mum being deported

[migimoo]

One of my LO's mum's arrived for collection today very upset-she has received a letter from immigration saying she has to leave the country for Angola by Monday or will be forcibly ejected and unable to return to the uk,she's also been told social care may take her LO if she doesn't cooperate:panic:

She recently split from dad who is Portugese and so allowed to work here as a member of the eu...now they aren't together she's been told she has no right to be in the country.

Surely as LO was born in the uk then he is a british citizen so she would be allowed to stay?

I am one of the first people to agree with stricter immigration laws but this one baffles me...she's been in the uk for 5 years, she is pre-reg training to be a midwife and works too so claims no benefits except some tax credits,she will eventually be paying into the tax system and isn't sitting at home expecting handouts.

Has anyone heard of this before?
...i've offered to write a letter saying how happy LO is here and as he's just been referred for some developmental delays can ask the ladies on the care team if they can help with something similar.

[mum24]

I have no advice I am afraid, just really to say how sad such a situation can happen, especially after just going through a break up and getting things together. I hope it does work out well, though there is hardly any time to do anything. Did she get any paperwork saying how or if she could appeal?

[blue bear]

Having a relative here does not automatically mean you allowed to stay even if it is your baby. Mum needs to get some urgent proffesional advice, what a terrible situation all round.

[LauraS]

All I can say is that she needs an immigration specialist to help her. There is not enough detail in what you've posted to comment on her immigration status, although its correct that her right to reside would have been derived from her partner - she would have had the right to be here as his family member, but if she is no longer his partner that usually ceases. Children born in the uk no longer gain uk citizenship automatically through birth - that comes from parentage.

If she has got as far as a deportation letter then its likely to have been brewing for a while, so I would assume.she has already had her.case looked at by an.advice centre or lawyer and its correct. If not she must do that immediately as its a complex area.

It's upsetting, but it does happen, and a letter from you won't change anything. Is she intending to return?

[TAZ]

I'm sure there was a similar case recently in our local paper where a mother had had to leave the country (and her partner and children who had been born in the UK) and she was still waiting for a visa to allow her to return to the UK, I believe it was taking a long time.

[LauraS]

Incidentally, she will now be on a very sticky wicket with benefits, tax credits.etc.and student loans if she has no right to reside. Tax credits etc aren't.terribly responsive but I would prepare yourself financially to lose her income IYSWIM, even if she does stay. Once one benefit catches word of a change in immigration status, the news tends to spread.

[migimoo]

She has an appointment to see a solicitor on Friday so will keep my fingers crossed...although i'm obviously not happy about losing £300-£400 a month i'm more worried about her having to return to a country where she knows noone and has nothing and losing the LO-I love him to bits and i'm the one who referred him for his developmental delays so feel responsible for him thriving in a way.

If she leaves 'voluntarily' then she may be able to return under a student visa in a few months but I won't be able to hold his space not knowing the outcome,I already have someone waiting for his space when she'd finished college...feel sick at the thought of losing my 'big bear'.

Dad's said she should go and leave the LO with him for now but she says he'll just send him to family in Portugal and she'll never find him.:(

The college funds his fees atm so as soon as she stops college payments will cease.