A married couple separated by UK immigration authorities are facing a legal battle to live together in Britain.
UK-born Duncan Forbes and wife Arledis, from Venezuela, married in Inverness last October and planned to set up home together in Scotland. But Mrs Forbes has twice been turned down for a visa to live in Scotland with her husband.
Her initial application for a settlement visa was rejected because the authorities said paperwork was missing and she has now been refused a further temporary tourist visa. The nautical engineer has now been living in her home country since January and her husband is only able to stay in contact by social media and telephone, as he is unable to leave his job to visit her.
IT worker Mr Forbes told the Inverness Courier that the couple had expected Mrs Forbes to be granted another tourist visa.
He said: "But the Home Office have said they don’t believe my wife will return home once that visa is up, purely because of our history with the settlement visa, which is based on missing paperwork.
"We assumed that once we were married it would be quite straightforward but all our plans for our first year of marriage have gone out the window."
Mrs Forbes said she had passed the required English language tests necessary for a settlement visa, but the Home Office said that her certificate was not awarded by an approved centre.
In addition, officials said that the Forbes had not presented the evidence of financial support with the visa application and that there were concerns that Mrs Forbes would over-stay in the UK if she was granted a further tourist visa.
A spokesman said: "All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and applicants must provide evidence to show they meet the requirements of the immigration rules."