On a wing and a prayer, churches pilot UK immigration
April 17 2009 by Gareth McConnell
The Evangelical Alliance, the largest body serving evangelical Christians in the UK, is cross with UK immigration.
Last month, US singer/ songwriter Don Francisco was turned away from the pearly gates of UK visa control and sent back to America when immigration officials didn’t believe the Christian musician was in town to perform for free at a concert in Dorset.
In another incident, a group of volunteers from churches in the USA were rounded up, and like lambs to the slaughter, deported stateside because their temporary UK work visas, required under the new points based system, had not been processed on time.
“Some of the problems we have seen are due to churches not being aware of their new responsibilities, while on other occasion’s immigration officials have wrongly banned people from the country because they haven’t understood their own rules,” said Daniel Webster, from the Evangelical Alliance.
The series of unfortunate plagues has prompted Mr. Webster to set forth a few commandments to the rest of the flock.
“Churches and others who want to bring people over need to find out how to abide by these.”
“While drawing up our guidelines for the new system, it became clear that the Border Agency hasn’t taken into account the way Christian activities work in practice.”
Charitable donations promoted by un-paid visiting entertainers and volunteers is one area that needs to be clarified by the UK Border Agency.
“We are hoping to obtain greater clarity from the Border Agency to help churches fully comply with the regulations, but in the meantime we are advising churches to read our guidance and be aware of their responsibilities under the new rules,” said Mr Webster.
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