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Pinoy Abroad

UK hospital appeals to save Pinoy worker, family from deportation


 

Photo from 38 Degrees petition
Photo from 38 Degrees petition

A Filipino hospital worker and his family are facing deportation from the United Kingdom for claiming child benefit for his son which he said was an innocent mistake, according to a BBC News report.

Paul Ermitano, 31, a cardiac physiologist at Poole Hospital, said in the report that he has since repaid the £1,138 he mistakenly claimed.

Still, the UK Home Office refused to extend his and his wife's work visas.

Ermitano's wife, Jamila, who is six months pregnant, is a nurse.

The Home Office said Ermitano is ineligible for benefits because of his visa conditions.

The couple's case prompted Ermitano's colleague, Dr. Ben Neate, to put up an online petition at 38degrees.org, a non-profit political-activism organization in the UK.

"Home Secretary Sajid Javid should extend the stay of this family so they can safeguard the delivery of their unborn baby and continue their vital work for our NHS," the petition read.

In the petition titled "URGENT ACTION: Save Poole Hospital NHS staff from deportation," Ermitano is described as "a highly respected cardiac physiologist."

According to the BBC report, Ermitano was recruited to the UK in 2015 to help fill a shortage of cardiac physiologists.

A Home Office spokesperson said in the report that the couple's visa application is already being "reconsidered." —KBK, GMA News

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