‘This country has been our home’: US family in UK threatened with detention over visa mix-up

Tim and Christen Bass are barred from working and facing homelessness after indefinite leave application rejected by Home Office An American family who have brought their children up in the UK are facing the threat of homelessness and detention due to confusion over a Home Office application form. Tim Bass, a data and technology consultant, and his wife, Christen, an autism specialist, have lived in the UK since arriving on a skilled worker visa in 2019. The couple have lived with their two children, aged 10 and eight, in south London since then. The family’s problems started on 9 June last year when the Home Office rejected their application for indefinite leave to remain, which people on this visa can currently apply for after five years. It is unclear whether the application was rejected because the family used the wrong form to make the application or because the Home Office made an error in the way the application was processed. As a result the family are now on immigration bail, the parents are barred from working and have been threatened with detention by the Home Office. The family have been surviving on savings, which are almost exhausted, and say they may be forced to s