An Indian historian is facing the risk of deportation from the UK after the Home Office determined she had spent too much time overseas conducting research. Manikarnika Dutta, 37, travelled to India to study archival materials and attended international academic gatherings, fulfilling obligations tied to her role at the University of Oxford.
The Home Office enforces a rule limiting time spent outside the UK to 548 days over a ten-year period for those seeking indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Dutta’s time abroad amounted to 691 days, exceeding this threshold. Many researchers have encountered similar difficulties due to the nature of their work requiring prolonged periods in other countries.
Beyond this, her application was also turned down on the basis that she did not have a strong family connection in the UK, despite living with her husband, Dr Souvik Naha, for over a decade. Naha, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, successfully secured ILR, but his wife’s application was refused.
Dutta, currently employed as an assistant professor at University College Dublin, has previously conducted research at Oxford and Bristol. She initially moved to the UK in 2012 on a student visa before later switching to a spouse visa through her husband’s global talent status. Her legal representatives have argued that her research trips were essential and should not have impacted her immigration status.
After her ILR request was rejected last October, she requested an administrative review, but the decision was upheld, and she was instructed to leave the UK or face a decade-long re-entry ban. A legal appeal has been launched, prompting the Home Office to reconsider her case within three months. However, the final outcome remains uncertain, raising concerns about the UK’s ability to support and retain distinguished academics.