UK forced marriage rules mean Canadian teen must return home

A nineteen year old woman is facing fifteen months of separation from her husband after immigration rules put in place to stop forced marriages make her an unintended victim.

Canadian, Rochelle Wallis, was threatened with deportation for over staying her visa. She was due to fly from Heathrow Wednesday night. Nineteen year old Rochelle married her husband, Adam, 28, in November of last year, four days after the new rules were brought into place. Rules that were enforced intending to protect young Asian women from being forced into arranged marriages. Mrs Wallis had been informed that, because her visitors visa has expired, she cannot remain in the UK. Due to her age she cannot apply for a visa as the wife of a British citizen because she is too young, she must be twenty-one to apply for it. That rule applies to all non Europeans who marry a British citizen but who are under the age of twenty-one. Rochelle Wallis has said that the Home Office is "ripping my marriage apart". She said, “It's not right, there should not be an age limit on when I should or shouldn't get married and fall in love because… it just doesn't feel right." She also said she was "heartbroken". Adam Wallis, her husband, an electrical technician, said that their situation was "insane". While the couple would be allowed to live together in any other European Union country, an application by Mr Wallis to live with his wife in Canada would only allowed for a six month visa. Mr Wallis has recently found a well paid job in his home, Wales. He is planning to travel to Canada to see his wife. While the Home Office says that the benefits of the rules in preventing forced marriages outweighs the burdens, MPs have appealed to the Home Secretary saying Mrs Wallis should be allowed to stay. Mark Williams, Liberal Democrat MP of the Wallis's constituency said that couple's predicament was, “an appalling example of a well intentioned law causing unintended consequences.” Rochelle and Adam Wallis first met two years ago in Canada and after that kept in touch via the Internet. Last year Rochelle came to visit Adam last March at his home near Aberystwyth, Wales. Despite having a six month visa, Rochelle intended to stay only a month but they fell in love. They decided to marry and stay in Wales. Their application to marry was submitted to the Home Office more than a month before Rochelle's visa ran out. Due to delays caused by authorities apparently losing their passport photographers, the permission only came through days before Rochelle's passport expired leaving no time to arrange a wedding. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Lin Homer made this statement, ""Mrs Wallis was not asked to leave the UK because of her age — she was refused permission to stay because she was here illegally, having overstayed her visa. "Our rules are absolutely clear — if you do not have a valid visa you must leave the UK. Mrs Wallis has voluntarily agreed to go home, avoiding the need for us to enforce her return. "The minimum age someone can apply for a marriage visa has been raised from 18 to 21, but this has nothing to do with Mrs Wallis' case. “We raised the spousal visa age to protect young people being pressured into marriage. Forced marriage leads to victims suffering years of physical and mental abuse, and we are determined to do all we can to stamp it out.” On July 24th this year Digital Journal's Chris Dade highlighted the start of the couple's plight.