“I was shocked when I got an email saying I have to leave."
A high-achieving academic faces deportation from the UK after the Home Office ruled she spent too many days abroad conducting research in India.
Historian Manikarnika Dutta carried out research in Indian archives as part of her academic commitments to the University of Oxford.
She also attended international conferences during this period.
Under Home Office rules, applicants for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) based on 10 years’ residency cannot have spent more than 548 days outside the UK in that time. Dutta was abroad for 691 days. Other academics have encountered similar issues.
The Home Office also rejected her application on the grounds that she does not have a family life in Britain, despite being married for over a decade.
She and her husband, Dr Souvik Naha, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, live together in south London.
Dutta, now an assistant professor at University College Dublin, previously conducted research at Oxford and Bristol.
She said: “I was shocked when I got an email saying I have to leave. 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.”
She arrived in the UK in 2012 on a student visa, later switching to a spouse visa as her husband secured a visa under the “global talent” route.
Her lawyer, Naga Kandiah, said: “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.”
Dutta applied for ILR in October 2024. Her husband’s application was approved, but hers was denied. An administrative review upheld the refusal.
The Home Office’s review concluded: “You must now leave the United Kingdom.
“If you don’t leave voluntarily you may be subject to a re-entry ban of 10 years and prosecuted for overstaying.”
Colleagues have rallied behind Dutta since her rejection.
Dr Naha said: “This decision from the Home Office has been terribly stressful for both of us. It has taken a psychological toll.
“I sometimes give lectures about these issues and have read articles about people affected, but never thought it would happen to us.”
Mr Kandiah has launched a legal challenge against the Home Office’s decision.
The department has said it will reconsider its ruling in the next three months, but it may still uphold the original decision. Until then, Dutta remains in limbo.
Mr Kandiah said: “My client’s case exemplifies how such situations severely undermine the UK’s reputation and its ability to attract and retain global academic talent – particularly at a time when strengthening international relations is crucial.
“If the UK genuinely seeks to position itself as a global leader in academia and innovation, it must foster an environment that is welcoming to top talent.
“Without such an approach, UK universities will continue to lose highly skilled PhD researchers in whom they have invested years of resources, expertise and funding.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is longstanding government policy that we do not routinely comment on individual cases.”
Loading ...