A Huddersfield couple fighting a deportation threat are to have their day in court.
Matt Mallinson and Brett Rice, who went through a civil partnership in 2012, are battling a Home Office order which could see Brett deported to South Africa.
Civil servants claim the couple do not earn enough to justify Brett staying in the UK - even though he has been here for several years.
The pair argue that because Brett was a student at the University of Huddersfield when he filed his application, he was only able to work part-time and fell foul of the earnings rule by little more than £300.
But he has since graduated and has a full-time job, taking him well past the threshold even without Matt’s salary.
“The Home Office say we have to alert them to any changes such as losing a job but will not accept that my circumstances have changed considerably since the application”, said Brett.
“It is very worrying.
“We filed an appeal in writing as instructed by the Home Office but have heard nothing and now have been told that we have to appear in court on November 18.
“We are consulting our lawyer but the legal bills are rising and there is a lot of uncertainty about what may happen”.
The pair’s income fell short of the required level by that amount when they filed papers for Zimbabwe-born Brett to stay in the UK but within weeks, their wages had gone above that as both completed University of Huddersfield studies and took on more work.
The Home Office, however, remained unmoved and have insisted that they have to look at figures dating from the time of the application.
Both fear what will happen to Brett if he has to go back to South Africa, or his birthplace of Zimbabwe because of that country’s tough stance about homosexuality.
They have also launched an online petition to Home Secretary Theresa May, urging her to put pressure on officials. That has attracted more than 2,000 supporters.
The couple are currently living in Kirkburton with Brett’s parents, Len and Cynthia, who have lived in Huddersfield for five years after moving here from South Africa.
Matt works at The Three Acres in Shelley while Brett works at The Foxglove, Shepley.
The UK Border Agency has also insisted that Brett has spent 26 years in South Africa and that is his country, even though he came to the UK in 2009. He returned to South Africa solely in 2012 to apply for the visa.
A Home Office spokesman said the family rules were brought in to make sure that foreign spouses and partners do not become reliant on the taxpayer for financial support, and are well enough supported to integrate effectively.
““This is fair to applicants and to the rest of the public, and has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.”
The couple’s petition is on: www.change.org/p/hon-theresa-may-mp-stop-my-partner-from-being-deported
