An Indian historian associated with the University of Oxford is facing deportation from the United Kingdom (UK) after her application for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) was rejected due to spending excessive time abroad on research trips.
As reported by MoneyControl, 37-year-old Manikarnika Dutta, an assistant professor at University College Dublin’s School of History, was informed by the UK Home Office that she had exceeded the permitted limit by spending 691 days outside the UK within a ten-year period – well over the allowable maximum of 548 days.
ILR, which grants individuals the right to live, work, and study in the UK without time restrictions and serves as a pathway to citizenship, was denied for Dutta despite her 12-year residence. Notably, she first arrived in the UK on a student visa in 2012 and later transitioned to a spouse visa following her marriage.
According to The Guardian, the Home Office also ruled against her on the grounds that she does not have a “family life” in Britain, even though she lives in south London with her husband, Dr Souvik Naha, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, whose ILR application was approved.
“I never thought something like this would happen to me,” Dutta told The Observer, reflecting on her long academic career at institutions including Oxford and the University of Bristol.
Her lawyer argued that her research trips to India were not discretionary but essential for completing her thesis and maintaining her visa status, stating, “Without these visits, she would not have been able to complete her thesis or maintain her visa status.”
After her administrative review was dismissed, Dutta received an official notice stating, “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.”
Her legal team has launched a challenge against this decision, and the Home Office is set to reconsider the ruling in the coming months.
