Canadian’s U.K. visa hinges on affection in her 45-year marriage
Officials have questioned the bond with her British-born husband
A Canadian woman hoping to spend her retirement years with her husband in England is on the verge of being kicked out of the country because officials are questioning the affection level in her 45-year marriage.
Maria Summers had her application for a visa formally declined in 2014 on the grounds that she and her husband David had not provided enough evidence to prove that their relationship was both ongoing and emotionally supportive.
The retired optician has appealed the unusual decision.
The couple faces the prospect of selling their home in Hereford, England, consigning David’s cancer-stricken mother to long-term care and relinquishing their retirement plans if the U.K. border agency doesn’t reverse its decision.
“If I can’t stay, then we will have to sell. We will have to move back to Canada,” Maria Summers said in a telephone interview. “That’s not horrible, either. We’ve been in Canada for a long time, but it wasn’t the plan when we retired.”
Summers’ troubles with British authorities began in 2013 when she and her husband sold their Ottawa home and moved to Hereford to care for his mother. Customs officials informed her at the time that she was welcome to remain in the country for six months, but would then have to depart for at least 24 hours to open a new six-month window.
The couple took a one-week vacation in Malta to comply, but found themselves under scrutiny when they returned. Summers says customs officials detained her for five hours, during which she was questioned, photographed and fingerprinted.
It was at this point that she decided to apply for an extended visa that would grant her the same permissions as David, who holds a British passport.
That application included a copy of her 1970 marriage licence and a change of name deed from 1985. Summers said the entire family changed surnames at that time for personal reasons.
That second document caused problems for British officials, who cited it as evidence that their marriage was not all they claimed.
The ruling left the couple in the unusual position of trying to prove the strength of their emotional bond, Summers said, adding the paperwork for her appeal includes numerous photographs chronicling their decades as both partners and parents to a now 42-year-old son.