A Brazilian mother and father have been left distraught after being told by the Home Office that their young children have no right to stay in the UK and should return to Brazil alone.
Guilherme Serrano, 11, and Luca Serrano, eight, have spent most of their lives living in the UK with their mother, Ana Luiza Cabral Gouveia, a senior NHS nurse, and father Dr Hugo Barbosa, a senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Exeter.
But, while the parents can continue living and working legally in the UK, the Home Office have sent a letter saying the children have to return to Brazil.
Although Guilherme is only 11, it warns him that staying in the UK illegally could lead to him being detained, prosecuted, not being allowed to work or rent and having his driving licence taken away from him.
Gouveia said: “I could not in a million years have seen this coming from the Home Office. This letter from them makes me feel as if my kids are criminals. Since I came to the UK in 2019, I have worked for the NHS, paid my taxes and done everything correctly.”
The children do not read or write in Portuguese, nor do they speak the language fluently, according to Barbosa. He added: “The Home Office is saying, ‘Let’s just kick two happy, healthy children out of the UK.’ Going back to Brazil would disrupt their emotional and social stability. The children are already experiencing anxiety due to the uncertainty about their future.
“Guilherme has a place at a grammar school, which will be lost. If my ex-wife and I were still together, none of this would have happened. It seems that the Home Office don’t like divorced couples.”
The family’s difficulties with the department have arisen because the parents divorced a couple of years after arriving in the UK. They remain on amicable terms and co-parent 50/50.
Gouveia and the children arrived in the UK as dependants on Barbosa’s visa but, after the divorce, she secured a new skilled worker visa in 2022.
Barbosa was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2024, something Gouveia is not yet eligible for as she has only been on her current visa since 2022. Currently, people on skilled worker visas must wait five years before applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
According to Home Office rules, both parents should be granted settlement at the same time, or be settled or a British citizen, unless one parent has sole responsibility for the upbringing of the children, which is not the case here.
In a refusal of permission to remain in the UK letter sent to 11-year-old Guilherme, a Home Office official states: “I am satisfied that there are no serious or compelling reasons to grant you settlement.”
It adds: “I am satisfied that you could return to Brazil and continue your education in Brazil where you would have the option to attend an English-speaking school.
“Whilst this may involve a degree of disruption in family life this is considered to be proportionate to the legitimate aim of maintaining effective immigration control.”
It also states that the need to maintain immigration control “outweighs the possible effect on you”.
Gouveia said: “I have always felt so proud and happy to be working for the NHS. Why are my innocent children being treated like this?”
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
