A former head of the Army has called for the Home Office to use greater discretion when considering the immigration cases of foreign and commonwealth soldiers who have disciplinary records.
General Sir Mike Jackson has now spoken out about the rules appearing to be too tight.
It follows the case of a Fijian man who has been given two weeks to return to his country despite serving more than a decade in the British Army, and having a British family.
Isimeli Baleiwai, known as Bale to his friends, served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Northern Ireland. But because he got in fight with another soldier and was disciplined by his commanding officer, the Border Agency refused his application to live in the UK. They equate it with a criminal conviction.
