I, for one, had no idea that the lady who so perfectly graced the first Roxy Music album was Chris Jagger's wife.

MODEL APPLICATION
Sir, My wife, Kari-Ann, who is Norwegian, has lived in the UK for 74 years but is now being asked to apply to the EU settlement scheme, so to support her application I have uploaded a picture of Roxy Music’s 1972 debut album, Roxy Music, as she is featured on the cover. I wonder if this is admissible evidence?

Chris Jagger
Mudgley, Somerset

Related article, also from the Times:

[www.thetimes.co.uk]

Roxy Music model fights to stay after 73 years in UK
Kari-Ann Moller, who is married to Mick Jagger’s brother, must apply for EU residency

Looking up seductively from a rumpled sheet in a satin-frilled minidress, Kari-Ann Moller set the tone for an album that would transform pop music.

Her appearance on the debut album by Roxy Music in 1972 not only impressed music fans of the time but may now influence whether she is allowed to stay in Britain.

The former model, who has lived in the UK for all but the first ten months of her life, was stopped by immigration officials this year and told that she was not allowed to remain because she had a Norwegian passport.

The threat of expulsion has prompted her husband, Chris Jagger, brother of Sir Mick, to help her apply for settled status by uploading a copy of the album cover to demonstrate how long she has lived in this country. He was so irritated that he wrote a letter to The Times, which is published today.

Mrs Jagger, as she is now known, gave up modelling in her twenties to become a yoga teacher. But she had already changed cultural life in Britain. In 2018 The Sunday Times celebrated the rerelease of Roxy Music’s self-titled debut as “the album that transformed pop”.

It noted that executives at Island Records had mixed feelings about releasing the experimental work by Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno.

Chris Blackwell, the label’s founder, forced the issue when he was so beguiled by the image of Moller that he asked: “Have we signed them up yet?”

Her face also graced the cover of Mott the Hoople’s 1974 album The Hoople and she appeared briefly in a scene in the 1967 Bond spoof Casino Royale, in which David Niven was the spy with a licence to kill.

“The whole thing is an absolute nightmare,” she told The Times. “There is a risk that I may not be able to come back in if I go away. It is crazy because I don’t even speak Norwegian.”

Mrs Jagger’s story begins in 1947 when she was born in Arendal, a small city in southeastern Norway. Her father was a Norwegian airman who met his British wife while serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Her mother longed to return to Britain and brought her daughter to live in Cornwall. At the age of 17, when her modelling career was just taking off, Moller needed a passport urgently so she could take up an assignment in New York for the Mary Quant fashion label.

She found that the quickest way was to get a temporary passport from the Norwegian embassy by citing her father’s citizenship before securing a full passport.

She married Jagger 44 years ago and has lived in Britain for 74 years. Between them the couple have five sons, aged 38 to 50 — two from her previous marriage, on

She only encountered a problem with her passport when she arrived at Bristol airport in March after a break on the islands of Madeira.

An immigration official stopped her at his booth to ask her how long she had lived in Britain. When she told him 74 years, he replied: “Well, there’s nothing to show that you live here at all. You’re going to have to sit here with a policeman while I go up to the offices to find out what to do.”

She was released after an hour and told that she could remain for only three months, during which time she could apply for EU settled status. Although Norway has never been in the EU, it is part of the European Economic Area and is regarded by the Home Office as if it were an EU member state.

“The three months are up now,” she said. “I don’t know if I can go out of the country and see my aunt in Norway. As you can imagine, to be taken aside, having been in this country all my life.”

Mr Jagger, a musician like his brother, said the situation was ridiculous. “Brexit — the whole thing is a disaster,” he said. “You’ve got a government department spending time and money on dealing with this nonsense. I just wonder how many other people are in a difficult situation like this.

“The whole online process has taken me eight hours so far. I uploaded her earlier Norwegian passports and as a bit of a joke I uploaded the Roxy Music cover. She did quite a lot of these things.

“At the time, Roxy Music was quite an unknown band and she was quite a well-known model.”

He said there should have been an abundance of evidence of her living in Britain. “If they don’t have any evidence of her being in the UK, you wonder what kind of computer they have,” he added. “It couldn’t pick up her national insurance number or her NHS number or her marriage certificate.”

An official at the Home Office said: “Border Force officers routinely carry out passport checks on passengers arriving in the UK. We are in contact with Ms Jagger and assisting her.”

Government policy states that Norwegians may apply for settled status if they have lived in Britain for at least five years before April 2021 and have “reasonable grounds” not to have applied before the deadline of June 2021.

Mrs Jagger said that she had been asked to supply “further information” to support her claim. Her husband has not yet uploaded her stills from Casino Royale, in which she faced Orson Welles in an intense game of baccarat.

Nothing to see, here. It’s a perfectly simple procedure that all E.U. Nationals resident in the U.K. prior to the exit have you go through. Though, hang on? Isn’t it a little different for Norwegian citizens, as Norway is only in the EEC? Anyway: considering she’s been resident in the U.K. since the age of 10 months, I’m a little surprised she didn’t naturalise. Oh, well. Suck it up and play by the rules!

Oh, FFS! But if she has to return to Norway for a bit, I’m sure IORRians can make her very welcome.

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SomeTorontoGirl
Oh, FFS! But if she has to return to Norway for a bit, I’m sure IORRians can make her very welcome.

Well, she wouldn’t have to. However, I thought there was a deadline to apply under your the ‘settlement scheme’ She’s evidently entitled to, so she’ll be fine!

Always interesting to see how people respond differently. To me, this seems like bureaucratic incompetence or an abuse of power to prevent select people from traveling abroad or face denial to return home.

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Rocky Dijon
Always interesting to see how people respond differently. To me, this seems like bureaucratic incompetence or an abuse of power to prevent select people from traveling abroad or face denial to return home.

No, it’s the law. The United Kingdom are no-longer a Member State of the European Union. This person should have applied for Settlement Status, as thousands already - and easily - have.

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Rocky Dijon
Always interesting to see how people respond differently. To me, this seems like bureaucratic incompetence or an abuse of power to prevent select people from traveling abroad or face denial to return home.

That is exactly what it is. I'm with you there Rocky.

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big4

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Rocky Dijon
Always interesting to see how people respond differently. To me, this seems like bureaucratic incompetence or an abuse of power to prevent select people from traveling abroad or face denial to return home.

That is exactly what it is. I'm with you there Rocky.

Yet, there’s no excuses, really. That little thing called ‘Brexit’ was, erm, pretty well publicised. Chris Jagger sounds a little privileged and entitled to me.

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Big Al

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big4

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Rocky Dijon
Always interesting to see how people respond differently. To me, this seems like bureaucratic incompetence or an abuse of power to prevent select people from traveling abroad or face denial to return home.

That is exactly what it is. I'm with you there Rocky.

Yet, there’s no excuses, really. That little thing called ‘Brexit’ was, erm, pretty well publicised. Chris Jagger sounds a little privileged and entitled to me.

The "law vs. morals" debate isn't exactly new. There are people who cry for the law only when it benefits them. Otherwise, it's "an abuse of power". In fact nobody should feel entitled to stand above it, not even when you're Mick Jagger's brother (or his brother's wife in this case).

I’m just not sure why this is newsworthy. Just bloody well apply like ever law-abiding Polish, Romanism, French person does, etc. There’s no controversy here. Unfortunately, it just seems that Chris Jagger’s wife is a little late in catching-up with U.K. immigration law. As I said earlier, it’s nothing complex whatsoever!

Let's see how she gets on with proving, to the Home Office's satisfaction, that she has been resident in the UK for 74 years.

It was certainly well publicised that EU citizens needed to apply for settled status, but she is not an EU citizen, so God only knows what the rules are. I think this has the potential to get political, so I'll just wish the lady all the luck in the world (she'll need it) and leave it at that.

Shoulda come on a dinghy.

I'll read the article when Chris can sing like Mick.

Fun Fact 1: When brother (now Sir) Michael first took up with Jerry Hall she was Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend. Bryan, of course, being Roxy Music's singer.

Fun Fact 2: I once bumped into Bryan Ferry in an off licence in England. My claim to fame!

Captain Corella

It's only on the verge of political. One person says "god only knows what the rules are" as these rules are being changed on a whim and another person smugly says "suck up and play by the rules" you may indeed leave it at that

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CaptainCorella
Fun Fact 1: When brother (now Sir) Michael first took up with Jerry Hall she was Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend. Bryan, of course, being Roxy Music's singer.

Fun Fact 2: I once bumped into Bryan Ferry in an off licence in England. My claim to fame!

And if i may,
Fun Fact 3: Jerry Hall was the model featured on the cover of Roxy Music's 5th album, Siren. So, both Jagger brothers have had their wives/girlfriends do cover shoots for Roxy Music. Coincidence?

Don't forget Andy Newmark played drums with Roxy Music for several years after playing drums for the very short-lived Ron Wood Band.

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Big Al
I’m just not sure why this is newsworthy. Just bloody well apply like ever law-abiding Polish, Romanism, French person does, etc. There’s no controversy here. Unfortunately, it just seems that Chris Jagger’s wife is a little late in catching-up with U.K. immigration law. As I said earlier, it’s nothing complex whatsoever!

Yeah right, she should have applied for a British passport when she was 10 months old. but nope she didn't, but after 74 years it falls on her feet.
Two of my UK musician friends here in Berlin had to apply for German citizenship because the leave coalition forced them to.
last W.E. I wanted to see a band from North London (the Roves) but they where to expensive. They had to be, because it is bloody expensive to play on the Continent. and vice versa.
a shot in the foot and the knee
Good Bye UK ....and thank you for the music

On the substance...

As others have pointed out, she had 74 yrs or so to sort this out. Plus, as folk in the UK are well aware, Brexit brought this sort of issue very much to the forefront with regards to UK residents living overseas, and/or non-UK citizens living in the UK. So it's not as if it's some highly nuanced rarely publicised quirk of migration laws.

Yes, it's a crazy situation to be in, but in many respects she has herself to blame.

Captain Corella

This Brexit thing was so convoluted that in the end it was supposed to be the truckers fault that they piled up in Dover when an agreement on the customs wasn't reached. You need to conveniently forget this irresponsibility. Responsibilty is being handed down until the buck stops at the most helpless individual. That's probably not her, but still

Green Lady raises a valid point regarding her not being an EU Citizen. It makes me wonder: how had she been legally living in the U.K. at all? Perhaps her parents registered her as British Citizen when she was a child, but never got her a British Passport. It does happen. Of course, I’m unsure what the residential rights of those from EEC nations residing in the U.K. pre-Brexit were. Perhaps they were the same as being an EU citizen. She may even have Indefinite Leave to Remain, though not realise it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-06-19 15:19 by Big Al.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-06-19 15:18 by Big Al.

I’m assuming, based on all the comments and her predicament, that just because she’s married to Chris, a British citizen, does not make her a British citizen like it would here in the US?

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VoodooLounge13
I’m assuming, based on all the comments and her predicament, that just because she’s married to Chris, a British citizen, does not make her a British citizen like it would here in the US?

In the USA, a foreigner married to a US citizen has to apply to become a US citizen. It is a procedure that takes time and one has to pay $725.

Rockandroll,
Mops

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VoodooLounge13
I’m assuming, based on all the comments and her predicament, that just because she’s married to Chris, a British citizen, does not make her a British citizen like it would here in the US?

Several Nationality Act’s ago, yes. It’s been a very long time since British Nationality could acquired through marriage.

Being married to a British citizen doesn't get you into the country at all, unless your spouse can prove that they earn enough to support you.

How long's this brexit thing been going on?
ok, let's just say four years, bc easier calculation.

So seventy years long, no one batted an eye about her nationality status.

but now it's: Show me your Papers!

yeah, reminds me of where that's going

Let her stay ........



ROCKMAN

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open-g
How long's this brexit thing been going on?
ok, let's just say four years, bc easier calculation.

So seventy years long, no one batted an eye about her nationality status.

but now it's: Show me your Papers!

yeah, reminds me of where that's going

You missed the point.

Central to many of the comments here is the fact that the question of UK residence and nationality (something that I'm sure has comparable laws governing it in all jurisdictions) has been a Big Deal in the UK recently.

The comments were that it seemed odd that she had not thought to wonder if any of that applied to her.

And, as an unmarried non-UK and non-EU citizen, one wonders how she managed International Travel over the past 70 odd years.

Captain Corella

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CaptainCorella


You missed the point.

Central to many of the comments here is the fact that the question of UK residence and nationality (something that I'm sure has comparable laws governing it in all jurisdictions) has been a Big Deal in the UK recently.

The comments were that it seemed odd that she had not thought to wonder if any of that applied to her.

And, as an unmarried non-UK and non-EU citizen, one wonders how she managed International Travel over the past 70 odd years.

Could be...
but what do you make of this:

"Government policy states that Norwegians may apply for settled status if they have lived in Britain for at least five years before April 2021 and have “reasonable grounds” not to have applied before the deadline of June 2021."

from the Times article posted at the top.

I have dual nationality too and it grinds my gears to read such stories.
Perhaps "Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition" needs to be re-phrased.

Fun fact: my first encounter with Chris Jagger taking pictures and guiding through town, late '70s