THE mother of a baby facing major surgery has made a tearful appeal to Sajid Javid after the Home Office refused to allow her husband to be by their son’s beside.
At just 10 months old, baby Julian, who was born with organ problems and a missing kidney, has already undergone five surgeries and faces two more within weeks.
But as doctors in Glasgow prepare for the procedures, his father and primary carer Didin Haryadi is stuck almost 8000 miles away in Indonesia after officials refused his visa.
Yesterday the couple’s solicitor Saeed Khan, of Khan Associates, hit out at the decision, telling The National the case was “clear” and the family met all necessary requirements.
Julian’s mother Jane Lunday made an urgent plea to Home Secretary Sajid Javid over the “devastating impact” of such “small mistakes” on “families all over the UK”, saying: “Just open your eyes to see what you are doing to all these families.
“Every child deserves to have their parent with them, but in a case like this it makes no sense to keep them apart.”
She added: “Didin is Julian’s main carer, since I had to go to work.
“He attended every hospital appointment with him and spent weeks staying in hospital with him through operations. He has been trained by NHS nurses to care for him, which allowed us to care for him at home and spend less time in hospital. They have never spent a day apart until now and he is devastated.”
The couple, who have been married for two years, met while Jane, 26, was working in Bali and relocated to Scotland after pregnancy scans revealed Julian would have complex health problems.
He was born with one kidney, bladder and bowel problems, high blood pressure and anaemia and spent the first month of his life in intensive care. He receives medication eight times a day and even bathing him takes the care of two adults.
Didin, 28, secured a tourist visa – the quickest available – to come to Scotland for the birth and the family returned to Indonesia in January when this expired before submitting a £3500 application for a spousal visa which would have enabled them to come back for good.
The application included bank statements, letters from doctors and surgeons and details of a job offer Didin had secured.
But the family is now reeling after receiving the refusal, which came after Jane arrived back in Scotland last week. According to immigration rules, they now face a lengthy wait to appeal or must enter a fresh application at the cost of another £3500.
The couple’s caseworker rejected evidence of exceptional circumstances and ruled they didn’t meet financial requirements, which Khan says is incorrect. That decision is based on a “miscalculation” which omitted support payable to Jane as the parent of a child with severe health difficulties. Khan said: “This is an unfair refusal. All the requirements have been met, everything is very clear.
“Jane has the right to appeal, but she will be really suffering, the family will be apart, the appeal process will take more than a year. This is the arbitrary nature of the Home Office.”
Jane said: “I thought in this situation there was no way we wouldn’t get a visa. When we said goodbye, it was like ‘okay, see you in a few days’.
“After the operation, we won’t have any choice but to return to Indonesia and go between the countries for Julian’s treatment – I can’t keep him and his dad apart.
“We’re British, but we are being forced to leave the country.”
A petition launched by Jane’s brother Chris Lunday on the change.org site had reached more than 740 signatures last night. He said: “I would urge everyone to sign the petition. Nobody knows when a situation like this could happen to them. We didn’t expect it to happen to us. It really tears your family apart.”
The Home Office said: “All applications for settlement visas are carefully considered on their individual merits, in line with the immigration rules and our policy on exceptional circumstances, and are based on evidence provided by the applicant.”
Sign the petition by following this link
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