Kentish Express Ashford & District
‘Fake fiancee’ man faces deportation
A man could be kicked out of the country after the Home Office dubbed his relationship with his fiancee as fake.
American Scott Luers, who has lived in Ashford for 10 years, had his application for a FLR(O) [further leave to remain] visa rejected in June this year.
Reasons given by the Home Office for refusing the visa stem from the fact they do not believe his relationship with fiancee of one year Jamie Sykes, 29, is genuine.
The couple, who live together in South Ashford, are now appealing the decision and have set up an online petition.
Mr Luers, who has been unable to work since his visa was turned down, said: “We’re not lying. My visas have always been approved over the years with no problem. When it was rejected it made me cry. It is very difficult, especially as I have worked for the past 10 years, paid my taxes and National Insurance.”
Mr Luers, 55, first moved to Ashford in 2005 to be with his then partner, who is from the UK.
He entered the country on a visiting visa and then, after they married, had a spousal visa. Three years later, he applied for his second spousal visa.
After his divorce, he had an FLR(O). This ran out in December 2014.
He says he was late re-applying for it due to a number of reasons, including Miss Sykes’s bad health and working long hours. The couple also suffered a miscarriage on New Year’s Eve.
He adds: “The Home Office don’t seem to have a problem with it being late, however. They said they understood about that.”
The couple, who got together in March 2013, have a joint savings account, share the council tax and the water, gas and electricity bills.
Along with statements from friends and family, they presented these to the Home Office as proof of their partnership when applying for the new visa, but it was not enough.
The friends’ letters were rejected as they had not been signed, and claimed they all appeared to be “generated by the same inkjet printer” which “calls into question their validity”.
Mr Luers, who worked for Welcome Finance in Ashford town between October 2005 and 2011 before getting a job at Mecca Bingo as an operations team leader, said: “Friends emailed them to me and I printed them.
“Some weren’t signed, but their telephone numbers and addresses were all present. Not one of our references was contacted, though. They seem to make a lot of assumptions.”
As a result, Mr Luers contacted all his friends and family and asked for signed, hand-written letters, which were sent with the appeal.
The Home Office also doubted the relationship because of a typo Miss Sykes’s dad made in his letter, saying they got engaged in 2013 when in fact they got engaged in June 2014.
The couple also sent Miss Sykes’s medical records to the Home Office, as she suffers with epilepsy, and said they would like to remain in the UK due to her treatment and support from her family.
However, the Home Office said that Miss Sykes could just as easily be treated in the USA. Mr Luers said: “There is no guarantee Jamie would be accepted into the USA, or that she would be employed.
“We also couldn’t afford the medical bills.”
Mr Luers adds that he has lost £1,400 a month in wages following the rejection of the application, and is now being supported by his fiancee, who works for Mitie in security at Ashford railway station. He said: “I have now used all my savings. We can’t book our wedding without a visa, plus we can’t save anyway as I can’t work.
“There are nearly one million illegal immigrants in this country, and they are worried about one man. My living with Jamie does not affect the housing situation of our country, nor the benefit system.”
The result of the appeal is expected in October. If the application is rejected, the couple’s next step is to go to an upper tribunal. If this fails, Mr Luers will have to leave the UK.
‘My visas have always been approved over the years with no problem. When it was rejected it made me cry’