A young mother faces being torn away from her newborn baby boy and her British husband just weeks after giving birth.
Wanwan Kiff, 27, living in St Albans, Hertfordshire, was recently refused permission to stay in the UK when she was pregnant by Home Office officials earlier this year.
This week she gave birth to a son named Oliver – but she might have to leave him in four months’ time and return to her native China.
The Home Office has given her deadline of December 17 after they rejected two spousal applications without clear or justifiable explanation.
Wanwan Kiff (pictured with her husband David and baby son Oliver) was refused permission to stay in the UK
The couple (pictured) were delighted to welcome their newborn son Oliver after Wanwan gave birth in St Albans
Yesterday her husband David Kiff, 32, told how she will be forced to leave her first born child behind because he does not have a visa to allow him to live in China.
Mr Kiff, who earns £180,000 a year in contracting as a software developer, said: ‘I strongly believe that Oliver was born two weeks early because of the stress on Wanwan.
‘He is healthy, but she is still very distressed. It’s absolutely devastating, they aren’t actually looking at anything we’re sending them.
‘I earn well over the threshold (£18,000 per year) that they require, and UK’s immigration rejected the first application on the grounds that we weren’t financially stable enough.
‘I’ve written to and emailed the Home Office 36 times now, but they haven’t even acknowledged a single thing I’ve sent them.
‘In the first application, we submitted more than enough evidence that I earn well over the amount we need, and my lawyer agrees that they haven’t even looked at it.
‘The second application was refused because they said they didn’t see any reason we couldn’t move to China.’
Wanwan is now estranged from her family in China but has been ‘adopted’ by David’s family.
She has an MA in Computer Science and was stopped from working last year when her student visa, which allowed her to work 20 hours a week, expired.
So far the couple who met in April last year, have spent in excess of £7,500 on previous applications, legal costs and appeals.
Wanwan (pictured with her husband) is now estranged from her family in China but has been ‘adopted’ by David’s family
The couple have forked out almost £8,000 for legal bills, previous applications and appeals
Her third application to stay in the UK is set her cost them another £4,000 and does not allow the couple to appeal if it is rejected.
Mr Kiff said from his wife’s hospital bed in St Albans: ‘After the wedding, which was on November 5, Wanwan’s application to stay in the country was rejected on November 8.
‘We went from the best night of our lives to what was absolutely the worst night of our lives.
‘And that was after we waited for seven months for them to respond to the application, which should actually take only eight weeks to be processed.’
‘We just want to start a family and get on our lives but there’s all this admin and form filling in that we have to do.
‘I really believe that they’re just trying to meet targets and keep immigration down.
‘In the five years I paid well in excess of £150,000 in National Insurance – it’s ridiculous that they rejected my first application because they said I wasn’t earning enough.’
Wanwan, who was born in the province of Zhenghua, will be deported without her newborn baby if her visa application is denied within the next four months.
Mr Kiff was considering taking legal action against the Home Office saying it was ‘heart-breaking’ to think of his family being broken apart.
He added: ‘We fell for each other straight away and we met up everyday since our first date in a restaurant.
The family are concerned because Oliver (pictured) cannot get Chinese citizenship because he is fully British
Wanwan (pictured with her husband, left) has given her an extra four months after she gave birth to a son (right)
‘Oliver can’t get Chinese citizenship because he’s fully British. My wife is breastfeeding him now, it’s difficult to see them being split up.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to feed my baby if they are broken apart, it’s heart breaking, that’s the only way I can describe it.
‘We also feel that we just can’t settle down, we are supposed to be relaxing as a family but we feel we have to get our story out there.
‘I’ve contacted my local MP 1,000s of times.
‘Anne Main says she’s forwarding on my complaints and says she’s taking it up with Home Office but I don’t see anything happening with that and I feel a little bit let down by her to be honest.
‘I think I should put some form of legal action against the Home Office because it has absolutely killed us.’
Mr Kiff, said it was an ‘absolute madness’ for him to move to China.
He said: ‘Because Oliver’s British he would have to go to a private international school which are very expensive, even more than here.
‘We’ve got no support there at all and I’ve got all my family and friends here.
‘We’ve got to start from scratch and I don’t even know what airport they would send us to.’
A spokesperson from the Home Office said: ‘Ms Qiao’s application was refused on this occasion as it did not meet the immigration rules.
‘However, given Ms Qaio’s circumstances we have granted her four months exceptional leave to remain so she can give birth in the UK.
‘Any further visa application from Ms Qiao once she has given birth will be considered.’