A Scottish MP has claimed that Scotland is being starved of talent because of the UK Government’s immigration policies.
Pete Wishart, the SNP’s shadow leader of the house in Westminster, has taken up the case of a Canadian woman who had to leave her partner and her home to return to Canada after studying to be a vet in Edinburgh.
Carmen Bell had arrived in Britain on a study visa and had been trying to secure a Tier 2 visa to remain in the UK to work. She returned to Canada for four months to secure a sponsor for the visa and returned to Scotland last November.
However, the vacancy with the vet’s practice that agreed to sponsor her disappeared but the business said it would continue to act as her sponsor on paper until she could find a new position and company to back her visa application.
Ms Bell said she had problems getting information from the Home Office and says that as a result of the confusion, she has now left Scotland after being told she could be deported.
She told The National: “Scotland is my home and I feel like I was treated unfairly and forced to leave my family. I am devastated and feel my life has been ruined. My partner and our pets are there and we had plans to buy a house and have a future there.”
Now Mr Wishart, who has supported her case, has criticised the way the immigration system is set up and the short time frame people have to make their application.
He said: “We have lost the services of a qualified vet who is keen to set up home in Scotland – someone who would have enriched our community and who would have benefitted our economy.”