Chapter five-the next big deal

knut marriage to Tamara offered many benefits.It was possible to transform his student status to one based on his new marriage..It was a happy marriage from the beginning .knut stayed together with Tamara and her 16-year old son in a tree-room apartment in Bandhagen ,in the south of stockholm.

However , economic difficulties led to marital breakdown which forced him to move once again after three years. Sylvia had applied for a divorce .Knut moved to Vårby Gård and rented a room in a three-room apartment from Samba, a young man from Gambia in the south of Stockholm.He stayed there for two years after which he got his a contrakt for an apartment in Huddinge .

In the face of their separation,knut’s next application to the immigration authorites to extend his stay was delayed. According to the laws of the country a foreigner who has permission to stay can only continue to stay stay if the marriage continues. Knut received a letter the high court saying that Syliva’s divorce application had been granted which implied the end of the marriage after five years. Knut’s continued stay with an was sitll uncertain when he was invited for an interview by the immigration authorites.

In the course of the interview ,he was informed by Svante,a young immigration officer that his application for extension could only be granted if the cause of the end of his marriage was violence from one his partner or if he had started a new relationship.However,knut fulfilled neither of these conditions.

“However there was another way out,” Svante said. “You are being granted permanent residency because of your of your special connection to the swedish society as a worker who after two years employment is considered established on the labour market. “