This is a personal, immigrant’s perspective on Saturday’s unity marches and rallies against the far right.
When Yeshi arrived in the UK on a fiancé visa in 2011 (pictured), he did not face barriers or hostility. Opening a bank account and securing housing here was relatively straightforward. Finding long-term legal stability in Britain was also cheaper and faster.
By 2015, Yeshi had started his own business, acquired British citizenship and become a UK passport holder.
But the legal, administrative and political landscape has become increasingly restrictive and punitive in the years since. Minimum income requirements to sponsor a foreign spouse have risen sharply, pricing out many families altogether. As for accessing public services and housing, the Immigration Acts of 2014 and 2016 introduced a barrage of checks and constraints that stymie recent arrivals at every turn.
Yeshi and I opened our restaurant, Taste Tibet, in 2020. Several years later, we brought Chefs Nyima and Pema to the UK through the skilled worker scheme.
But as of 2025, chefs – along with more than 100 other occupations – are no longer on the list of roles eligible for sponsorship from overseas. We would love to grow our business, but the window of opportunity for recruiting Tibetan chefs from outside the UK has now closed.
In the meantime, neither Nyima nor Pema enjoy Indefinite Leave to Remain status just yet. We are watching changes in the political landscape with concern. If Reform UK gains power, ministers plan to follow Trump’s lead by calling for mass deportations, including the removal of Indefinite Leave to Remain for many people who have every right to live and work in Britain.
As a people-facing, immigrant-run business, racism affects us, and shifts towards prejudice and exclusion are discernible.
Thank you to everyone in our community who marched peacefully on Saturday. Thank you for embracing us, our food and our culture, and for standing for unity.
The restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday. Here are our full opening hours:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it. Come by for dine in/take away or to restock your freezer. We also have a new batch of sepen chilli oil.
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Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
☏ 01865 499318
Do you have the Taste Tibet cookbook? Grab it here or please take a minute to leave a review.
