MV member & Director speak to The National about devastating impact of Home Office mistakes
» Press MV member & Director speak to The National about devastating impact of Home Office mistakes
On 2 August, The National published a story about the frequent mistakes made by the Home Office and the often devastating impact on people's lives. Journalist Kirsteen Paterson spoke to MV Director Nazek Ramadan and Colin Swinney, whose civil partner Raul Marchena Magadan was wrongly refused British citizenship, costing the couple £1330.
"This is just down to somebody who hasn’t looked at the right paperwork and ticked a box and said ‘no’," said. Colin. “If we’d taken it to a tribunal, he’d probably have won, but we didn’t know we could do that at the time. These people are invisible, you can’t get to them at all to speak to them and sort out what’s happening. It infuriates me.”
According to Nazek Ramadan: “We need fundamental reform of the Home Office, but we also need competent decision-making, and free, easy ways for people to get refunds, make complaints, and have decisions reviewed. These simple changes would save everyone money, time and stress – so why does it seem so hard to do?”