On Wednesday 3 November, Stephen led a debate in Parliament on adult dependent relative visas.
In 2012, the Government made significant changes to the immigration rules which made it harder for British nationals to bring their elderly parents or grandparents to the UK to care for them. Family members are only permitted to stay in the UK if they can demonstrate that they require a level of long-term personal care that their home country cannot provide.
Before the rule changes, thousands of applications for adult dependent relative visas were approved. In 2016, the Home Office reported that, in 2010, 2,665 applications for adult dependent relatives were successful. After the changes, in 2014, only 723 were successful. In 2017, the Home Office did not issue a single adult dependent relative visa.
Stephen led a Westminster Hall debate on this matter, to highlight the impact of this immigration policy on healthcare professionals in particular. He told the story of one doctor, a British National based in Birmingham, who came from India in 2004 to train as a GP. He lost his father to Covid-19 in India earlier this year. His 70-year-old mother wants to join him here, but is being prevented from doing so as she does not qualify for an adult dependent relative visa.
Speaking in the debate, Stephen said “there is no justification for forcing committed, dedicated NHS doctors to choose between their work and their home in the UK, on the one hand, and their deeply felt duty to their elderly parents on the other, to support and care for them in difficulty and in old age. Will the Minister commit today to review this unfair policy?”
You can watch Stephen’s speech, and the Minister’s response, below.