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TONGUE-TIED!
19 May 2008
Kiwi may be deported as she hasn’t proved that she can speak English - even though it’s her first language
By Jon Surtees
A New Zealander from the Borough could be deported because the Government thinks she can't speak English - despite the fact it’s her first language!
Rebecca Cheatley, a Kiwi who lives in Trinity Church Square, has been in the United Kingdom for six out of the last eight years and now works as a regeneration specialist for government body The Environment Agency, making sure the London Olympics and the Thames Gateway regeneration schemes are ecologically sound.
Before moving to the UK, she completed both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in her native New Zealand - both of which were taught in English, also the native tongue of her Pacific homeland.
Despite this, the British government has now rejected her application, bizarrely claiming that the fact she has achieved a degree higher than the conventional Bachelor's level does not prove she can speak English - a key requirement to be accepted by the 'Highly Skilled Migrant Programme' (HSMP) for which she is attempting to be accepted.
Under the programme, Ms. Cheatley must earn a set amount of 'points' by proving she earns a good salary, has a decent education, is of a suitable age and has good enough work experience to contribute to the British economy.
However, the very fact of her high quality education has now seen her rejected for the HSMP scheme because government officials claim her Master's degree could have been achieved in just one year, whilst a Bachelor's must take at least three. What they haven't accounted for is that it is impossible to achieve a Master's degree without first earning a Bachelor's.
Ms. Cheatley has appealed the decision and now faces a nervous wait to see if she is allowed to remain in the country.
Incredibly, the system she is battling against has recently been changed so that applicants from New Zealand are automatically passed on the English language requirement. However, because she submitted her application in March - before the new system was in place - she has to be considered under the old rules.
The case has attracted the support of North Southwark and Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes, who this week said: "For the Home Office to turn down a Southwark resident for Highly Skilled Migrant Status on the grounds she did not meet the English language requirement, when her native language is English, cannot be right.
"I am taking up this case with the Home Office and hope that they will urgently realise the nonsense of this part of their decision."
The ‘News’ contacted the Home Office but received no response at the time of going to press.
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http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/00,news,10468,440,00.htm
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