Case No. UKUT-00043(IAC)

76. The sponsor did not give evidence before us. He gave evidence before Judge Burns and the bundle of documents submitted for that hearing included witness statements from him and the appellant (both undated but circa second half of 2018). In her witness statement the appellant said that she had met the sponsor in 2010 when was visiting a friend in hospital in Sri Lanka. In 2011 he came back to Sri Lanka. They married in November 2011 and after their marriage lived together “in our house”. She had two children. He went back to the UK in November 2017 to work as an Assistant Sales Manager in a betting company. She was presently living with her parents who were old and fragile. Both her children missed their father very much. The sponsor’s witness statement averred, inter alia, that his children attend an International school (the bundle included a number of school fees receipts from the school in question) and he regularly sends money for them to live in Sri Lanka (in the bundle there were various remittance receipts) “but my children want to be with me. I came [back] to live in the UK in order to educate my children.” He did not want to go back to Sri Lanka as his interests are only in his children’s education and their best interests. In addition to various documents relating to the appellant’s qualifications and employment as a nurse, the sponsor’s employment history and financial details, the bundle also included a statutory declaration stating that he lived in accommodation which had one double room with sharing facilities of toilet, kitchen and bathroom. 77. In the appellant’s bundle produced for the hearing before us, the sponsor (in an undated but clearly recent witness statement) states that he has always worked and always supported his family. In 2017 he had worked for Betfred as an Assistant Sales Manager and had then found another job (in December 2018) as a Slow Sand Filter technician with Thames Water on an annual salary of £22,500 but had unfortunately lost that job following an accident at work that had happened due to the daily pressure and stress he was under. He was hopeful that he would get another job soon but he could not easily describe how stressful has been his separation from his wife and the legal proceedings that have followed. He had gone to Sri Lanka in 2010. He is good with languages and picked up Tamil very quickly. He had met his wife at a hospital where she was working. He had had wanted to bring her to the UK to really make “our home and family in the UK” and they had made their first application for her visa in December 2011, soon after they had married. This had been refused because “they suggested our marriage was not genuine”. He noted that their two children, both attended an English-speaking school for which he paid the fees. Both children are bi-lingual (Tamil and English). The children attend English-speaking events like the British Lankan Festival. He keeps in touch with his children daily through FaceTime. It “breaks my heart every time to see them on FaceTime and let them go”. They are excited about moving to the UK. He also describes what happened when his daughter came to the UK for a visit (on an unspecified date), when he found it difficult to cope. He states that to bring his children to the UK without his wife “is not doable. I tried. I need my wife and my children and we will all support one another.” He found it very difficult without his family. He has a tenancy for a 2-bedroom flat in anticipation of his family’s arrival in the UK. His wife has to bring up the children by herself as she is unable to come to the UK. If they do not come soon they will find it difficult to adjust. He did not want to go back to Sri Lanka as he did not really think it would be in his children’s best interests. His wife is a qualified nurse/phlebotomist and also has training as an assistant midwife. She is currently being offered a senior care assistant job at £10 an hour at a care home in Surrey. She had a video interview for this and impressed the prospective employer; but they will only keep the job offer open so long. “I really don’t understand what is the point of my kids having British passports if we can’t come to the UK”. He has been going back and forth to Sri Lanka since 2012 which has cost thousands of pounds. 78. In the same bundle there is an undated but clearly recent witness statement from the appellant. It largely reiterates what she said in her earlier statement. She states that her children are always asking when they will go to the UK and want to be with their dad all the time. She states that the sponsor had gone back to the UK “in order to prepare for us to come to the UK and to start our life afresh in London.” He sends money for the children’s schooling and everyday expenses. She states that she has a job offer to work as a senior care assistant in a nursing home close to their house in London. The past 8 years has been very difficult and she is finding it difficult to manage with her children without their father’s help. She is presently living with her parents who are old and fragile and find it difficult with young children around all the time. She feels their children needs a healthier environment. (The appellant’s witness statement also refers to her being in work but Mr Lewis clarified that at the date of hearing she was not working.) 79. The appellant’s bundle for this hearing also contains a number of documents relating to the sponsor’s history of visits to Sri Lanka, air ticket receipts, his recent work history and his payments of school fees and remittances to his wife, the appellant’s educational and work history and her English language qualifications. There is a letter to the appellant dated 16 October 2019 from [a care home in Surrey] offering her permanent employment as a Senior Care Assistant with them for a minimum of 39 hours a week at an hourly rate of £10 per hour. The manager states that the offer will only be kept open for 3 months. Also in the appellant’s bundle was a letter from the sponsor's GP dated 7 October 2019 stating that the sponsor suffered from depression and was on medication to help manage his condition. The fact that his wife and two children live in Sri Lanka was said to be affecting his mental health condition and worsening his depression. The doctor states that if the sponsor is unable to live or reunite with his family, his condition could further deteriorate. Among other documents was an award certificate to the appellant’s daughter for being an “All Island Finalist” in the British Lanka Festival for the Performing Arts in verse speaking. 80. We remind ourselves that in respect of the appellant’s and sponsor’s current circumstances Mr Lewis told us on instructions that the sponsor was no longer in work due to health problems, including anxiety and depression. Nor is the appellant working in Sri Lanka presently, although she has an offer of employment as a nurse carer in the UK.