NICOLA Sturgeon has condemned the Home Office over its "bizarre and unacceptable" decision to reject a visa for a Glasgow-born infant whose father is studying for a PhD in the city.
Ms Sturgeon has taken up the case of Pakistani academic, Arshad, whose wife and 10-month-old daughter have been unable to return to Scotland from Pakistan after the Home Office refused to accept that the toddler was born in the UK - despite a birth certificate citing her place of birth as Glasgow.
Ms Sturgeon is to intervene in her capacity MSP for Glasgow Southside, where Mr Arshad lives.
Read more: Home Office under pressure to reverse 'ludicrous' baby visa rejection
Ms Sturgeon said: “I’m very sorry to hear about the problems my constituent is having. This is a bizarre and unacceptable decision and will I raise his case with the Home Office."
Mr Arshad, 28, welcomed her support, adding: "I hope that there will be a positive outcome."
Chris Stephens, SNP MP for Glasgow South West, has also called on the Home Office to reverse the "ludicrous" decision.
Mr Arshad - who only goes by his surname - and his wife, Lubna Muzaffar, have been living in Scotland since 2014 while he completes a doctorate in electrical engineering at Glasgow Caledonian University. They became parents for the first time last year and, in February, Lubna travelled to Pakistan with her newborn daughter, Umaima Khan, to visit family.
Mr Arshad said: "My semester had started so I couldn't travel then because I was teaching here. I went out later for two weeks. The initial plan was that they would be there for two months but in March there was bad news for the family because my niece died in a building collapse, so they had to stay for longer.
Read more: Home Office under pressure to reverse 'ludicrous' baby visa rejection
"I applied for my daughter's visa in June and she and my wife were booked on a return flight to Glasgow on August 2, but they lost the flight because the Home Office rejected my daughter's application."
Mr Arshad said he sent the Home Office a copy of Umaima's birth certificate, which states that she was born on December 6 2015 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow and names him as her father. He also provided Umaima's Pakistani-issued passport, which again names Mr Arshad as her father and gives her place of birth as Glasgow.
However, the Home Office said the documents "do not demonstrate that you are related to your stated father or that you were born in the United Kingdom".
Mr Arshad said: "Both the documents are genuine, one was issued by Glasgow City Council and her passport was issued by the High Commission in Pakistan. I don't know how else to prove it."
He now faces being separated from his wife and daughter for the next two years while he completes his studies.
Read more: Home Office under pressure to reverse 'ludicrous' baby visa rejection
A spokeswoman for GCU said the university would offer him assistance. She said: "With Mr Arshad’s circumstances having been brought to our attention, the University will reach out to him to offer support."
A spokesman for the Home Office said it was unable to comment on individual cases. He added: “All visa applications are considered on their individual merits in line with immigration rules.”
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