Oxford historian faces deportation from UK for spending 691 days in India
ByHT News Desk
Mar 17, 2025 01:40 PM IST
Manikarnika Dutta, an Indian historian in the UK for over a decade, faces deportation after exceeding the allowed days abroad for research.
An Indian historian, who has lived in UK for over a decade, is facing deportation after the Home Office ruled she had exceeded the permitted number of days abroad while conducting research in India, according to a report in The Guardian.
Manikarnika Dutta moved to the UK in 2012 to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford(X/@Dmanikarnika)
Manikarnika Dutta moved to the UK in 2012 to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford(X/@Dmanikarnika)
Dr Manikarnika Dutta, 37, who has worked at prestigious UK institutions including the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol, has been denied indefinite leave to remain (ILR) due to her time spent outside the UK fulfilling academic obligations. Despite her work being integral to her field, the Home Office has ordered her to leave the country.
The case
Dutta moved to the UK in 2012 to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford, later securing a spouse visa as the dependent of her husband, Souvik Naha, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow.
Under UK immigration rules, applicants for ILR based on long residency must not have spent more than 548 days abroad over a ten-year period.
Dutta, whose research required access to historical archives in India, was away for 691 days.
“These research trips were not optional but essential to fulfilling her academic and institutional obligations,” Naga Kandiah, her legal representative at MTC Solicitors told The Guardian. “Had she not undertaken these trips, she would not have been able to complete her thesis or meet the academic requirements of her institutions.”
Despite her husband’s ILR application being approved, Dutta’s was rejected. The Home Office’s decision was upheld in an administrative review, which 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.”
Shock for the historian
“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 spent here since I came to Oxford for my master’s. I never thought something like this would happen to me.”
Her husband, Naha, expressed the emotional toll of the decision. “This has been terribly stressful for both of us. I sometimes give lectures about these issues and have read articles about people affected, but never thought it would happen to us.”
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