A British baby will meet his Russian grandparents at Christmas after the Home Office backed down over a visa for his mother who has been a UK citizen for ten years.
Russian-born Elena Holdsworth, who lives in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, was facing being unable to introduce her 12-week-old son Brian to her parents in Russia.
The 42-year-old mother-of-two hit trouble after applying to renew her UK passport, which expired in September, because her Russian passport is in her maiden name.
Elena Holdsworth, 42, of Southend-on-Sea, who has been a UK citizen for ten years, is pictured with her husband Antony, 44, nine-year-old daughter Tatyana and 12-week-old son Brian
But MailOnline intervened and the Home Office will now give her a certificate of right of abode in a week rather than the normal six months – which will get her to Russia.
Her husband Antony, 44, who runs an accounting firm, told MailOnline: ‘Thanks to you, it’s a real triumph that we will be able to go to Russia at all this Christmas.
‘My son is 12 weeks old, and his Russian family don’t get to see him every day. If they don’t get to see him over Christmas, they’re never going to meet him as a baby – and they’re precious moments that will be lost forever.’
The family’s problems began after a policy was introduced in 2015 of every person who holds a UK passport having to have one identity for ‘national security’ reasons.
However, Mrs Holdsworth is unable to change her international Russian passport because she has to go to Siberia to change her internal Russian passport first.
But she cannot do this, because – having got her internal passport changed in her home city of Novosibirsk – she wouldn’t have a UK passport to get her back to Britain.
Now, the Home Office will issue the certificate of right of abode for her Russian passport, which will allow her to go in and out of Britain without restriction.
But Mr Holdsworth said this document, costing £321, is not the end of the problem, because his wife still has to change her passports in Russia, to get a UK passport.
The couple are now going to be able to visit Mrs Holdsworth’s parents Vladimir, 68, and Tatyana Knol (pictured), 69, in Russia – after appealing to the Home Office for help
He said: ‘If my wife travels to Russia to change her internal passport, her international passport which contains the certificate will immediately become invalid.
‘This means the certificate of right of abode will become invalid, because it’s only valid in the document in which it’s stuck. That means that she will still be stuck in Russia with no means of return.
‘So whilst in Russia, after having renewed her internal passport, she needs to apply to renew her international passport – we don’t know how long that could take.
‘Then, having got her international passport, whilst still in Russia, she’d have to apply for another certificate of right of abode to go in the new international passport, which would cost another £321. Then she would be able to return to Britain to get her British passport.
‘The big problem is that I’m the only earner and my wife would have to take the children to Russia with her and she could be there for months. My daughter needs to go to school.’
The couple, who met scuba diving in Cyprus in 2002, got married in Thundersley, Essex, in 2004 and also have a nine-year-old daughter named Tatyana.
The Home Office have told the family that the second certificate of right of abode that Mrs Holdsworth will need while in Russia should only take two weeks to process.
But the official timescale on the Home Office website is six months, and the family are concerned that she could be stuck in Russia with the children for a long period.
Mrs Holdsworth is hoping to introduce her 12-week-old son Brian to her parents in Russia
However, they are at least happy that they will get to visit Russia for Christmas to see Mrs Holdsworth’s parents Vladimir, 68, and Tatyana Knol, 69.
Mr Holdsworth said: ‘We’ll go to Russia , but we won’t be able to start applying for the internal passport because my wife won’t be able to return.
‘So we’ll have to come back to England again and then we’re back in exactly the same situation again of having to go back to Russia to deal with it all.
‘All it does is get us to Russia to see my wife’s family. It doesn’t deal with the problem – and more to the point, it’s going to cost us a fortune in visas (and travel costs).
‘There’s two things that are important – one is that I need a fair and sensible way for my wife to deal with her situation, and secondly this matter needs to be brought out into a public domain as much as possible to make it clear how awful this policy is.
‘It’s a huge problem for us, because even with the certificate, my whole family will have to go to Russia and stay in Russia for possibly a couple of months.’
Mr Holdsworth added that since his story was published on MailOnline, he was contacted by a woman who had been similarly affected by the new rules.
She claimed she was issued with a temporary 12-month British passport just three weeks ago – and Mr Holdsworth said such a document would ‘really help us’.
The mother-of-two faced trouble when applying to renew her UK passport (pictured), which expired in September, because her Russian passport is still in her maiden name
He added: ‘We’ve got a difficult decision to make – do we stump up £300 for this visa, or do we wait to see if they will issue a 12-month passport?’
A Home Office spokesman told MailOnline: ‘This Government is committed to protecting the public from fraud.
‘This is why we ensure all UK passports are issued with the name the holder uses for all official purposes, in order to safeguard the public from fraudulent and criminal uses of passports.
‘We are currently in contact with Mrs Holdsworth and her family, to enable her return from Russia and to support the progression of her UK passport application.’
The Home Office first introduced the one-name-for-all-official-purposes policy was first announced in February 2015, and then maintained last year following a review.
This review introduced exceptions, which allow a passport to be issued in the name requested even if it differs from the name on the passport issued by another country.
But no evidence has been provided to the Home Office by Mrs Holdsworth that indicates she meets one of these exception requirements.
Yesterday, outlining the family’s case to MailOnline, Mr Holdsworth said: ‘My wife’s British passport expired in September, so we filled in the forms to renew it.
‘There is a new box to tick on the passport form where you have to tick it if you have any other passports with any other countries.
Mrs Holdsworth was born in the Russian city of Novosibirsk (pictured) in south-western Siberia
‘Then you have to send all of your other passports in with your application. From what my MP said, we think (this rule) came in around 2015.
‘My wife’s Russian passport is still in her maiden name because it’s quite a difficult process for a Russian living in Britain to change their passport.
‘It seems Great Britain has introduced a policy of one identity for every person, and they say it’s for reasons of national security.’
Mr Holdsworth said Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) would not issue a new British passport until she gets her Russia passport changed to her married name.
Russians have an international passport which the Russian Embassy in London will change, but only once Mrs Holdsworth changed her internal Russian passport.
This can only be changed in the person’s place of birth, so his wife would have to travel to Siberia and spend four weeks there to get it sorted.
Mr Holdsworth told how others have reported similar problems – and, while it will happen to any dual citizens, it’s a bigger problem for those from Russia.
He said: ‘This is supposedly to stop terrorism and crime. But what self-respecting terrorist is going to tick the box to say “Yeah, I’ve got another passport?”‘
The couple are being helped by their local Conservative MP James Duddridge, whom Mr Holdsworth said had been ‘excellent’ and ‘tried hard’ for them.