“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 dependant of her husband, who obtained a visa on a “global talent” route. According to her lawyer, Naga Kandiah, at MTC Solicitors: “These research trips were not optional but essential to fulfilling her academic and institutional obligations. Had she not undertaken these trips, she would not have been able to complete her thesis, meet the academic requirements of her institutions or maintain her visa status.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 