for them all to continue to live in the UK.

The government has declined to expand on a statement saying that while it could not comment on the legal case, the MoD “makes clear to foreign and Commonwealth recruits into the forces the process by which they and their families can attain settlement in the UK, and the costs involved”.

Andrew Mitchell, the veteran Tory MP and former international development secretary said: “This does seem wrong. I hope the Home Office will rectify this quickly and save these former British soldiers from the trauma of court proceedings and further delay.”

Source – https://www.theguardian.com/