“Just seen a sign in the CoOp........Wanted non English speaking,illiterate farmer for immediate start in Evington.........any takers?”

“Two words for you all. Employment Law. Was this illiterate man with no right to work in the UK really the best candidate for a job at the end of a fair and transparent recruitment process? I doubt it. If you know where this woman works, I suggest you apply for work there - they clearly have jobs available. If you don't get a job, I reckon you might just have a discrimination claim...... and actual discrimination claim, not the kind this woman thinks she has.”

“It does all seem very odd. If as stated
"Mrs Chapti .... was granted British citizenship six years ago. She has only been able to visit her husband once in that time because all her spare cash has been spent on legal fees and visa applications."

This implies the legal battle has been going on for some time?

If not, why did they wait until this new requirement of speaking English came into effect to apply for him to come here ?
Or did he apply before and have his application turned down ? If so, why ?? Are they now just latching onto this requirement as being the sole problem ???

A more, in depth, article is needed, I suggest.”

“In another article it does state that she earns £400 a month but has to pay £525 a month in rent plus sends money back to india so she must be on housing plus concil tax benefits also you have to pay into the system for at least 30yrs to be entitled to a state pension, which neither will have unless by a miracle and it also stated that if they win this it will pave the way for not only her husband but her kids”

“To be fair, Praetorian66, the article does make it clear that Mrs Chapti works -in fact she has two jobs- and as such is not "dependant on state benefits" with "no prospect of contributing to the UK economy" as you state. I presume she pays taxes and NI contributions like anyone else.
She claims her husband will do likewise if he comes here as he "can work in the same factory". She obviously has not made much effort to learn English herself in the six years she has lived here (perfectly legally, as far as it seems)and in other national newspapers her husband is quoted as saying not that he cannot, but that he WILL not learn English, as he has 'no need to as many people in Leicester speak Gujurati'. The article also says he left school aged nine and is only semi-literate in his own language.
It would be very interesting to hear from Mrs Chapti's employer(s) as to whether he really does have a job waiting for Mr Chapti here as she claims. Any chance of interviewng him, Leicester Mercury?”

“@jeggsie - I am going to make several assumptions, one being that you are a UK citizen by birth, another that as such you speak perfect English and another that you are able to support your wife yourself. So as your birth rite you should be (are) free to marry whom you so wish and, as such, I feel you have a more valid right to succeed in your attempts to have your wife join you, you are a UK national by birth, she (your wife) can speak English to and presumably above conversational levels, as do you, and will be capable of securing employment.

That said - I'm sure if you wanted to, there's nothing to stop you from joining her in Moldova until such time that you can secure a valid Visa (but that's a separate issue)

On a case by case comparison, Mrs C isnt a UK National by birth, has resided (apprently somewhat dubiously) here for some time without bothering to learn English, she appears to be dependant on State Benefits, she has no prospect of contributing to the UK economy, her husband also does not speak English and has made little attempt to learn, will also be dependant on State Benefits and has no prospect of contributing to the Economy.

Personally, send Mrs C to join her husband and replace her with your wife!! It makes the most Economic sense!”

“I recently married to a girl in Moldova. We have some issues with the UK stance about the English test. This test is not available in Moldova! I asked the question of how to fix this issue and was told by an advisor in the UK visa department that she would have to go to another country to take the test. This seems somewhat absurd to me. We have enjoyed a relationship that spans 31 months and considering I do not speak the Moldovan languages of either Romanian or Russian the only other way of communicating has been in English. Two and a half years! My wife's English is good enough to enable us to understand each other...enough to get married and understand what that commitment means. We speak to each other via skype and sms messages pass between us daily...so far over 1200 messages via text and many,so,so many hours on the internet via skype. The UK stance is discrimination to those that do not have access to test centre for this test. Seems the UK government didn't think this through to give all a fair chance. I hope that Mrs Chapti has the success she deserves. David Cameron has "bashed on" about family values and yet such a law is passed that simply deletes that right for many people. So sad.....I will keep trying to get my wife and family into the UK however long that may take and however much it costs.”

“The Daily Mail tracked down the husband and reports that he says "It's racist to bar me from your country!"

Speaking to the Daily Mail in his remote village, he said he could easily 'get by' without English because there were many Gujarati speakers in Leicester.

He also said his human rights had been breached in a 'disgraceful way' by rules introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May.

This sounds more like an organised political campaign than the story of a simple farmer wanting to join his wife in the UK.”

“@@ Rajjan

Have you considered the possibility that perhaps Cllr Mayat, a Keith Vaz associate, is quiet because he doesn't know much about the case and might have just got pulled in as a gujerati interpreter??”

“UPDATE:
Mrs Chapti, who has been married for 37yrs and has children aged 18 - 36yrs, apparently moved to the UK with her parents from Malawi on a 'British Protectorate' passport..... Allowed to immigrate with her elderly parents, presumably, as their carer/dependent - but she must have neglected to tell the immigration dept about a husband and 6 children in India who will want to join her after she becomes British!

HOW and WHY was a married woman living in India for over 30yrs allowed to immigrate with her parents from Malawi - after all she was 48yrs old at the time and, from the marriage and children's births, permanently resident in India for 37yrs?

If she was still entitled to her old british passport, shouldn't she have had applied to enter UK from her country of residence i.e. India?

And how is it possible for someone to have retained british protectorate status when she was permanently resident in India, an independent country, for over 30yrs?

The Home Office should ask Mrs C and councillor Mayat a few critical questions before they use the human rights act to open a floodgate.”