A South Wales woman says she has just days to raise enough money to allow her Texas-born husband to remain in the UK with her.
Della Brown, who has been married to US Army veteran Jonathan for 11 years, needs to raise the money to meet the Home Office’s requirements for savings to allow her husband to stay in the UK.
He is currently in Britain on a six-month visa. His application for a spouse visa was rejected because Mrs Brown makes less than £18,0000 annually in her job as a medical lab assistant and does not meet the minimum earnings requirement.
A further application by Mr Brown on human rights grounds for the right to a family life was also turned down. The couple have three children aged between 10 and three.
Now the couple have started a petition in support of their case and are asking for people’s help to raise the £40,000 needed to allow Mr Brown to remain in the UK with his family.
Mrs Brown told the South Wales Argus she was “absolutely petrified” that she would be parted from her husband by the financial regulations.
She said: “It’s almost as if they’re saying, 'If you don’t have the money, you have to fall in love with another British citizen'. That’s it.”
The couple met online in 1999 and met in person in Texas in 2004. They married nine months later and Mrs Brown was granted a green card to remain in the US in 2009.
She found it hard to settle in Texas and returned to Wales in 2012, while Mr Brown continued working in the US to support the family. He applied for a UK citizen visa to live with his family after being made redundant.
After securing this, he applied for a permanent visa which would allow him to work, but was turned down on financial grounds.