Posted on 09/10/2009 6:38:39 PM PDT by stan_sipple
A 19-year-old Canadian must wait two years before she can return to the United Kingdom to be reunited with her husband after a law meant to protect vulnerable young women from forced marriage helped tear them apart.
The newlyweds have become the unintended victims of changes to British immigration law meant to discourage Britons and their families from bringing young, unwilling brides from overseas and forcing them into often abusive marriages.She entered the country on a six-month visa with plans to leave again a month later, but she fell in love and decided to marry and begin a life in Wales.
The couple applied to the British Home Office for permission to marry a month before her visa was to expire and got the go-ahead about a week before the deadline, after authorities caused delays by losing their passport photos. They did not actually marry until two weeks later, which meant the bride technically overstayed her visa.
She could have returned to Canada to apply for a spousal visa and move straight back to Wales, but just four days after the pair married in November, immigration rules changed, increasing the minimum age for a spousal visa from 18 to 21.
The British government passed the Forced Marriage Act in 2007 as a human rights measure, aimed at giving family and civil courts some power to protect thousands of young women – the majority from Pakistan and Bangladesh – from being married against their will.
The new visa age restriction came later. It means Rochelle Wallis will have to wait until 2011 to return.
The British Home Office said her illegal status at the time of the wedding is the official reason Wallis was not allowed to stay.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
They should have already had their application for spousal-visa in... and demanded their right to no ex post facto law!
(But, then again, this is Britain...)
>I think this kind of thing is why “no ex post facto” laws are specifically stated in the Constitution.
Sadly, I don’t think Congress even cares about Ex Post Facto law, here’s why:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dv698tm_22dr6x3nfb
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.