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I am looking for any advice on my predicament as I am very worried about the future.
Outline of the situation:
I am an Indian citizen married to a British citizen and we have a British son aged 4.
I have a 2.5 year spouse visa which is expiring on 11th August.
I became very mentally ill last year while living in the UK, and my husband was not able to look after me and our son and still keep up his job. After consultation with doctors they agreed to release me from psychiatric care on the condition I go back to my home country (India) where I can be cared for round the clock by my parents until I recovered from my breakdown.
I am pleased to say that after some time recuperating in India I am feeling much better and ready to return to the UK. My husband came here at the beginning of the year to spend some time with me here and take me back to the UK. My son is also here. We thought we had plenty of time until 11th August to go back, until COVID-19 suddenly struck. We are still in lockdown here in Tamil Nadu, and there are no international flights operating in and out of India except the very limited 'evacuation flights' put on by Air India, which only go from Delhi and Mumbai so not really accessible for us. Even if we were to make it to one of these flights, Air India are stating that each passenger must have AT LEAST 3 months valid visa in order to travel. I do not. I only have a month and a half left on my visa. This effectively inhibits me from getting back to the UK , and the visa can only be renewed from INSIDE the UK.
It seems hopeless to me now. I am becoming ill again with the stress of all this, and have spent the last 2 days going round in circles. The consular emergency advice line which I called 3 weeks ago got me to someone in a London office who mentioned something about, "do not worry, even if the visa expires there are measures in place to issue you with a one-time-pass to enter the UK as we are aware that the covid-19 situation has ruined people's chances of getting back to the UK. You just need to contact the Entry Clearance Team in the UK nearer the time". This put me at ease at the time. He gave me a number to call when I was ready to fly. As time went on I got more and more anxious so I called the number and discovered what he had given me was just a general advice line that can not comment on specific cases, and charged £1.37 per minute. This sent me back into panic mode as it seems there is no way to reach the Entry Clearance Team in the UK to find out what he is saying is true or not. Air India have opened the booking system for the evacuation flights today and they are expected to sell out very quickly. I can not book myself on one of them due to not having 3 months on my visa. I am not able to reach anyone in the UK that can help me. The British High Commissions in India say they are unable to help as I am not a British citizen and that only the UK Visas and Immigration team in the UK can help me, yet they can not give me a number for them.
If anyone can help me to reach UK Visas and Immigration by phone or can offer me any advice on my situation I will be very happy to hear it.
Many thanks in advance.
Outline of the situation:
I am an Indian citizen married to a British citizen and we have a British son aged 4.
I have a 2.5 year spouse visa which is expiring on 11th August.
I became very mentally ill last year while living in the UK, and my husband was not able to look after me and our son and still keep up his job. After consultation with doctors they agreed to release me from psychiatric care on the condition I go back to my home country (India) where I can be cared for round the clock by my parents until I recovered from my breakdown.
I am pleased to say that after some time recuperating in India I am feeling much better and ready to return to the UK. My husband came here at the beginning of the year to spend some time with me here and take me back to the UK. My son is also here. We thought we had plenty of time until 11th August to go back, until COVID-19 suddenly struck. We are still in lockdown here in Tamil Nadu, and there are no international flights operating in and out of India except the very limited 'evacuation flights' put on by Air India, which only go from Delhi and Mumbai so not really accessible for us. Even if we were to make it to one of these flights, Air India are stating that each passenger must have AT LEAST 3 months valid visa in order to travel. I do not. I only have a month and a half left on my visa. This effectively inhibits me from getting back to the UK , and the visa can only be renewed from INSIDE the UK.
It seems hopeless to me now. I am becoming ill again with the stress of all this, and have spent the last 2 days going round in circles. The consular emergency advice line which I called 3 weeks ago got me to someone in a London office who mentioned something about, "do not worry, even if the visa expires there are measures in place to issue you with a one-time-pass to enter the UK as we are aware that the covid-19 situation has ruined people's chances of getting back to the UK. You just need to contact the Entry Clearance Team in the UK nearer the time". This put me at ease at the time. He gave me a number to call when I was ready to fly. As time went on I got more and more anxious so I called the number and discovered what he had given me was just a general advice line that can not comment on specific cases, and charged £1.37 per minute. This sent me back into panic mode as it seems there is no way to reach the Entry Clearance Team in the UK to find out what he is saying is true or not. Air India have opened the booking system for the evacuation flights today and they are expected to sell out very quickly. I can not book myself on one of them due to not having 3 months on my visa. I am not able to reach anyone in the UK that can help me. The British High Commissions in India say they are unable to help as I am not a British citizen and that only the UK Visas and Immigration team in the UK can help me, yet they can not give me a number for them.
If anyone can help me to reach UK Visas and Immigration by phone or can offer me any advice on my situation I will be very happy to hear it.
Many thanks in advance.
