AN immigration tribunal judge has given an American father hope that he and his Scottish wife and Scots-born daughter will be able to make their case to remain in their Highland home.

Scott Johnson lives in Tain with wife Nicola and nine-year-old daughter Lauryn, and has been locked in a battle with the Home Office over a settlement visa for more than two years.

Just before last Christmas they attended a tribunal hearing in Glasgow, where their lawyer stressed that the case affected their daughter’s rights as a child under European law.

Yesterday, he told The National they had received some good news: “It seems that a judge in the Upper Tribunal believes that a point of law was erred on in our case and we will now have our say in an Upper Tribunal hearing on a date to be determined.

“The main point of contention was our daughter’s European Union Human Rights as a child. The judge who made the decision gave very compelling reason(s) on why this case should be heard or re-heard.

“We, of course, are over the moon as we felt that the odds of someone in the judicial system reading our case and admitting that an error had been made on a point of law was slim at best.”

One of the main reasons for Johnson’s visa being refused had been that he had completed the application from within the UK.

At the time, that was unavoidable because he was recovering from a heart attack and could not travel back to the US.

But the decision from Upper Tribunal Judge Jane Coker has given him fresh hope after she said the argument should have been heard.

“Everything we have always said about the case and were they considering the rights of the child is what this judge brought forward.

“She said that even if the Human Rights Act of 2002 was not applied, an adequate decision should have been made in the case. The letter says the appeal has been granted to be heard in the Upper Tribunal and a date will be forthcoming.”

The case had been preying on the family’s mind, more so when they heard about the plight of Russell and Ellen Felber, an American couple who have been refused leave to remain in the UK despite having lived in Inverness since 2011 and having built and run a successful business there.

“There was all this bad news, I was reading about the Felbers and I wondered at what point common sense would prevail in any of this,” said Johnson.

“It seems that good people are leaving, dodgy people stay… but now it’s time to circle the wagons again, so that’s what we’ll do.

“I always said ‘why isn’t anyone taking a look at Lauryn and why isn’t someone seeing that my wife and daughter can simply uproot and start a new life in America?’ I always asked why such assumptions were being made with no proof.

“It’s not over yet, but at least we will get the chance to address the issues we thought were compelling in our case.”

The Johnsons’ case is one of several championed by The National over more than two years. Some have ended happily, some have not.

Prime Minister Theresa May was last month asked to intervene in the extraordinary saga of the Felbers, who face being deported because of a “retrospective” change to immigration laws.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, asked May to meet with him to discuss the case after a Court of Session judge ruled the Home Office had acted lawfully in declaring the Felbers had not met the legal requirements to remain in the UK. May replied that Home Secretary Amber Rudd would meet him.

It followed the case of Canadian family-of-seven the Zielsdorfs, who had settled into Highland life running the lifeline village store in Laggan. They gave up on their battle with the Home Office and returned to Canada voluntarily at the beginning of this year.

Then there was the long-running case of the Brain family – Gregg, Kathryn and Lachlan – who were allowed to stay after Kathryn was offered a job that conformed to visa requirements.

“They are again going through the visa process, this time to secure a longer-stay visa that will allow Gregg to commit to staying with one employer rather than only being able to take up temporary employment.

The Felbers’ case has won the heart of their community with thousands of locals, businesses and church groups publicly supporting the couple.

Blackford said: “It is unacceptable that the Felbers, like the Zielsdorf family, who ran the local shop in the tiny village of Laggan before them, are to be ripped from the Highlands. The Tories disgraceful ‘one size fits all’ policy doesn’t fit Scotland and has no bearing on the realities of everyday life in rural areas.”