A pregnant wife from India has been refused entry to the UK to be with her Scottish husband because her English is ‘too good’.
Alexandria Rintoul wants to join her husband Bobby in St Andrews, Fife but the couple say she’s been denied a visa despite passing a higher level International English Language Testing System exam than is required.
Mrs Rintoul, 22, was shocked to learn her visa had been refused, even though she has completed a degree in English and passed an exam which would allow her to study at some of the country’s top universities.
Mr Rintoul, 33, said he fears she will be too pregnant to fly or have even given birth by the time the immigration hitches are sorted out.
Alexandria Rintoul (left) wants to join her husband Bobby (shown together, right) in St Andrews, Fife but the couple say she’s been denied a visa as her English is ‘too good’
He said hoped to settle into their new house in St Andrews and celebrate their first Christmas as a married couple before the birth of their child next year.
Mr Rintoul said: ‘We were ready to start our life together here. It would be our first Christmas in our new house and her first in Scotland.
‘It was her dream and it’s been taken away over such a trivial issue.’
Mrs Rintoul, a musician, sat an International English Language Testing System exam as recommended by a lawyer while she was in Edinburgh during a previous visit.
The Home Office requires an IELTS pass for immigration – but not the more advanced one Mrs Rintoul has.
Writing on Facebook, Mrs Rintoul said: ‘I just want to get home to my cat, my husband and house!
Mr Rintoul (seen on the couple’s wedding day) said he fears she will be too pregnant to fly or have even given birth by the time the immigration hitches are sorted out
‘I’m supposed to be spending money on my baby, my house, my new family and here I am paying bills for this money sucking visa refused because they aren’t satisfied I come from a country that speaks English…WHAT? Hahaha where do these PEOPLE go to SCHOOL?
‘I’ll write a whole book in English just you wait!’
In another post she added: ‘It is a shame that English is not know to be considered our first language. we have 2,000 languages in this country, how do they think we communicate with each other?
‘After the British Raj all the schools have made English our first language, we learn in English, fight in English, write and practice law in English. I’m writing this comment now in English.
Engineer Mr Rintoul, from Lower Largo, said: ‘She passed a test that entitles her to go to university, Oxford, Cambridge, you name it.
‘She should have passed the test which entitles her to wash dishes in a kebab shop.’
Engineer Mr Rintoul, from Lower Largo, is pictured with the couple’s wedding album
While they deal with her application, Mrs Rintoul has been staying in hotels in Bangalore, which is a four-hour journey from her home in Shillong, in the north-east state of Meghalaya.
Mr Rintoul, who has booked a flight to India at short-notice so they can be reunited at Christmas for the first time in three months, reckons the rejection has cost them around £4,000.
The couple met when Mr Rintoul, who works in the oil and gas industry, spent a year and a half in India.
They moved to Dubai before he returned to Scotland, hoping to be followed shortly by his wife.
North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins has since stepped in to help.
He said: ‘This is a very difficult time for Mr Rintoul and his family and I have made repeated calls to the UK Visa and Immigration service but, like many of my colleagues, am frustrated by the lack of communication by that department and the impact this has on constituents who are rightly worried about their loved ones.
‘Too often I am finding constituents who have been left in an incredibly difficult position by a system that makes life unnecessarily stressful for people.’
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Some applicants for visas to settle in the UK need to pass an English language test at an approved centre that is specified in the immigration rules.
‘Mrs Rintoul failed to do this and also failed to submit the necessary supporting evidence for her application. It is open to her to reapply under the priority visa service.’
The couple met when Mr Rintoul, who works in the oil and gas industry, spent a year and a half in India