Thought Leaders Series: 2018
This government is discriminating against ethnic minorities by stealth. We have just gone through the Windrush saga, but in May this year they technically placed a tax on people with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, through the introduction of guidelines which enforces the use of a biometric system. The cost of processing this document is between £300 – £900, depending on how quick you need it. Also, you will need to pay this fee every time you obtain a new passport.
According to the Home Office:
“The new requirement for an endorsement to be in a current non-EEA passport does not apply to cases where a pre-employment check was conducted before the 16th May 2014 if you still work for that employer. However, the new provisions of 16 May 2014 will apply to those individuals who have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in an expired passport and change employers after 16 May 2014. If you have obtained your new passport, you can now apply on the No Time Limit form (NTL).”
According to Grace Natalia a victim of this unjust policy, the following issues come to the fore:
“1. The government has issued a set of guidelines to employers without first considering those people who have obtained an Indefinite Leave to Remain prior to the introduction of BPR. In practical terms taking away the Right To Work of those people by listing a set of valid documentation enforcing those documents to be the ONLY valid documents which (in practical terms for the Right To Work) invalidates older but valid documents issued by the Home Office itself.
- The guidelines fail to include valid documents that an individual in my circumstance has. As far as I have been informed, that document continues to be valid documents. However in the eye of an employer, due to the guidelines, those documents are no longer valid, making the individual unable to obtain an employment.
-
There is no set of guidelines for employees. People seeking for work are forced to review guidelines for employers instead.
-
It continues to use the word ‘RECOMMEND’ for the transfer of one’s indefinite leave to remain onto a biometric residence permit. In practical terms, this recommendation is actually a mandatory requirement to enable the individual to exercise his/her existing Right To Work, as without this an employer cannot carry out a valid check, making the individual unemployable.
-
By introducing BPR, you are enforcing people to pay a fee for a document to re-instate the Right To Work already given by the Home Office.
-
By introducing BPR that has a validity for 10 years, you take away the INDEFINITE leave to remain and forcing the individual to again pay a fee to renew the document.
-
From talking to people with ILR who have gone through the process of obtaining a BPR, it took them 6-12 months.
I consider this to be an unfair treatment and not only it puts a burden on the individual, it also indirectly puts a burden on the State. A more comprehensive system needs to be looked into that avoids such removal of existing rights.”
I believe this either a problem of poor policy making, or just another racist policy from this Tory government. History has shown that people of ethnic minorities, even though poorer per capita have often been taxed unnecessarily— hence the term, “the black tax”.
I need you to raise this with your local MP, people with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK are being denied jobs as we speak because of this evil policy.
This is a social justice issue. When will injustice against the poor and marginalised stop?
Reachout | Revive | Recover
http://www.healingsprings.org.uk
Healingsprings fellowship: Human Capital Development
Healingsprings fellowship 