A TEENAGE girl forced to stay thousands of miles from her family when the Home Office refused her a visa to join them in Scotland has had an emotional reunion with her soldier father and stepmother at a Highland airport.

Ann Omondi has been living at a residential school in Kenya since her father Denis, a lance-corporal in 3 Scots, the Black Watch, discovered he had a daughter in 2012.

The Kenyan national, who has British citizenship, has had sole custody of the teenager and has visited her as often as he could when he had leave.

Omondi and his wife Shelagh, who is recovering from cancer, were married in Kenya and had tried to secure a visa for Ann, but were initially refused by the Home Office.

READ MORE: Home Office finds lance-corporal's ‘lost’ visa paperwork

However, his case was taken up by this newspaper, Drew Hendry, the couple’s SNP MP and thousands of supporters who signed an online petition supporting their case.

The 14-year-old was granted a visa just 10 days ago and last night, she arrived at Inverness Airport into the arms of her family.

Omondi, who has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cyprus, and his wife told The National: “This has been a very tough time for our family and we are delighted to finally have Ann with us.

“We would like to thank Drew Hendry and his staff for their untiring work, as well as our family, friends, the media and the general public for their ongoing support.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support given by so many to a Commonwealth military family and we hope that this will encourage other families in similar situations to continue their fight.”

Omondi added: “The support we have got from colleagues and people we have never met has been overwhelming. I don’t know what to say. I’m just really happy.”

The NCO had previously told The National he was planning to use impending leave to help his daughter explore her new country.

“She’s so happy,” he said. “There are a lot of places in Scotland to take her. I’ve never had that time with her – in the little time I’ve had with her, it’s been a week here or there to take her on safari. This is going to be brilliant. I have leave at Easter, and … if I’m working, I know Shelagh will be able to drive her to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. This will be a good experience for her. It will give her back her life.”

He said public support had helped the family, but also backing from other military, as his was not an isolated incident.

“Other Commonwealth soldiers are saying to me ‘it’s good that you’re telling your story’, because this happens to a lot of people.

“I don’t want it to happen again. When you’re in the Army, family is important.

“When you’re away, you’re proud to serve and proud to have your family. The Army has been supportive since this started.”

Hendry highlighted the family’s plight in the House of Commons, when he urged Home Secretary Sajid Javid to take action.

The case also saw claims and counter-claims over paperwork which had allegedly been lost by the Home Office, as well as testy parliamentary exchanges between the MP and Scotland Secretary David Mundell.

Last night, Hendry told The National: “We were all really excited to finally meet Ann in person and to see her reunited with her dad and Shelagh.

“It’s an incredible case that’s gone from heartbreak to heart-warming and has really caught the attention of the public and rallied their support.

“As the work goes on to tackle the hostile immigration environment from the UK Government we can all join in the joy of this event and wish this Highland soldier’s family a happy future together.”