Please Help Save our Family!

Soryn · December 11, 2014

My wife posted this to help save our family... You can read it at the link below:

Http://donation-tracker.com/u/The_Kelly_Family

Or continue reading it on here... The link above can be used to donate.

Our Story

I, Chantelle, met my now husband, John in 2012 through a Yoville page we worked on together for fun. We got talking and became good friends. John kept throwing out hints of how he would swim across the sea just to be with me, etc, etc..

Finally, in 2013, I said yes and we began a relationship through Facebook until John could save enough money to come to the UK. In December 2013, John finally had the enough money saved to make the trip. He packed up his clothes and left America and left his house, a great job, his car and all he owned behind. He gave up everything to be with me and the children.

The 18th December 2013 John arrived in the UK and I went to meet him at the bus station. Of course, I was the happiest I have ever been and nervous at the same time! I couldn't believe he had actually left everything behind and travelled thousands of miles just to be with me!

On 29th December 2013, I came downstairs to a lovely set up made by John. He got on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was over the moon, happy tears! We then started to save for our marriage. We've scrimped and scraped all we could and finally saved enough money to get married. The 3rd April 2014 I became Mrs Kelly! It was the best day of my life!

I have two children who now call John “Daddy” and love him dearly. Jake, 3. Kirah, 2 and Mason, 8 months who will also come to call him Daddy. John was there all throughout the pregnancy and for Mason's birth only a week after our wedding.

John came to the UK on his passport and had 6 months until he had to go back to America. We decided we were going to apply for a Visa for John in June (Just before his 6 months ran out). Again, we had to scrimp and scrape to find the money to pay for the Visa. We ended up selling a few things I had here to get the money as we were living on just £40 a week from April 2014.

July 2014 came and John received all of his information back from the Home Office in the post along with a letter stating that the payment had been declined by my bank account and John would have to apply again. We then found out they had put in the wrong details so decided to apply for the Visa again via a different payment method.

They asked for more documentation, which we happily provided, he had his fingerprints taken, biometrics scan and everything else they asked for... and more just in case. We haven't heard anything from them until now; 11th December 2014. John received all of his information back in the post along with a new letter.

John, myself and the children were all very excited as we thought that our work had finally paid off! Once John opened the letter our excitement vanished...

John's Visa had been refused! After waiting and waiting for 6 months, this was the outcome. Not only that, but the end of the letter states that John does not have the right to appeal against their decision. The decision made was based on an assumption they made which was incorrect.

Since then, John and I have been doing everything in our power to get the help we need. We've searched Google, called TONS of numbers, been redirected to different numbers, etc., etc.. No luck...

The children are under social care who have stated that if John gets deported, my children will be taken away from me and put into social care. They believe I can't handle three children on my own because I suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder. Not only that, but if John gets deported, he will be homeless with nothing since he left it all behind nearly a year ago to be with me.

We found a law firm on Google for immigration purposes and contacted them. They've explained that they can help us, but it will cost £2500 to do so and £601 on top of that for them to re-apply for the Visa for John. They've stated that if we pay that, they can fight for us in court and they will do everything for us from the beginning. We did try other firms, but they all wanted to charge us between one and two hundred pounds per hour just to discuss the case with us.

We don't have this kind of money! I'm on benefits and John came here with very little money and this was nearly a year ago now. What little money John came with went on our family needs! Due to his immigration status, he is legally unable to work and not entitled to receive any public funds.

We are now reaching out to whoever we can, anyone possible! Neither of us have any family or friends who can help us in any way, shape or form. We wouldn't need to ask for this if the government didn't stop all free legal aid for immigration cases. Our case should be protected under section 8 of the human rights act, we just need a lawyer to help us fight our case and right to remain together as a family.

All we want is for our family to stay together and not be ripped apart by an uncaring agency.

I know this is a big ask and it's very close to Christmas, but please, if anyone could help by donating as little as just £1 towards legal and application fees, we will be very grateful! We NEED to make this money urgently, by the 5th of January at the latest.

Thank you in advance for the support given by all donors! You can see how much we have raised towards our goal of £3101.00 on the left side of the page below our family photo.

If you feel you can help us in any other way, please contact us at:

[email protected]

Please share our story by clicking the Facebook logo on the left or by clicking the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://bit.ly/1zcnDGs

Chantelle and John Kelly (Soryn)

UPDATE: 12/12/14 Due to our situation, the lawyers have decided to lower their fees to make it a new lower goal of £2201 instead of £3101!

UPDATE: Our local paper has published a story on us despite getting a few things wrong. But this should quell any doubters. http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-family-faces-broken-Christmas-visa-row/story-25706113-detail/story.html

Updated December 14, 2014 by Soryn

Rook · December 11, 2014

I'm very sorry to hear about this.

I hope you reach your goal and keep the family united!

Good luck!

Soryn · December 11, 2014

@@DiDA Thank you so much for this and your donation! Every little bit counts at this point!

Updated December 11, 2014 by Soryn

Gh0stByte · December 11, 2014

to believe or not to believe

Soryn · December 11, 2014

to believe or not to believe

the choice is yours... It is the truth and i do have the proof to back it up... But there will always be those who doubt regardless of proof.

Rook · December 11, 2014

Thank you so much for this and your donation! Every little bit counts at this point!

You're welcome!

Gh0stByte · December 11, 2014

the choice is yours... It is the truth and i do have the proof to back it up... But there will always be those who doubt regardless of proof.

What's the proof?

Soryn · December 11, 2014

What's the proof?

The denial letter from the Uk Home Office... Doesnt get any more official than that... But i'm not willing to publicly post that... Would have to be private on request for obvious reasons.