“It’s the sickening stress of never quite feeling like you have roots. My marriage feels like it’s on probation, conditional to whether the government puts a stamp on the next renewal. It’s the constant uncertainty that makes me ill,” Felix King said.
King, 31, an IT worker, wants to adopt a child with her American wife, Tessa, 29. But the impact of the home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “earned settlement” immigration plan means the couple, who live in Cheshire, fear they will never get the chance.