Tina Hulme's Column in the Hampshire Chronicle

First published Hampshire Chronicle, 5th May 2006

I WAS welcomed into the UK with open arms by British Immigration. Nearly two years ago, I walked into the British Embassy in New York City to obtain my Further Leave to Remain visa, the visa which is preemptive to permanent United Kingdom citizenship.

I waited in the queue for 15 minutes, and then the immigration officer looked at all my documents and accepted my $494 fee.

“Come back in two hours and you’ll have a stamp in your passport guaranteeing temporary UK citizenship for two years, ” he said.

It was as easy as that. I was treated decently and with respect at the British Embassy in New York. I wish with all my heart that I can tell you that my English husband was treated equally well by the US Immigration Service as I had been by the Government of the United Kingdom.

He is not allowed to even visit the USA until his marriage visa is completed and his passport is stamped, because of a minor previous violation where he overstayed a tourist visa by 29 days.

After spending $2,500 and waiting more than two years, we are still waiting for his interview for a visa that has been approved for over a year.We spent the first eight months of our marriage apart, under the impression that our temporary visa should have been secured within the first six months after applying.

My husband’s temporary visa expired while we and our lawyer tried to have it transferred from the US Embassy in the Bahamas, where we were married, to London, where we settled in order to be together, before moving to Winchester.

After we requested the transfer, the US Government mislaid the paperwork.We thought fortune had smiled upon us when our permanent visa was approved at nearly the same time as they lost our temporary one, but that was a year ago.

When last we heard, the US Embassy in Paris had our visa paperwork. Even though we sent proof of our residency and work history in the UK, the US Government still saw fit to send it to Paris, because that is where my husband was living at the time we filed our paperwork.

Immigration queries are directed to a telephone number, which charges a 14.50 euro fee simply to pick up the phone, fully admitting that they may not be able to provide answers to your questions. My husband and I are exhausted and financially strained, because we both had to move countries to be together, so the United States Government would see fit to deem our marriage legitimate.

I have not seen my parents or siblings in two years. My letters to US officials went unanswered. I just wonder what might happen when I have children.

What certainty do they have of getting to know their family and roots if their father cannot even visit the country of my birth with me?

-Tina Hulme