Two Durham University academics given just days to leave the country will be allowed to remain in the UK after the Home Office reversed its decision to deport the couple following huge public outcry.
Dr Ernesto Schwartz-Marín and Dr Arely Cruz-Santiago had been issued a 14-day notice to leave the UK following an apparent breach of their visa.
The couple spent nine months in Mexico between 2014 and 2015 after they were given a grant by the government-funded Economic and Social Research Council, where they developed a DNA database to help record the thousands of people who are missing as a result of the country’s war on drugs.
But the Home Office rejected Schwartz-Marín’s application for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK on the grounds that he had spent too much time outside of the country during his visa period.
Speaking to HuffPost UK earlier this month, Schwartz-Marín said he and his wife were being punished “for doing our jobs”.
“We are being punished for fulfilling our job descriptions and that’s absolutely wrong,” he said.
However, the Home Office has now U-turned on the decision, giving the couple – who have lived in the UK for more than 10 years with their 11-year-old daughter – indefinite leave to stay.
A government spokesperson said: “Following a review of the initial decision, Mr Schwartz-Marin has been informed that the applications of him and his wife for indefinite leave to remain have been approved.”
The move comes after an online petition slamming the impending deportation as “unfair” was signed 70,000 times, while a crowdfund for the couple’s legal costs raised more than £22,500.
The online petition read: “Their case is very distressing on a personal level, but it also sets a dangerous precedent for other non-UK academics working in universities and doing humanitarian fieldwork abroad.”
Joylon Maugham, the barrister who launched the legal challenge on the couple’s behalf, told HuffPost UK he was “delighted the Home Office has seen sense in consequence of a very vigorous campaign, and that those contributing to life in the UK such as Ernesto, Arely and their daughter will allowed to stay”.
“But this success - happy for them - leaves untouched the real problem of thousands wrongly forced to leave the UK because they don’t have access to expensive lawyers and publicity.”