I vividly recall the day I brought my Asian wife to the UK to start our family journey together here in the UK;  We were confronted with a barrage of legalities, paperwork, tests, and significant costs whilst being denied access to public funds and support. 

Despite my service as a veteran, my sacrifice for the UK didn’t seem to matter when we grappled with the UK immigration policies in place. From minimum salary thresholds, English language tests, the life in the UK test, and the high immigration fees, to an unexpected bill presented upon the birth of our first child – it was a tumultuous journey that we undertook with patience, gratitude and some considerable compliance.

In light of the latest issues around immigration here in the UK (both legal and illegal) I feel that the current immigration policies have been skewed significantly over the years whereby they now appear to favour non-legal migrants more than it does the legal migrants coming in via the correct routes who are paying considerable sums to do so.

Indeed the burden seems to weigh heavily on families like ours where we are expected to jump through major hoops, legal hurdles and considerable costs to be with our spouse here in the UK.

This inequitable situation needs to change.

Since as far back as 2000, thousands of British families have faced similar experiences whilst trying to bring their families to the UK, a reality reflected in the rising cost of immigration fees, which escalated by more than 140% in the past two decades (source: Migrant Observatory, University of Oxford). 

If the government is unwilling to treat all immigrants to the UK equally and fairly, we are calling for a total refund of all legal immigration fees to British families dating back to at least 2000. 

We believe this is a reasonable request to rectify the historic financial burdens inadvertently imposed on law-abiding families.

Our hope is to gain the attention and action of the government to acknowledge and address this longstanding issue. Decades of unequal treatment cannot be undone, but we can seek fairness moving forward. It’s time to redress the scales and restore trust in our immigration policies among families like ours who continue to contribute to the strength and prosperity of the UK.

We urge every UK resident who believes in equality, justice, and fair treatment to support this cause. Please sign this petition.