Gulnar was referred to us by a local charity that had helped her apply for a family reunion visa. She had been separated from her two eldest children, Sahar and Pamir for almost three years. Sahar and Pamir, then 11 and 12 were living with a family friend and were able to stay in touch with their mother over the phone.
When Gulnar got her family reunion visa issued she was excited to have her children finally able to join her in the UK. Her youngest child lived with her in the UK and they’d finally be able to be a family again.
“We need to tell you that we have been living without our mum for a long time our mum is everything for us and when she found us and somebody told us that your mum is here and you will go to live with her we thought that it was a joke but then our visa process has been started.” Sahar and Pamir
“As you know that living without or away from your kids is just like a fish without water a body without soul and you feel like you are living with some body parts missing.” Gulnar
We arranged some flights for the children and the family they were staying with began to make arrangements for their trip. Sahar and Pamir had been issued with a 30 day visa meaning they only had this much time to enter the UK or they’d need to reapply. Visas for each child had a slightly different 30 day period meaning that there was only around 20 days overlap where they could travel together.
In the process of making arrangements it emerged that the children were missing a piece of documentation they needed to leave Pakistan. We moved the children’s booking to a later date and supported the family in contacting the relevant authorities to try and get the document. Guidelines said the application for the document took around eight weeks and the children’s visas expired in less than two weeks. Despite everyone’s efforts to get the documents in time the deadline was missed and the children weren’t able to fly.
This meant that their visa expired and they had to remain in Pakistan whilst Gulnar applied for the right documents to be able to leave and reapplied for the entry visa for the UK.
It was the end of May the next year before the visa was reissued and we were able to rebook flights for the children.
The children arrived safely in June and were reunited with their mother and younger siblings at the airport.
“We are feeling like we got our lives back and we have started living with our younger brother and sister and we are very very happy. We are all together now. Wow.” Sahar and Pamir
“I have got my children with me now my life is complete its full now I am free of all stress and anxiety after this reunion.” Gulnar
*Names have been changed to protect our the family’s identity.
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