Bright has spoken about the family’s struggle to cope with escalating living expenses, visa renewal fees, and particularly the immigration health surcharge payments cost for migrants residing in the UK for over half a year. “They’ve put up the immigration charges, health insurance used to be around £300 per year,” Bright said, detailing the financial burden.
“It’s gone all the way up to around £1,800 per person, per year. Think about me who’s got a family of five. If I add visa application fees and lawyer fees it brings everything to up to around £26k”, reports the Manchester Evening News. “The visa expires in 12 days so we need to at least put in an application the night before. At this stage we just don’t have the money to do that.
“The target is to get enough money to get the whole visa thing fixed to give us some peace of mind. The idea that there is a possibility of being kicked out after six years of work has drained all the peace out of me. It takes a huge toll on you, honestly.”
Before opening, Taste Africana used to be known as Home Food UK, an online takeaway operating from Cynthia and Bright’s kitchen at their home on Glebe Street, after the couple moved to the area in 2021 to raise their young family. A former maths teacher, Cynthia was the first to suggest going into the hospitality industry when she was on maternity leave and realised she wouldn’t be able to go back to work as a teaching assistant and look after their children.
She started Home Food UK, which was a big success. With two masters degrees and a career in the NHS, Bright also took the leap to support Cynthia in running Taste Africana. Bright said: “In the worst case scenario we will be asked to leave the UK. We’re going to be given 60 days to leave if we’re lucky. Then, where do you start from? Flight tickets are so expensive. I’ve got a business that I’ve built here, we can’t sell that overnight. Are we going to leave it behind and just move? You can’t sell a business overnight or sell all the things inside it overnight. Where does that leave you? I can’t even think about it.
“The reality kicked in when I realised I’ve got a little over two weeks left. Miracles can happen but I’ve tried everything within my capacity and I’m just stuck. It’s a difficult place to be in. It’s difficult to be thriving and make some impact and then all of a sudden not being able to move because all these barriers have been placed around you.
“We are currently on the post study visa, so it means I’ve done a higher education course. I’ve finished that course and now I’ve been granted to remain in the country to find my feet, get a job etc. That’s what I’ve done essentially. Education alone as an international student costs an arm and a leg and that’s all to guarantee some sort of economic stability so you can be productive in the system. All of a sudden your wings are clipped because of your immigration status.”
A Home Office spokesperson stated: “Our visa fees have been informed by the principle that those who use and benefit from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating it, reducing the level of UK taxpayer funding that would otherwise be required.”
