A Turkish man, who has fallen in love with and married a Scottish woman, is struggling to obtain a UK spouse visa.
Ozkan Keseli met Claire Manson, from Renfrewshire, when she spent a holiday at the popular Turkish resort of Ovacik. The 27-year-old was working as a freelance photographer on an assignment at Ms Manson's hotel when the pair sparked it off.
Following Ms Manson's return to Scotland, the couple continued a long-distance romance. Their relationship culminated in a return visit to Turkey for Ms Manson and the conception of their child, Ozzi.
Upon learning of the pregnancy, the applied for a UK visa to allow Keseli to be at his child's birth, the Paisley Daily Express reported. But this was denied, it is understood, on the grounds that the Turkish national would not have had sufficient funds to support himself upon arrival in Britain.
"We applied for a visiting visa but it was refused as Ozkan's tax status meant he didn’t meet the requirements," Ms Manson explained to the paper.
"This meant he missed the birth of his son in June last year. Since then, I've had to fly back and forth to Turkey just so Ozkan can see his son."
Despite their problems, the pair have since wed at a ceremony in Turkey and are saving up enough money to allow Keseli to reapply for a UK spouse visa to join his young family in Scotland.