THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
American comedian Abigoliah Schamaun was living the American Dream – in London. She had met and moved in with the love of her life, cultivated her successful stand-up comedy career and created life-long friendships; she considered London her home. "I'd take London over New York any day," she says, "although the pizza here could use some work".
In 2019 Abigoliah and her British partner Tom were shocked to find that Brexit meant Brexit, even for non-Europeans.
When Abigoliah began the process of applying for a Partnership Visa, she had no idea of the struggle that lay ahead. As neurodivergent creatives, Abigoliah, who has ADHD and Tom, who has autism, buckled under the weight of the enormous amount of paperwork required.
"I still consider myself one of the 'lucky' ones," she says. "My friend is a lawyer and agreed to help me for free. I needed £3k to apply for the Partnership Visa, and Tom and I had to compile five years' worth of evidence of our relationship – everything from our tenancy agreement and bank accounts to early text messages we sent one another (we had to censor a few of those!)".
She admits she lived in fear during a limbo period of over 12 months: "The US was no longer home for me; I was committed to my partner in the UK – we shared not only a relationship but financial commitments together, plus the career I had been building up for five years has taken off here in the UK. I was terrified I would have to leave. Previously, there was a 'loophole' that meant so long as I left the UK every three months, my Visa would renew. I've been to 10 countries in 5 years - just in order to stay in the UK! I think that shows commitment – although the Judge called it cheeky (but it's certainly NOT illegal).
"87% of Partnership Visa applications are accepted – but mine wasn't - I was devastated."
Unwilling to give up, Abigoliah went to appeal. "I used the Article 8 Human Rights Act – this option is currently in jeopardy and potentially won't be available soon. I fear for those people who won't have access to this avenue of appeal in the near future.”
Abigoliah and Tom started the Visa process in January of 2020 and by December of that year she still didn’t know if she was allowed to stay. It was terrifying and stressful. She admits what she has dubbed 'The Quest For The Holy Visa' was a dark time for her.
Still, her ability to find humor even within the nightmare of bureaucracy and red tape got her through – it even inspired her new show at Edinburgh Fringe: Legally Cheeky!
See Abigoliah's TikTok clips (over 10 million views) and more at
abigoliah.com
Catch her at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Get tickets HERE
