Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Visa delay could mean student’s proud family miss graduation day
A ST ANDREWS student is heartbroken that her parents may not see her graduate due to visa delays.
Dr Shruti Narayanswamy, who now works at St Andrews University, grew up in Mumbai, India.
She is set to graduate with a PhD in film studies on June 21 after her ceremony was delayed two years because of Covid.
But she says it is becoming increasingly unlikely that her parents will be able to watch her.
They are awaiting a visa decision from the Home Office – despite applying more than eight weeks ago.
Shruti, 34, has lived in the UK for seven years and her parents have never had the opportunity to visit her.
She said: “It’s a very big deal for them to share this moment and see what my life is like in St Andrews.
“They’re very proud of me so it feels like a big overdue celebration and it’s just heartbreaking there is now a very real prospect of them not being able to share this.
“Every time I call or email the Home Office I have to pay, and the answers are either it’s going to be three, six weeks or eight to 10 weeks; more than 10 weeks, or that a decision could be made any time.
“My parents are retired and elderly – I’m the only child and I live so far away.”
Wendy Chamberlain, MP for North East Fife, has raised Shruti’s case with the Home Office. Bosses at the university are also working to speed up the process.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are prioritising Ukraine applications in response to the humanitarian crisis, so applications for study, work and family visas have taken longer to process.”