A Lochaber couple are preparing for a happy Easter, having been thrown a potential lifeline that would stave off a deportation order for at least a decade.
American mother-of-two Mary Beard spoke of her relief last night following an immigration tribunal hearing in Glasgow.
She and her fiance Martin McGuire from Spean Bridge have for the past few years lived under the shadow of a deportation threat following the expiry of her tourist visa – that could still see her being sent home to the US.
Miss Beard has lived with her partner in the Lochaber village for almost three years.
The family feared being separated before Christmas when she and Brianna, her five-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, were informed by the Home Office that they must leave the UK.
Miss Beard, 27, and her shopworker fiance have another daughter, Molly, 2, who has a British passport.
The Home Office had previously ruled that Mr McGuire, 30, is capable of caring for Molly, so Mrs Beard and Brianna could be deported.
It has now granted Miss Beard, a mother-of-two, the option of applying for a 10-year visa.
She said: “It wasn’t the result that we wanted, but the judge thought there’d be little or no impediment to receiving that particular visa.
“But that will cost around £800, so we’ll have to try and scrape the money together somehow.
“I’m happy that we’re all still together and that we were alerted to this new route that we can go down. I’m disappointed to be charged so much more money and making us wait even longer for a permanent solution.”
Mrs Beard, who has spent thousands of pounds of her life savings challenging deportation, will also need to apply for a fresh visa after the 10-year period.