Race against time for Umeed Bakhsh to pay £8000 Home Office fee

Now, after securing the temporary right to stay in the UK, the future for the Umeed Bakhsh family – two parents and two sons who fled death threats in Pakistan – adds up to just two figures: £8200, the amount they must pay the UK Home Office to cling on to safety here, and 30 months, the time they’ve got to get it.

The clock is already ticking. Six weeks have gone by since Maqsood, Parveen and their teenage sons Somer and Areeb were granted “limited leave to remain”, which ends in February 2022.

The Christians fled their country of origin to find sanctuary in Glasgow’s Possilpark area, in fear for their lives after friends were killed and death threats were directed at Maqsood by Islamist extremists.

The local Church of Scotland kirk provided solidarity and sanctuary during a long period of anxiety and need in which neonatal midwife Parveen and data analyst Maqsood were forbidden from working.

The congregation, and the Kirk, were also instrumental in the public, vocal campaign to keep them here. It included two petitions signed by 94,000 people and attracted the support of Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn.

News of the reprieve made headlines across Scotland.

But now the clamour has died down, the family’s supporters have told the Sunday National of their anger and frustration at the financial hardship that is soon to come.

How, they ask, are the parents supposed to scrape together that amount of cash within that amount of time after such a long period out of work, and with two teenagers to provide for?

The gifted pupils, aged 16 and 14, achieved top exam grades and dream of careers in astrophysics.

Reverend Linda Pollock, the family’s friend, minister and campaign leader, wants the Home Office to cut the costs and rethink its treatment of vulnerable people. Short of that, she backs growing calls to give asylum seekers the right to work.

Somer Umeed Bakhsh with Deputy First Minister John Swinney

READ MORE: Teenage asylum seeker brothers granted 'limited leave to remain'

The Lift the Ban coalition, which includes the Scottish Refugee Council, says it is simply “wrong” that asylum seekers are left to live on £5.39 per day.

Research suggests changing that law – and bringing the UK into line with most EU nations – would benefit the economy by £42.4 million a year.

Though the Umeed Bakhsh family were granted temporary leave to remain on the grounds of the boys’ seven-year continuous residence in the UK, they had sought refugee status.

“Where are they getting £8000 from?” asked Pollock. “Every couple of years they’ll have to find thousands of pounds. It’s hard enough earning a living, and they’ll not be allowed to use their professional skills, they’ll end up having to take minimum wage jobs because they’ll need to retrain before they can do the jobs they’re really qualified for.

“The whole idea of ‘you can stay if you can pay’ really angers me. Our government is engaged in usury.

“People need to have the right to work. How else are they going to manage?”

Gurjit Pall, the family’s solicitor, told the Sunday National he “doesn’t really” understand the rationale behind the costs for visa applications.

According to government data, some charges faced by applicants are seven-times higher than the processing costs to the Home Office.

Pall, of Thorntons solicitors, says this “seems disproportionate”, and believes the route to permanent settlement for the Umeed Bakhsh family is “extremely harsh”.

“They would most likely by in the UK for at least 17 years before they could apply for settlement,” he said, outlining the need for regular reapplications to extend their temporary permissions.

Somer and Areeb in Possilpark. Photograph: Mark F Gibson

PALL says he has come across individuals who have applied for settlement after 20 years, only to be told to wait another 10.

“On the one hand, the family have been permitted to work and reside in the UK lawfully,” he said. “But on the other hand, they are subjected to potential changes to the immigration rules and the law itself, and potential increases to the Home Office fees for any subsequent applications. They will be subjected to finding accommodation, employment and creating foundations for their family to integrate further into British life, but at the same time be expected to have raised £8132 in time.

“It can be very difficult to get this figure.

“I have little doubt that they will all go on to make a positive contribution to Scottish life and indeed, to the British economy,” he went on, adding that “for this family to face the prospect of fees in excess of £24,000 for their next three further Leave to Remain applications seems disproportionate and unfair.”

Pollock agrees the family will “do something wonderful”. While his parents have chosen not to speak out themselves, self-described “Scottish boy” Somer says they have all “gone through a tough time”. Commenting on the temporary status, he described how “a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because the threat of deportation was always in the back of my mind”.

However, he revealed he was “disappointed” by the 30-month duration.

Pollock says that leaves little time for the adults to recover from the psychological cost of seven years spent living hand-to-mouth, without any power to better their situation.

“That long without work, you lose all confidence, all sense of worth,” she says. “For you to then sell yourself to a job interviewer is very difficult.

“There’s nothing fair about it.”

Photograph: Mark F Gibson

Despite being within an area of multiple deprivation, according to Scottish Government measures, Possilpark Parish Church helps support members like the Umeed Bakhsh family however it can.

It’s far from uncommon for them – the area is home to a sizable number of asylum seekers.

But the problem of helping friends meet such high visa costs with such regularity is, according to Pollock, “not sustainable”.

“We’re just ordinary, working class people who have given what we can,” she said. “But Maqsood and Parveen and the boys have given so much back to our church in service and care and concern and help – it would be impossible to quantify.”

David Bradwell, co-ordinator of Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees, helps congregations across religious lines cope with these issues. It’s work he loves, but a set of problems that make him “angry”.

Visa costs, he says, are “exploitative”. “It’s all about perceived economic value – if you’ve not got it, you’re not welcome. Your economic value is not your value as a human being.

“There’s a degree of anger and frustration and an incomprehension. We have a system that treats people with contempt, people are not believed – it’s all to show the government’s being strong against immigration, but this is a false economy.

“For congregations, raising so much money can be very difficult.”

The Home Office is reviewing its fees and has stated that waivers are available in some circumstances. A spokesperson said fees “are set at a level that helps provide the resources necessary to operate our border, immigration and citizenship system, to reduce the burden on UK taxpayers”, and all cases are treated on their individual merits.