A grandmother who was confronted with deportation to South Africa despite investing all her savings in her British farm shop has won her fight to stay here.
The case of Cheryl Robins, 61, was emphasized this week by the Daily Mail, while the pressure at the home office was exerted by her MP to destroy the ruling.
“I am absolutely ecstatic and can't help to smile,” said Mrs. Robins. “It means that I can travel to see my children and grandchildren in South Africa and in Dubai without the fear of not being admitted to the UK.”
Mrs. Robins's husband Mike, 65, has a British passport, but her renewal of the marital visa was rejected on the basis of the fact that the couple did not pay new rules in which an applicant must have a saving of £ 88,500 or earns a salary of at least £ 29,000 a year.
But as the mail noted, the Robins had invested around £ 90,000 in their farm shop in Abbotsbury, Dorset, and she has not signed a salary, as a means to grow the company.
Yesterday's home office was taken about humanitarian rather than financial grounds.
The local Liberal Democrat MP, Edward Morello, who recorded Mrs. Robins's case with the Minister of the Interior Yvette Cooper, said: “I am happy, but it is a travesty that it took so much time, money and stress for her and her family before common sense prevailed.”
The Robins originally came from Zimbabwe, but left in 2003 to settle in Durban, South Africa.
Cheryl Robins, 61 (photo) was confronted with deportation to South Africa after her visa renewal was rejected after she was deemed to comply with financial rules
Mrs. Robins and her husband Mike. She invested £ 90,000 in their farm shop in Abbotsbury, Dorset and has not signed a salary to grow the company
After he had become disillusioned by the crime, Mr. Robins came to Great -Britain in 2019 to work as an engineer for the London Underground, which saves enough money to become the sponsor of his wife.
After reaching the financial threshold, Mrs. Robins got her visa and bought an old Butchers store in Abbotsbury, which they started to renovate.
In recent months they added a café area and looked forward to making a win this spring and summer as soon as the tourist season starts.
But when it comes to renewing Mrs. Robins's visa, she was rejected and she was confronted with returned to South Africa, which she described as a 'death sentence'.
“The crime in South Africa is terrible,” she said. The country has one of the world's highest murder figures. “Now it feels like a dark cloud has been lifted and Mike and I can hopefully continue our lives,” said Mrs. Robins.
'Unfortunately we offered the store for sale because we just have to collect as many savings as possible, so that we no longer have to go through this within 30 months.
'I am Mr. Morello and the Daily Mail so grateful and all those who supported us. The relief cannot be described '.
