A family based in Dalham have experienced significant struggles of late as American USAF verteran Chad Carlson was forced to return to the US due to problems with his UK spouse visa.
Mr Carlson recently retired as a Master Sergeant from the forces after two decades of service. Keen to settle with his wife of two years Beverley and their two young children, Mr Carlson applied for his UK spouse visa documentation back in February and dutifully paid his £550 processing fee.
However, Mrs Carlson explained that her husband has been forced to fly back to the US on his military retirement orders due to the lengthy delays with the visa application process at the UK Border Agency (UKBA).
Speaking to EADT24, Mrs Carlson remarked: “After six months of waiting we discovered his case has not even been looked at.
“We have been forced apart for an indefinite period due to lengthy delays at the UKBA, well beyond the stated processing times on their website at the time of application.”
She added that both her own passport and her husband's are still in possession of the UKBA, meaning that Mr Carlson has been prevented from completing a number of overseas work contracts, while Mrs Carlson cannot visit her husband in the States.
Before he left the UK, Mr Carlson told the paper that this has been a “very traumatic time” for the couple's children in particular, adding that they will “suffer greatly by being apart from their father for an indefinite period of time”.
A spokesman for the UKBA commented on the case: “We apologise for the delay with Mr Carlson's application. In recent months we have received a higher than anticipated number of visa applications, which has meant that cases have no been dealt with as quickly as we would expect.”