More Mischief from the UK Border Agency

The following story indirectly sums up the reason that Britain is in the state it currently is; petty officials far more concerned with ticking boxes (and not offending a protected group) than doing their job properly and observing objective reality.

The Canadian wife of a former British soldier (and the mother of his child) has been denied residence in the United Kingdom, because his salary as a labourer (between £12,000 - £36,000 per annum) is not enough to support his young family.

Never mind the tax he's paying to support free loaders and criminals. Never mind the fact that his family (probably hers too, at one point) have paid in and helped make this country what it is, whilst countless people with no connections to this country or any hope of assimilating are allowed in and given everything they could ever need or want.

No - the rules are what counts.

The rules state that if you are a violent rapist who clung under a lorry to get here, welcome aboard. If you plan to take this country for everything it has, come on in and make yourself at home whilst we allow you to live in luxury and appeal for ten years.

If you're a subject of Her Majesty The Queen, brought up in a compatible culture, already speak English and have qualifications and a bright future - then go to Hell.

Britain doesn't need people like you spoiling its hard earned reputation as a multicultural utopia!

Here's the full story, from The Star Phoenix:

It's a modern-day love story ripped from the pages of a romance novel.

A young British private completing military training in Canada meets a woman at a bar one night during the Calgary Stampede. She was 21. He was 25.

The two fall in love, have a child and marry three years later.

The soldier finishes a tour of Afghanistan, and returns to the U.K., in hopes of bringing his new bride and baby daughter home, across the pond.

But last week, British immigration officials denied the former soldier's request, on the grounds that his current salary as a labourer was not enough to support a young family.

Chantel Barden said Tuesday she's frustrated about yet another obstacle that will keep her from her husband, Darren Jarrad.

"We've been together for three years now, yet we still aren't together," the 24-year-old said from Cluny, Alta., a small town about 100 kilometres east of Calgary. "We don't know what we're going to do."

The longest amount of time they have ever spent together was six months last summer when Barden and their daughter, Shyanne, were given temporary visas to the U.K.

Barden said their transatlantic relationship has been taxing on their daughter, who is now two.

"Darren was in Afghanistan when she was born. When she was younger, she didn't know who (Jarrad) was. She was scared of him," said Barden. "Now she only knows him by pictures and on the phone. She wonders where he is, why he isn't with us."

The newlyweds thought their separation would be brief — only months, until the UK Border Agency denied Barden's visa application last week. The last time the two saw each other was at their wedding last April.

"I thought it was going to be quite quick and sort of a done deal," said Darren Jarrad, 28, of Felmingham, U.K. "We're married, we're a couple, we have a child. I thought it was going to be pretty simple. I thought she would've been here by now."

Jarrad said immigration officials believe he does not make enough money as a floor technician and restorer. His annual salary ranges from $21,891 (12,000 pounds) to $65,679 (36,000 pounds), depending on overtime and extra shifts.

"I work full time, for decent pay and they keep saying that I can't support her, that my salary doesn't meet their requirements but they never say how much I need to be earning," he said. "It's unfair. Immigration does not look at these cases enough. They sort of blink and check off a bunch of boxes."

He said Barden, a model and a sales clerk in Calgary, was planning on working once she moves to the U.K.

"She definitely wants to work. She's not the kind of person who would want to sit at home," said Jarrad.

His father also offered to financially support the couple during the first few months if they need it, he said.

"It's been a letdown. After everything that they've asked me to do, go to Afghanistan and Iraq, and they still won't let me bring my wife here," said Jarrad. "I'm not asking them for a free ride."

British politician Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat MP, said he sent letters on Jarrad's behalf to immigration officials this week.

"I just think this is an extraordinary situation. He was prepared to serve his country in Afghanistan and in other tough situations," said Lamb. "It's completely unacceptable."

He said the U.K. is taking too hard a stand against immigration.

"Immigration is a sensitive subject and the government must appear strict," said Lamb. "They know the public in many cases is very sensitive about immigration, particularly at a time when the economy is a mess and so forth, but I think it's staining the country's reputation."

Jarrad has hired an immigration lawyer.

If he is forced to move, it will send a message that the U.K. is uncaring," said Lamb. "It would be sad and unjust."

A spokesman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada said Tuesday the department cannot assess whether it would be easier for Jarrad to immigrate to Canada, but noted that no special exceptions would be made if he was a British or Canadian soldier.

"It's by a case-by-case basis," said Nicolas Fortier in Ottawa. "Everyone has to meet all of the same requirements."

On the agency's website, it says that Canadian residents wishing to sponsor spouses from overseas need to go through medical, criminal and background screening. Residents also must prove to be financially capable of supporting their spouses before their permanent residency is approved.

Last year, Immigration Canada granted sponsorships to 44,196 spouses and 3,255 children.

A spokesman with the UK Border Agency also said that country's visa applicants were assessed on a merit-point system.

"The system is firm and fair, and it applies to everyone," said Sam Eversden in an e-mail from the agency's London headquarters.

He said although the agency cannot comment directly about Jarrad's case, due to privacy laws, in general, immigration officials assess to see if there is a risk visa applicants will rely on public assistance once moving to the U.K.

"For example, an applicant for a spouse would need to demonstrate that they will be able to maintain themselves without recourse to public funds. Where an application does not meet the requirements of these rules, it will be refused," he said.

The system is certainly not 'fair', because it is only firm with the wrong people.

Hat tip: The Frozen North.