Debbie slams Home Office’s ‘systemic failures’ that cost Saddleworth woman her ‘dream job’

‘Systemic failures’ by the Home Office in processing Saddleworth resident Iryna O’Reilly’s UK Spouse Visa have caused her to lose out on her dream job.

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, raised Iryna’s case in Parliament by making a Point of Order and asking the Speaker to advise her on how the Home Office could be held to account for taking five months to resolve a process that should – by its own standards – take eight weeks.

After raising the Point of Order, Debbie said: “The way the Home Office has treated Iryna is appalling but, unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence.

“In fact most of my dealings with this department are about overdue decisions that have a devastating effect on those who are left waiting for unreasonably long periods of time.

“The damaging affects of these delays on ordinary people, like Iryna and her husband Matt, is unacceptable and the Government must act quickly to ensure that the Home Office improves its performance, especially given the number of EU citizens who have already applied to stay in the UK following the EU referendum.”

Iryna, who is originally from Ukraine and has lived in the UK for 16 years, married her husband Matt O’Reilly in September last year and applied for a UK Spouse Visa in October.

The Home Office acknowledged receipt of her application and said they would reply within eight weeks. They didn’t. In fact it took five months for the decision to be made.

As a result Iryna, who studied law at Manchester University from 2007-2010, and has qualified as a barrister and recently as a solicitor, lost her ‘dream job’ that she was due to start in January 2017. Her potential new employer held the post open for as long as they could but, after two months of waiting, said they had to fill the post.

Iryna told Saddleworth news: “As a result of the systematic failures by the Home Office our lives have been placed on hold since October last year when the application was made.

“We have been unable to enjoy being newly married, unable to go on our honeymoon and the constant delays and lack of any communication from the Home Office have also resulted in me losing the opportunity to take up my dream job.

“Had the Home Office made their decision within the eight week deadline they set themselves Matt and I could have moved on with our life and I could have continued with my career. Not to mention the fact I would also have been paying taxes and National Insurance contributions since the beginning of 2017.

“I have worked for 10 years to get the qualifications I needed to work as a solicitor.

“I don’t understand why the Government allows a decision process to be unnecessarily dragged out preventing a person from working and contributing to society.

“I’m astounded as to why, or how, it could possibly take five months to consider a case like mine, and how my solicitor’s, and my MP’s, requests for action have been completely ignored.

Debbie Abrahams MP – Point of Order raised in Parliament

“Because of what has happened in my case it is paramount for me to raise awareness of the inadequacies of the Home Office and the whole immigration system so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, was sympathetic to Debbie’s Point of Order, referring to her as a ‘persistent parliamentarian and campaigner’, saying: “I do understand the very serious concern that the honourable lady feels.

“Responses should be timely and substantive.

“There is nothing more infuriating than hearing absolutely nothing and finding that one’s follow-up letters or emails or telephone calls are simply ignored. It is both deeply dissatisfying and also, frankly, somewhat discourteous.

“I would very gently say in the direction of ministers that I’ve come to know the honourable lady over the last few years and she’s a very persistent parliamentarian and campaigner so if people think she’ll go away that is an extraordinarily misguided view. There isn’t the slightest prospect of that happening.

“The honourable lady will keep burrowing away on behalf of her constituents until she receives a response and rightly so.”

Iryna’s husband, Matt O’Reilly, said: “I’m incredibly proud of Iryna and the way she has fought for her rights against the Home Office and even had her case raised in the House of Commons by our MP, Debbie.

“She’s fighting for all the people who are so unjustly treated by the Home Office who don’t seem to care about anyone’s basic human rights. The right to be with your family life, your right to freedom, your dignity. All of these have been taken away from Iryna over the last five months but she has never given in.”