Home Office forces family to split after denying visa to newborn

The Home Office believes that the baby can continue to live in Jamaica with his mother's financial assistance from the UK

UK Home Office officials have rejected the visa application of a one-year-old boy forcing his mother, a British resident, to live away from her husband and their daughter in the UK.

Tiffany Elllis, 28, was born in Jamaica but has lived as a resident of the UK since she was 8 years old. She had gone back to the Caribbean state in January 2020 to get married to Zarren Ellis.

Unfortunately, instead of a short trip, the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic forced them to prolong their stay. The couple was also accompanied by their 5-year-old daughter Xianna, and were finally able to get married in August 2020.

Tiffany became pregnant again in September 2020, and was so sick that she could not leave Jamaica for the UK. She was hoping to get better and booked a flight to London so she could deliver her baby there, but her condition did not allow her to do so.

“They add that the baby’s life can continue as it is now in Jamaica with financial support from his mother in the UK.” So they’ve currently separated this woman, who has indefinite right to remain in the UK, from her older child & their solution is to… separate her from her baby
— Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley (@lottelydia) July 11, 2022

She had to remain in Jamaica until after she gave birth, but her husband and their daughter went back to London so the latter could start school again. Now, they have been forced to live apart for a much longer period.

The family was left with no choice as the Home Office had already refused baby Xien's visa application stating that he has an "established life" on the Caribbean Island.

In the refusal letter to the family, the Home Office wrote that the decision is "justified by the need to maintain an effective immigration and border control" and will not have "unjustifiably harsh consequences."

The Home Office believes that the baby can continue to live in Jamaica with his mother's financial assistance from the UK, per a report in The Guardian. The officials believe that a one-year-old only needs financial support from the mother and not her love and care.

"There's not a day goes by that I don't cry about this.... the whole situation is so heart-breaking. How can I explain this to my daughter? She thinks I've abandoned her," said Tiffany Ellis.

"I've never been apart from her before. Xien tries to hug his dad on the screen when we do video calls. I just want to get Xien home before his health worsens," she added.

The baby boy has a kidney condition and needs specialist paediatric treatment but it is not available in Jamaica. The family has been running from pillar to post to get reunited, but to no avail so far.