The Home Office has admitted that officials made a mistake when a woman from North Lanarkshire was threatened with deportation.
Volha Merry was told that she could be deported back to Belarus if she did not leave the UK in early April.
But the case was later paused and reviewed.
Now an immigration minister has admitted the deportation notice was issued in “error”. Mrs Merry’s case will be assessed to establish whether she has a case for residency.
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The admission comes after weeks of chaos and controversy for the Home Office over the Windrush generation and immigration targets.
A number of politicians intervened in Mrs Merry’s case, including Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Government’s External Affairs Secretary, and Hugh Gaffney, Labour MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill.
In a letter to Mr Gaffney, immigration minister Caroline Noakes apologised for the mistake and said: “Mrs Merry applied for permission to appeal the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber on 10 January 2018 and 8 March 2018; both applications were refused.
“Following this refused application, Mrs Merry was served with an enforcement notice, advising her of the liability to removal from the UK on 4 April. The Home Office apologises for issuing this notice in error; it will now be withdrawn and the reporting conditions set upon Mrs Merry will be cancelled.”
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Mrs Merry married Scot Derek Merry in Belarus five years ago and they have a two-year-old daughter.
As Belarus is not in the European Economic Area (EEA), the couple moved to Ireland so the could become EEA residents.
This paved the way for Mrs Merry to be entitled to a UK residence card.
While in Ireland, Mrs Merry became pregnant and the couple returned to Scotland where she gave birth to daughter Milana in 2016.
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Mr Gaffney said: “The important thing is that this Coatbridge family will not be broken up, however this error suggests a horrifying level of either incompetence or indifference in the Home Office.
“This family chose to make Coatbridge their home.
“While it is wonderful news that they will remain together, something is clearly rotten in the Home Office. I have tabled questions to the immigration minister asking for a review to be conducted on how many of these bogus notices have been issued.”
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