A West Sussex woman has started a petition for her husband to be allowed to return to the UK after he was deported to the US.
US citizen Ralph Marx applied for indefinite leave to remain the UK after became ill with leukaemia. He had been living with his British wife Lorraine, a former officer in the Royal Navy, in Bosham on a visitors’ visa because he travelled frequently abroad for work.
Mrs Marx successfully appealed against the decision to deport her husband, who is father to the couple’s daughter Alexandra, in January. But the Home Office has since said it will appeal the court’s decision, saying that immigration procedures had not been correctly followed.
A Home Office spokesman told the Chichester Observer: “Mr Marx’s application for a spousal visa was rejected because he did not show that he met the financial requirements of the rules.”
To obtain a spouse visa, families must have savings or income of £18,600 annually. The Marx family’s solicitor said they had enough money to support themselves.
Mrs Marx said: “I understand that my husband is not entitled to any support – we’ve never asked for any. Cancer patients just don’t need the stress. But he’s doing well thank God for that – I think lesser people would have crumbled. Our life is on hold until somebody makes a decision.”