The Government stresses the importance of family life, but
families are failed by the Home Office’s migration policies and
practice, which also undermine society, according to the House of
Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.
In its report ‘All families matter: An inquiry into family
migration’, published today, the committee says that current
migration rules are at odds with the Government’s commitment to
family life. Overly restrictive and complex, they force family
members to live apart. The Home Office sees separation as a
matter of choice and regards online contact as adequate. The
committee profoundly disagrees.
The arrival of spouses and partners of British citizens is
deterred or delayed by overly complex rules and financial
requirements. Parents are forced to bring up children alone,
until they can be joined by their foreign partners. Children grow
up without a parent.
Families are effectively banned from being joined in the UK by
elderly parents from overseas for whom they are desperate to
care.
Child refugees cannot be joined by any relatives. When questioned
by the committee, the Home Secretary defended the policy.
The restrictive rules affect British citizens, refugees and
permanent residents, including children born in the UK and adult
citizens who have never lived in another country, but have family
members of a different nationality.
Family migration rules now apply in circumstances where, before
Brexit, there was free movement. Many European citizens and their
families, and British citizens with European relatives, are now
affected.
The Home Office is systematically deficient in its processing of
family visa applications. Delays pile up, communication is
appallingly poor, evidential requirements for how you prove your
case are excessively complex and fees are prohibitive. People are
left distraught.
Modern families are often extended or blended, for instance
including stepparents. It should be recognised that they do not
always follow the nuclear model.
The Prime Minister has recently said that ‘strong, supportive
families make for stable communities’. Failing families means
failing society too. Essential skills are lost when people feel
they have no alternative but to leave the UK, and some people may
not come in the first place. The committee heard that health
services are particularly affected.
An individual’s contribution to the economy is weakened when a
partner or parent is not allowed into the country to help raise
children. In extreme cases, migration policies force families
into destitution, making them reliant on the state. The Home
Secretary told the committee that the policies strike the right
balance between respecting family life and protecting societal
interests. The committee recognises that strict criteria and
vetting of applications is necessary; public support demands it.
It believes, however, that policies that respect family life also
benefit society.
A child’s best interests, which generally mean being with family,
should be at the heart of family migration policies, in the
committee’s view. It found that there is much to be learnt from
family law when it comes to protecting children in immigration
matters.
The committee concluded that humanity and decency should be at
the heart of rights-based family migration policies, and that
there is considerable scope for the Home Office to simplify
complex rules and improve its standards for processing
applications. The interests of both families and society would be
served by this.
, Chair of the House of
Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, said:
“Nobody should have to choose between home, safety, and family.
The primary concern of family migration policies should be to
allow families to live together in the UK where possible and the
Home Office should ensure safe and legal routes for family
reunion.
“The interests of families and society are not in competition:
they go hand-in-hand. Family migration policies should ensure
that they are sufficiently protective of family life.
“These restrictive rules and deficiencies affect British
citizens, refugees, and permanent residents alike. As one witness
told us: “I feel that, although I am a British citizen, I have no
rights”.
“We believe that it is in the best interests of a child living in
this country to be surrounded by their family and to remain here.
The scandal around the children placed in asylum hotels and going
missing from them points up the importance of looking at
immigration from the child’s point of view.
“Current policies are extreme. It is virtually impossible to be
joined by an elderly parent who needs care. No visa was issued to
anyone in that situation in 2021. Tight but fair immigration
rules should allow families to live together.
“The minimum income requirement, which those trying to be joined
by a partner must meet, is fundamentally flawed. It should be
made more flexible and should not increase.
“Home Office processes must improve considerably, and standards
of service substantially raised, without applicants left in the
dark as to what is happening.
“The Government should significantly increase funding to improve
the standards of the services the Home Office delivers to
families. Recruiting and training caseworkers is an essential yet
insufficient starting point.”
