Minsk to Mist

They are moving the goalpost for me after all… It’s not set in stone, but most likely – yes.

A couple of weeks ago, the Home Office announced pending modifications to the settlement scheme. Their proposal for immigration changes is now open for public consultation. (If, by any chance, you have 15 minutes to spare and would be happy to contribute to it, here’s the link) My gut feeling, though, is that the public consultation won’t change anything, not in my favour anyway, so we might as well summarise how my life is going to be affected if and when the changes come into force early next year.

• Instead of waiting for another 3.5 years to get an indefinite leave to remain, I’ll have to wait for another 8.5 years.
• OK, actually, maybe not that long. There is a very nice perk for those who can speak English at C1 level (and, let’s face it, I could nail C2). For the 30 years I have dedicated to learning, practising and mastering the English language, I can get… a 1-year reduction in the wait time!

Yipee, thank you very much!

• If I get a wage increase that would automatically put me in a different tax bracket (which would result in having less disposable income for me), I can get my 5-year waiting period back.
• If I volunteer (and I do), I can also get a reduction in the waiting time. What kind of reduction that would be and how much volunteering one needs to do to qualify for the reduction, remains vague.

I deliberately omit things like having no criminal record, paying taxes and NI contributions, not claiming benefits etc. because to me these were the default settings anyway. How could I stay on my work visa without paying taxes and contributing to the public economy? How could I get a criminal conviction in the UK without being deported immediately?

I’m not going to lie – I threw a tantrum at home the night of the announcement and pouted on those proposed changes for a few days. But after having switched to my analytical mode, I started pondering on what a move to a new country and integration into the society actually mean to me.

Getting a permanent settlement and a passport of your new homeland is, no doubt, the endgame. To me, it’s not about claiming benefits. I have been in employment since I was 19 years old. I have always worked, sometimes crazy hours, sometimes at the expense of my health and the time with my family. I was raised this way! Unless something terrible happens and I end up in a situation when I am physically incapable of working, I am not going to claim any benefits. To me, it’s about the country making a commitment to me after all the contributions I have made to its economy and to the community I live in. All I want is for the UK to eventually acknowledge me as one of its own.

But is that the ONLY goal an immigrant can pursue in their new homeland?

One of the pillars of the new ‘earned settlement’ scheme is integration. That’s the pillar I certainly stand behind. And it made me think that integration comes in so many different shapes and forms. Ones you can’t codify in an immigration scheme. Ones that don’t necessarily lead you to a passport. But these are the things that actually matter in life.

Building friendships with locals, ideally those who are not other expats from your own country.

Accomplishing something meaningful in your job, something your company relocated you for in the first place.

Understanding local jargon and embracing it.

Mastering the language and polishing your accent so that you are mistaken for a native speaker. (I have been mistaken for Irish so many times I lost count…)

Building a life with a partner you met here and with whom you managed to build a beautiful relationship despite all your cultural differences. (and all the things that freak him out about your ways)

Asking your retired customer if he could provide you with a reference for a new volunteering opportunity you are excited about and getting a response ‘I will be HONOURED to do so!’

Baking kick-ass mince pies that can only be rivalled by those made by my mother-in-law, a born-and-bred Brit.

I’m just a human being and not a politician. Which means for me, people come first, not politics. If you look at immigration as a system of KPIs, yes, a permanent settlement and a passport are the ultimate goal. But there are a lot of crucial milestones that truly show you are committed to your new country. When you achieve those and have many more to look forward to, waiting a bit longer or contributing more in taxes don’t really count as problems. 

And the Reform party is welcome to claim any benefits I could ever have been eligible for. Maybe it will help to actually raise those £350m per week for the NHS that were talking about during Brexit