Can't say I'm surprised by this outcome at all. The British government has long since been screwing over would be immigrants in fees, bureaucracy and rules. The point to note is -- had he not been an American with resources, and instead, say a Somali refugee, the outcome would have been very different and we'd never have heard about it.

For those of you interested in how validated legal extortion can become, go look at the VISA and naturalisation fees the UK government charges.