Pals said my boyfriend was using me to get his visa... but look at us now
Bride Georgia found love in Togo
SMITTEN Georgia Sheehan returned from West Africa to say she’d found her dream man – and faced a battle to convince the cynics.
Concerned friends and family feared her new fella’s sole intention was to get a visa to the UK.
Her parents urged her to forget about him and other relatives ridiculed any hope of him being allowed to settle here.
But now, after a three-year rollercoaster, Georgia and Michel Epey are married, he has a spousal visa and permanent residency will come in 2023.
Georgia, 25, couldn’t be happier. She met Michel, 27, after quitting a marketing job to teach English in a Togo prison.
He was a local volunteer and animal biology student.
Rules banned staff relationships, so they took secret motorbike rides or sipped coconut milk at the beach.
Georgia says: “There was a bit of a language barrier so we acted out what we wanted to say like a game of charades.
“But when Michel said ‘me lonwo’ – I love you in his native tongue – I knew this was more than a holiday fling.”
After three months Georgia returned to Hitchin, Herts.
She recalls: “My parents were surprised to hear my strength of feelings for a man I met ‘on
He said ‘me lonwo’ – I love you. I knew then it was more than a fling GEORGIA EPEY BRIT ON FINDING HER TRUE LOVE
holiday’ and said to forget him.”
But Georgia knew Michel was the one. She worked seven days a week to pay for £6,000-worth of flights and temporary visas.
She goes on: “I was anxious what people thought. But once my friends and family met Michel, they adored him. Some said ‘Can’t you get a boyfriend that doesn’t come with baggage?’ ‘ Why burden yourself ?’ ‘His visa will get rejected, you’re wasting your time’.
“But Michel wasn’t a burden to me, he was the man I loved.”
After two years of trying to get an extended visa, Michel had to return to Togo. But a spousal visa was granted and he returned – to get hitched in Hitchin. Besotted Georgia says:
“Michel’s uncle and best friend flew over.
“Our famil ies joined us on the dancefloor to groove to Togolese music. The wedding brought us even closer.”
The couple now live in Brixton, South London. Georgia works in jewellery and Michel hopes to train as a paramedic.
He sa y s : “People thought my relationship with Georgia couldn’t be true love. I can’t wait to make plans, work and have children together.”