A 25 year old PHD student and bride to be has recently been forced to deal with the fact that she may have to face her wedding day without her Mother after immigration officials refused her entry into the country.
Devastated Catherine Dunford plans to marry her fiancé of two years, 37 year old Hugh Martin in St Andrews on 6th December.
But if their appeal to the UK Borders Agency is unsuccessful, Catherine’s Mother, Shariwa must remain in Zimbabwe thousands of miles away.
Zimbabwe remains in the throes of an economic catastrophe, with inflation in the country currently at 231million %.
Immigration officials are reported to have informed Catherine who lives in Cupar with her husband to be, that they suspected that the application for a visiting visa was simply a ruse to enable her Mother to stay in Britain on a permanent basis as a route of escape from Zimbabwe’s economic ruin.
Catherine, who lost her British Father to cancer, feels that time is running out in the race to bring her Mother to the UK in time for her wedding.
She said in a statement to a local newspaper:-
“In the last few days before my wedding I thought I would be stressing out about flowers, not something like this.
I feel cheated that my mother, my only surviving parent, won’t be there. Aside from my disappointment, it’s knowing how disappointed my mother will be.
It’s also upsetting that my mother may never meet my future in-laws.
We tried to put in the best application possible. My mother was completely honest about everything, her life—her finances, everything they requested, and we did the same.
My mother has never had any desire to live in Britain otherwise she would have come here with my father.”
Catherine has also requested the help of her local MP Sir Menzies Campbell in an attempt to have her Mother granted access to the country in time for the big day, but his offices have so far only confirmed that he is ‘considering the situation’.