The option of the children joining the sponsor in the UK on their own
92. Mr Lindsay has asked us to regard it as a viable option, reducing any possible disproportionality in the decision, for the children to come to the UK to attend school in term time and return to their mother in the holidays. We do not rule out that in some cases that may be a viable option, but on the evidence before us in this case, although somewhat sketchy, we consider such an option to be unrealistic. The sponsor had found it difficult looking after one of the children on his own during a short visit to the UK circa 2016. There are air tickets in the appellant’s bundle confirming this trip together with her father and the sponsor in his latest witness statement refers to him being found crying in the middle of the road with his daughter (then 3) during that visit. He states that he was taken to a police station and she was taken into care for 3 weeks whilst he was assessed as to his mental health (during this time he was in Great Yarmouth and she was in London). At the end of that period she came back to live with him, but (he stated) “I still couldn’t cope looking after her by myself” and he then took her back to Sri Lanka, selling things to pay for the fares. Given that the letter from his GP states that he still has psychological problems, we do not consider that it would be in the children’s best interests for him to be put in the position of being their sole carer, even assuming the appellant, who has always been their primary carer, was happy to be separated from her children in this way.
- DECISION AND REASONS
- Submissions at the hearing
- General
- Nationality
- 28. At the same time it is also clear that, by virtue of their minority, children are not in a position to exercise some of the rights and benefits ordinarily associated with nationality for so long as they are children. This is a feature highlighted by a leading expert on children and nationality, Jacqueline Bhaba 2 , in her article on “The importance of nationality for children”, Institute on Statelessness and Exclusion, 2017:
- British citizenship and British citizen children
- British citizenship and Union citizenship
- Dual or multiple nationality
- 39. But there can also be disadvantages of having more than one nationality. As a dual citizen, a person is bound by the laws of both countries. Dual citizens may be legally obligated to fulfil military obligations in one or both of the countries of nationality. In some countries there are employment security clearance hurdles for persons who have another nationality. There is also the potential for double taxation. Further, there is the potential difficulty for persons seeking to rely on the opportunity to exercise their rights and benefits as a national of one country, that they have available a separate set of rights and benefits flowing from their other nationality. This last feature is one we will have to consider further in the context of this appeal.
- Specific legal framework
- “Exceptional circumstances
- Section 55
- Statutory provisions and Section 117B(6)
- The Immigration Rules
- Policy
- Case law
- disruption
- Private life
- The appellant’s case
- The Immigration Rules: Appendices FM and FM-SE
- Article 8
- Public interest considerations
- The position of the sponsor
- The option of the children joining the sponsor in the UK on their own
- The option of the sponsor returning to Sri Lanka
- status quo ante
- or the appellant and children being able to live in the UK
- The best interests of the children
- The appellant’s position under the Rules
- Zambrano
- [2012] 1 CMLR 45