SCOTTISH businesswoman Ann Gloag is backing an Indian man who is facing deportation with his family.
Swarthick Salins may have to leave his Perth home after his savings dipped below the £800 minimum required by the UK Border Agency.
His appeal for a visa to stay was rejected last month by an immigration tribunal in Glasgow, as his account showed last September he was £78 short. Home Office rules demand people appealing to stay in the UK have at least that amount for three months before a visa application is made.
Mr Salins, 37, of Carnegie Place, said: “I feel this was very pedantic. After satisfying them with my degree certificate I hadn't expected to lose. I gave them every document I thought relevant and presented my accounts. I hadn't expected them to go through them with a fine-tooth comb as it counts for a small part of the application.”
He said his original application in October was rejected due to doubts over his academic qualifications. He had applied for a post-studies visa which would have allowed him to seek work with UK aid agencies.
He moved from Bidar, 100 miles from Hyderabad, nine years ago to do a PhD in health geography at St Andrews University. He moved to Perth eight years ago.
His studies and living costs were financed with a scholarship from the Balcraig Foundation, a charity set up by Stagecoach founder Ms Gloag to assist students from developing countries. In addition he worked as a care worker with Capability Scotland while wife Ranjana, 33, worked in a local Asda store.
If Mr Salins’s second appeal, to be lodged this week, fails he, his wife, and three young children will be sent back to India. He said his children Ruhaani, 6, Rabboni, 5, and Adonai, 3, have been brought up in Perth and attend a local school and nursery. “The worst thing is trying to explain to them why we’re getting booted out. My children are far more Scottish than they are Indian.”
Ms Gloag, who lives near Perth, said the decision was “perverse and ludicrous”. She said: “This judgment consigns a hard-working, law-abiding family, who have known no other life, to dreadful uncertainty. I have never heard of anything so ridiculous. And all over £80.”
A UK Border Agency spokesman said it is important migrants are able to support themselves and their dependants when they are in the country.
He said: “Allowing the entry of those unable to support themselves would have negative social consequences for the individual and for the UK.”
Mr Salins’ case has also been taken up by local MP Pete Wishart, who said: “This case is bizarre and ridiculous and only serves the purpose of undermining confidence in our immigration system.”