Home Office told Manikarnika Dutta to quit Britain for spending too many days abroad for study

Agencies LONDON

An academic, Manikarnika Dutta, 37, faces UK deportation due to exceeding the Home Office's 548-day limit for overseas research during her 10-year residency. An assistant professor at University College Dublin, previously at Oxford, her research required extensive access to Indian archives. She spent 691 days abroad, fulfilling academic obligations.  

The Home Office also rejected her right to remain in the country on the grounds  that she does not have a family life in Britain, although she and her husband have been married for more than 10 years, and live together in  Welling, south London. Her husband, Dr Souvik Naha, is a senior lecturer in imperial and post-colonial history at the University of Glasgow.

“I was shocked when I got an email saying I have to leave,” Dutta told the Observer. “I have been employed at different universities in the UK and I’ve lived here for 12 years. A large part of my adult life has been lived in the UK since I came to the University of Oxford to do my master’s. I never thought something like this would happen to me.” Dutta first came to the UK in September 2012 on a student visa and later, obtained a spouse visa as a dependent of her husband, who obtained a visa on a “global talent” route.

Her lawyer, Naga Kandiah, contended that  the research trips were "essential" for her academic work and visa status. In October last year she applied for indefinite leave to remain in the UK based on long residence. Her husband also applied. While her husband's similar application was approved, hers was denied, and a subsequent review upheld the decision, threatening a 10-year re-entry ban. 

 The review concluded: “You must now leave the United Kingdom. If you don’t leave voluntarily you may be subject to a re-entry ban of 10 years and prosecuted for overstaying.” Academic colleagues have rallied in her support. Kandiah has launched a legal challenge. The Home Office has agreed to reconsider within three months, leaving Dutta in a state of uncertainty.