Best recourse to family's immigration in an extremely difficult situation (domestic abuse & insane NHS bills)?

[anonvtic]

Asking for a friend who urgently needs all the support she can have in this insanely difficult personal time.

A friend of mine is in the UK on a student visa (on Indian passport) which runs out sometime in Jan 2023. Her child was born severely premature on 9 March 2023 (i.e. 7 months old now) at just 22 weeks into the nominal 40 weeks gestation period. Since then, it has been a battle to save the baby's life, with multiple treatments and transfers between three specialist hospitals. After 6.5 months in various hospitals, the baby was sent home on oxy gen cylinders, but has a long continuing treatment plan drawn up, and has severe impairments.

This took a toll on my friend's marriage. Alcoholism consumed the baby's father, leaving my friend (the mother) to face the situation alone. The baby's father is in the UK on a skilled worker visa (on Indian passport), but they are now living separately. Sadly, the baby's father disowns any financial or physical responsibility. There have been multiple instances of physical abuse and violent behaviour by her husband, and she has had enough. Sadly, her family in India have also disowned her last year (for having married someone despite their protests), and are too poor to support her financially.

Each of the three hospitals have now sent bills for treatment charges, which run to an insane £128k (one hospital's bill was £103k). They sent the bill on September 29, and have sent a reminder letter saying that if the bill is not paid up, my friend shall be reported to UKVI, and mother and baby faces the possibility of deportation.

My friend's baby is in a precarious position, with Spam tank replenishments, eye treatments, surgeries scheduled etc ( a very long list). She is now depressed, and has tried to take her life once, but was talked out of it by the Police who turned up when the home nurse who replenishes baby's Spam tank suspected severe depression for the mother. There is no way that the mother can pay the NHS bill. She has had a UK bank account only very recently and has only £300 of balance, and is living in a friend's house. She earns pocket money by looking after her friend's child in addition to her own.

This is an overwhelming situation, and I wonder what can be done to help, even if its a long drawn out fight with the UKVI. My friend has only basic knowledge of English (at a minimal IELTS level to secure a UK student visa), but literally is fighting multiple fires, and I intend to do some of the bureaucratic work for her. I am assuming there are some charities who can provide good attorneys etc. I intend to seek help here regularly while we fight this out, and appreciate people's valuable pointers to help this family.

[anonvtic]

I understand that there is a mix of personal, financial and immigration-related matters in the background narrative, but it was important to provide the background.

Sticking to immigration-related questions for now:

1) Should the mother apply for a student dependent visa for the child?
2) Though the mother is against it, would it be more advisable to apply for a skilled worker dependent visa? If so, can the mother still continue with the custody of the baby?
3) Is it better off to apply for a post-study work visa for both the mother and the baby?
4) Will the mother's insufficient banking history & inaqdeuate account balance be a problem for issuing the visa?
5) The mother told me that a hospital admin staff told her about the possibility of backdating baby's visa so as to be covered by the IHS payment. Can the mother backdate the visa application (but which visa?) to cover the hospitalisation period? If so, how much can she backdate it by? What is the procedure to do this? Is there any precedent here?
6) Is there a fee waiver applicable for any visa category that the mother and baby become eligible for? In the past, I have seen something about possible immigration routes for domestic abuse victims or something related? Are there any other humanitarian grounds that UKVI can consider the mother and baby under?
7) The baby is somewhat fragile to travel to a biometric centre given the oxy gen tank and their general poor health (baby is just over a kg in weight now). Are there provisions to waive the biometrics requirement in case of serious physical handicaps or medical conditions?

[anonvtic]

Shall much appreciate it if moderators or other members could offer their valuable suggestions & thoughts.

[meself2]

there are some fee wavier policies, but not sure which route they can use to qualify (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... nd-refunds)
as she's on a student visa, I assume she might be able to use resources that her place of study offers (eg university immigration advisor, counselling service, etc), which could be a good first step
and overall this it a increasingly complex topic, so seeking professional advice on each issue is the best course of action here I suppose; search for charities/shelters in local area

[sam550]

It makes me sad, reading these sort of stories - it’s a long shout but why don’t you try to create gofundme for her ? World is still dominated by good people and maybe they can help her.

Regards

[anonvtic]

Yes. The gofundme shall help a bit for her living expenses, but not to the extent of ~£127k for the NHS bills. Can the bills be contested or a waiver be applied on humanitarian grounds? How do they enforce the payment of the bill? Will the child stop receiving treatments? So many questions.

[sam550]

Yes. The gofundme shall help a bit for her living expenses, but not to the extent of ~£127k for the NHS bills. Can the bills be contested or a waiver be applied on humanitarian grounds? How do they enforce the payment of the bill? Will the child stop receiving treatments? So many questions.

I’m sure if you reach out to Migrant Help, Women’s Aid Federation, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid, Refuge action, Right to Remain, Liberty Human rights etc I mean the list is endless - contact them and I’m sure someone somewhere will lead into a right path, may God make it easy for her and her kid, it’s heartbreaking.

Regards,

[ALKB]

I understand that there is a mix of personal, financial and immigration-related matters in the background narrative, but it was important to provide the background.

Sticking to immigration-related questions for now:

1) Should the mother apply for a student dependent visa for the child?
2) Though the mother is against it, would it be more advisable to apply for a skilled worker dependent visa? If so, can the mother still continue with the custody of the baby?
3) Is it better off to apply for a post-study work visa for both the mother and the baby?
4) Will the mother's insufficient banking history & inaqdeuate account balance be a problem for issuing the visa?
5) The mother told me that a hospital admin staff told her about the possibility of backdating baby's visa so as to be covered by the IHS payment. Can the mother backdate the visa application (but which visa?) to cover the hospitalisation period? If so, how much can she backdate it by? What is the procedure to do this? Is there any precedent here?
6) Is there a fee waiver applicable for any visa category that the mother and baby become eligible for? In the past, I have seen something about possible immigration routes for domestic abuse victims or something related? Are there any other humanitarian grounds that UKVI can consider the mother and baby under?
7) The baby is somewhat fragile to travel to a biometric centre given the oxy gen tank and their general poor health (baby is just over a kg in weight now). Are there provisions to waive the biometrics requirement in case of serious physical handicaps or medical conditions?

She urgently needs professional advice, showing all her paperwork, being able to give all details about her situation. Asking on an online forum is simply not adequate to teh situation.

A few thoughts:

Why is she on a student visa and not on a skilled worker dependent visa, which her husband appears to be on?

Has she taken any steps regarding receiving financial help from her husband? He can´t just simply decide that he is no longer responsible for his wife and child.

The child urgently needs a visa. Children born in the UK to foreign parents who are still subject to immigration control can receive NHS treatment free of charge for the first three months after birth. This is to give the parents time to apply for a visa for the child and along with that, pay the IHS surcharge, giving access to NHS treatment. Until the child´s stay is legalized, the bills are just going to get higher.

Understandably, she is in an exceptional situation and she was unable to cope with immigration paperwork or researching rules and regulations around it.

She needs legal advice. Also, ignoring the NHS letters will make things worse, talk to them and explain the situation. Talk to the CIB, talk to the hospital, they may have social services that can support her. Also get in touch with an NGO like the Southall Black Sisters, they (or similar organisations) are experienced in advising regarding domestic violence and immigration, although I suspect that her husband is also on a visa is limiting her possibilities.