Dear Gordon Brown,

It was with great sadness and, frankly, annoyance that I read about your latest idea to try to stop the influx of what can only be described as the scourage of society - the immigrant. You have plans to change immigration laws for anyone outside of the European Economic Area. While many pundits and legalese types debate these changes with regards to "non-whites" or, as my xenophobic stepmother-in-law might put it "those people", the truth is you catch a great deal of "whites" or, as I'm led to read between the lines, "people who we're not targetting but are caught in the net anyway".

Like myself.

I came to your country 4 years ago under a Highly Skilled Migrant visa, which I qualified for and paid for myself. From the day I stepped foot out of Heathrow I have been working, without cessation. I have been working on projects that contribute to British society and British businesses.

I pay taxes. In fact, I pay the highest amount of taxes as set forth in your country's finances. I pay as much in tax as the average millinonaire should do, only I'm not a millionaire and they're more clever than I am and have ways of hiding their money from you. I pay council tax, to the tune of £200 a month, for which I occasionally get my bins emptied (although not at Christmastime, when my binmen cannot be bothered). I pay utilities and car/home/health insurance. I pay car tax to use your roads and a TV license to watch your BBC. I have a UK driving license. I pay a fortune to take your public transportation to get to other parts of the country, for which I am rewarded with tardy and overcrowded trains. I own a house here, or at least the bank does and I thoughtfully remember to pay them every month. I got to pay a ransom in stamp duty to buy said house, as well. I have a British partner and two half-British children who have British passports.

I moan about the weather. I eat my sprouts with my sunday roast. On Boxing Day I get my walking shoes on and go for a walk like the rest of the country. I avoid conversation on the tube like everyone else and can order a pint with a joke back to the barkeep. I know not to book a chimney sweep during wedding season and I have learned the difference between an A-level and an O-level. I watch Last Night at the Proms and can even sing God Save the Queen, even if I know it as My Country Tis of Thee. Heck, I even recycle.

I wonder, then, why it would be necessary to prove I am "integrated into British society". Apparently, the above aren't enough to prove it. I already learned how difficult it was to prove I speak English, I can't wait to go through that one again (you are reading this letter in Farsi, Mr. Brown. Congratulations, I had no idea you were so adept.) I now need to look into enjoying charity work and being involved in my local community. I'm very excited about both options, especially as the full-time working mother of soon-to-be 5 month old twins means I have bags of spare time.

You already moved the goal posts on me once. Previously I only had to be here 4 years to get indefinite leave to remain or citizenship. Now it's 5 years, a horrendous increase in price, citizenship tests and proof required that I'm "an active citizen" - for both indefinite leave to remain and citizenship! There is nothing to be gained by not trying for citizenship now, and a huge investment of time and money (I can't seem to find consistent info, but I think £1000 is a little steep, personally). And speaking of cost, apparently now the price is higher for immigrants with children. My twins and I thank you from the bottom of our wallets.

It's funny - I get the impression that you don't want me here, Mr. Brown. I'm not sure what I did wrong, on the whole I think I contribute to society here, and further I actually genuinely love living here. If this is a concern about me or people like me "taking advantage of services reserved for British subjects", then let me assure you, I have not nor will I be on unemployment. Not only because I will seek active employment immediately should I lose my job, but because according to my visa I have no recourse to public funds so I don't use them.

More and more I feel unwanted and, frankly, despicable if the government arguments are to be believed. I hear Women's Hour on BBC 4 - Women's Hour, the bastien of calm and level-headedness! - talking about "British values". The disgraceful and disgusting BNP shove leaflets through my door describing how vile immigrants are to society as a whole. I'm often tempted to tell them that just because I am white doesn't mean I don't represent that which they loathe.

It's apparently what you loathe, too, Mr. Brown. I want to seek British citizenship over indefinite leave to remain so that I too can have the same citizenship as my children, and the three of us will be dual citizens of America and Britain. I want to seek British citizenship so that every three years I don't have to perform like a poodle to get another visa. I want to seek British citizenship so that when I pay my taxes and walk my dog in National Trust lands and ride the public transport infrastructure I'll feel like I have a right to be there, and that I can represent these things to the best of my ability.

Like many others, I would like to be a British citizen.

Britain just doesn't want us, apparently.

I'll show myself out, and I'll wipe the doorknob as I go, so not to leave any smudges from my grubby immigrant hands.

Sincerely,
Helen Adelaide

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 08:01 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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