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Dr Chiang was ordered out of the UK and told she faced a prison sentence if she failed to comply (Picture: PA)
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A young
doctor was ordered to leave the UK because her bank account went below £945 in
the 90 days before she applied for a new working visa.
She said:
‘When I got the letter I was shocked, all these things were going on in my
head.
‘I was
worried because we were already understaffed on our ward and leaving all my
friends would be really heartbreaking.’
Originally
from Taiwan, Dr Chiang lived in Glasgow from 1997 to 2002 with her parents
before returning to the UK in 2006 to study – and has lived here since, now
working at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool.
After Dr
Chiang’s student visa expired in June, her application for a new working visa
was rejected in August due to a Home Office rule which states an applicant’s
bank balance cannot drop below £945 in the 90 days beforehand.
Dr Chiang
said she had more than that amount saved and the bank account she used for the
application had the correct money by the end of each month, but had dropped
below for a few days in one of them.
She appealed
against the failure by sending details of a separate savings account to show
she always had the money required, but this was declined as it was not provided
with the initial application.
Dr Chiang then received a letter on Friday from
the Home Office telling her the application was unsuccessful, and that she
‘must leave the UK now’ or she would ‘be liable to be detained and removed’.
The letter
said she could be prosecuted, adding that she cannot work or access benefits
while in the UK, and despite being on call she has been unable to work at her
hospital in Liverpool since.
Her lead
employer also called her on Tuesday to tell her that because the letter is
dated to September 19 there is a possibility she will not get paid for the
shifts she has done since then.
Chief
executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants Satbir Singh said:
‘At a time when our NHS is under immense strain and crying out for more
doctors, kicking out a young doctor trained to work in the NHS just defies
basic common sense.
‘Our
immigration system is dysfunctional, complicated and inhumane. ‘That someone
can be threatened with detention and removal because of a small technical
mistake in a visa application highlights the urgent need for the system to be
rebuilt from ground up so that people who move here are treated fairly and with
humanity.’
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Dr Chiang said she had more than that amount saved and the bank account she used for the application had the correct money by the end of each month (Picture: PA
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After
receiving the letter, Dr Chiang’s friend Mina Mesri set up a petition calling
for her to be allowed to stay in the UK, which has received over 25,000
signatures in a matter of days.
Her friend
also encouraged her to contact a solicitor, and she has spoken with two lawyers
this week. ‘I’m quite lucky as I’ve got a lot of people supporting me,’ said Dr
Chiang.
‘I know from
other people that there has been cases where people have just packed up and
gone, because they didn’t know what else to do.’
A
spokeswoman for the Home Office said: ‘We are reconsidering Ms Chiang’s
application now that further evidence has been provided.’
Source: Metro.co.uk
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