Academic studying India to be deported for long visits... to India

Historian ordered to leave after spending 'too many' days abroad researching archives for Oxford University

- Diane Taylor

A high-achieving academic has been threatened with deportation from the UK because the Home Office says she has spent too many days conducting her research requiring access to historic Indian archives stored in India.

Manikarnika Dutta, 37, a historian, conducted the research as part of her academic commitments to the University of Oxford, which involved studying archives in cities in India and attending a series of international conferences.

According to Home Office rules, people who apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK based on long residency of 10 years or more can be abroad for a maximum of 548 days during a 10-year period prior to applying for indefinite leave. Dutta was away for 691 days.

Along with a rejection of her right to continue living in the UK based on the number of days abroad, the Home Office rejected her right to remain in the country on the basis 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 south London.