Visa wrangle dashes couple’s festive dream

A FIFE man’s dream of spending Christmas with his pregnant wife in their new home has been dashed.

Bobby Rintoul hoped to settle in the house he has bought with Indian national Alexandria in St Andrews where the couple could enjoy their first festive season as a married couple before the birth of their child next year.

However, Alexandria was shocked to learn her visa application had been rejected, despite her completing a degree in English and passing an exam which would allow her to study at the country’s top universities.

Bobby, 33, is now worried that if they encounter any more hitches in her new application, she might be heavily pregnant, or even looking after a newborn baby, leaving her unable to make the long flight by the time her case is dealt with.

Musician Alexandria, 22, sat an International English Language Testing System exam as recommended by a lawyer while she was in Edinburgh during a previous visit.

The Home Office requires an IELTS pass for immigration — but not the more advanced one Alexandria has.

While they deal with her application, Alexandria has been staying in hotels in Bangalore, which is a four-hour journey from her home in Shillong, a hill station in the north-east state of Meghalaya.

Bobby, who has booked a flight to India at short notice so they can be reunited at Christmas for the first time in three months, reckons the rejection has cost them about £4,000.

The couple met when Bobby, an engineer who works in the oil and gas industry, spent 18 months in India. They moved to Dubai before Bobby returned home to Lower Largo, hoping to be followed shortly by Alexandria.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Some applicants for visas to settle in the UK need to pass an English language test at an approved centre that is specified in the immigration rules.

“Mrs Rintoul failed to do this and also failed to submit the necessary supporting evidence for her application.

“It is open to her to reapply under the priority visa service.”

Bobby and Alexandria hope to set up home in St Andrews.