Cheryl Robins,
61, has become a pillar of the Abbotsbury's community since moving to Britain
from South Africa in 2022 to live with her husband Mike, who is a UK citizen.
The couple
invested £65,000 of their savings into running a popular butchers and farm shop
in the Dorset village.
But their
idyllic life in the country has been thrown into turmoil after the Home Office
refused to renew Mrs Robins’ visa for her to remain in the country.
The mother and
grandmother now has until February 24 to submit an appeal and avoid being
separated from her husband and adult son.
If Mrs Robins
is not successful, she will be sent back to South Africa, a return she
described as a 'death sentence' due to the country's reputation for
consistently having one of the highest murder and rape rates in the world.
The business
owner had originally arrived to the UK on a 30-month spousal visa, but had her
renewal application rejected because she did not meet new financial thresholds
brought in last April.
As part of the
Government's five-point plan to curb migration, then home secretary James
Cleverley raised the minimum income normally required for British citizens to
sponsor a spouse visa from £18,600 to £29,000.
In her bid to
avoid deportation, she has asked her friends and family to record their own
experiences of violence in the country to highlight why it would not be safe to
return.
'We invested
all of our savings in the business and did a renovation on the shop. It is
showing a profit and pays all our bills,' Ms Robins said.
'But they
refused my visa because it's our own business - I'm not being paid a salary.
'In the
application they ask you 'could you go and live in South Africa?' and
technically I could so I said yes. But I don't have anywhere to go. We invested
in our lives here, I have got nothing to go back to. Daily Mail
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