Trainee GP, 27, facing deportation to Taiwan reveals Home Office is reviewing case

Mu-Chun Chiang, 27, has lived in the UK for over 13 years but, her application for a new visa was rejected

A trainee GP who faced deportation to Taiwan over an ‘admin error’ has won the right to stay after health secretary Matt Hancock intervened in her case.

Last week Mu-Chun Chiang, received a letter from the Home Office stating her visa renewal had been refused and she should leave the UK immediately.

Mu-Chun, 27, has lived in the UK for 18 years and is currently training to be a GP in Liverpool.

Her friend Mina Mesri launched a petition to rally support behind her which attracted more than 40,000 signatures and prompted Matt Hancock to intervene.

On Twitter this evening, he said: ‘Deeply upsetting saga for Mu and her loved ones. I’ve taken Mu’s case up directly with the Home Office & I’m delighted to report Mu’s visa issue has been resolved.’

The Home Office confirmed the U-turn, telling The Guardian: ‘Following reconsideration of this case in light of additional evidence supplied by Ms Chiang, we have now contacted her to confirm her leave to remain.’

Her application trouble began on August 22 when the Home Office requested her to prove that she was self-supporting.

Despite having a sponsorship certificate from Health Education England, she was asked if she had at least £945 in a bank account over the 90-day application period.

Dr Chiang  has lived in the UK since 2006, when she moved to Cambridge from Taiwan to study, but has now been told to leave the country by the Home Office (pictured)

Dr Chiang  has lived in the UK since 2006, when she moved to Cambridge from Taiwan to study, but has now been told to leave the country by the Home Office (pictured)

Mu-Chun Chiang (left), 27, and her friend Mina Mesri (right), set up a petition calling for her to be allowed to stay in the UK

Mu-Chun Chiang (left), 27, and her friend Mina Mesri (right), set up a petition calling for her to be allowed to stay in the UK

On Twitter this evening, he said: 'Deeply upsetting saga for Mu and her loved ones. I've taken Mu's case up directly with the Home Office & I'm delighted to report Mu's visa issue has been resolved'

On Twitter this evening, he said: ‘Deeply upsetting saga for Mu and her loved ones. I’ve taken Mu’s case up directly with the Home Office & I’m delighted to report Mu’s visa issue has been resolved’

While the balance on her current account had fallen below £945, between £500 and £800, she claims she had more than this amount in her savings account.

However, she only submitted the current account statements, as she believed the threshold only needed to be met at the end of each month.

The Home Office rejected her application, but Mu-Chun appealed within days, with statements proving her savings account did have enough money in it.

Worried friend Mina Mesri, 26, started up an online petition to rally support and persuade the Home Office to overturn their decision.

Set up four days ago, the petition has received more than 38,000 signatures from well-wishers, and the Home Office has now confirmed they are reviewing the case.

Mu-Chun said: ‘I feel really overwhelmed.

‘Initially when I got the letter I was in a bit of shock.

‘I texted my friend and said ‘I’m screwed’, but she’s a quick thinker and set up the petition to help me in any way she could – she’s been really great.

‘I’m very thankful to the British public and can’t believe it to be honest.

‘It’s made a difference because the Home Office said they’re reviewing my case based on ‘exceptional circumstances’.

‘I don’t know when they’ll get back to me but at least this is a first step..’

Originally from Taiwan, Mu-Chun came to the UK with her family when she was five-years-old, and lived in Glasgow for five years, where her parents studied.

Mu-Chun Chiang (left) as a child playing in the snow in the UK. She has now been asked to leave the UK

Mu-Chun Chiang (left) as a child playing in the snow in the UK. She has now been asked to leave the UK

She returned to the Far East when she was ten but moved back to the UK when she was 15, where she sat her GCSEs and A-levels at The Leys School in Cambridge.

She later moved to Liverpool to study medicine at the University of Liverpool and afterwards completed an MA at The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Mu-Chun said: ‘My first application was misunderstood.

‘I made it clear that I had enough in my savings account but they rejected it anyway.

‘My first letter told me to leave right away and threatened things like if I worked I could be detained, imprisoned and thrown out of the country.

‘I understood that they might not know I had a savings account, but I thought it was disproportionate that they wanted me to leave the country based on a small administrative error.

‘They must have a target of applications to reject – it’s just red tape bureaucracy.

‘They don’t handle applications on a case by case basis.’

Mu-Chun Chiang (pictured as an infant) has lived in the UK since 2006, when she moved to Cambridge from Taiwan to study, and before that had lived with her parents in Glasgow between 1997 and 2002

Mu-Chun Chiang (pictured as an infant) has lived in the UK since 2006, when she moved to Cambridge from Taiwan to study, and before that had lived with her parents in Glasgow between 1997 and 2002

Despite receiving support from fellow physicians and the public, Mu-Chun said her case is just one example of similar circumstances other migrant workers regularly face.

She said people in her position are being treated ‘inhumanely’.

Mu-Chun said: ‘Most of the consultants have been really supportive and said they would be able to produce a letter saying they’re supporting me.

‘I’ve received a lot of support from colleagues and medical directors in my old hospital as well.

‘But I think a lot of migrant workers have been treated unfairly and it’s inhumane to people who’ve lived her all their lives and worked hard to get where they are.

‘It makes me sad to think how many other people this is happening to and whose cases have been refused.’ 

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