A Scotswoman whose husband is trapped in Syria has pleaded with the Home Office to give them a quick decision on his visa application.

Christine Gilmore, 33, from Edinburgh, fears her husband, Ziad Arabi-Katbi, will be killed before the decision is made.She said yesterday she had been unable to contact him for 24 hours.

"Every time I can't speak to him for more than a couple of hours it means something has happened," she said. "The last time [he was out of contact] happened he was hit by shrapnel and had to go to hospital. Last week he was driving to see his mum and was shot by a sniper. He went to the garage to get the car repaired and he was taken by security services for questioning.I know how many times he could have been killed."

The PhD student, who used to work for the LibDems in Scotland, met her husband in Damascus in 2010 where she was studying Arabic as part of an MA. The plan was to marry in Scotland then settle in the Syrian capital.

But when the revolution came, Ms Gilmore was forced to leave. Lawyers advised a passage to the UK would be easier if they were married. So they travelled to Beirut in December last year to marry and applied for settlement.

They spent months gathering documents but her husband's lawyer was killed in a car bomb and the papers went astray. It was difficult to get hold of new papers because government officials and clerks had stopped working. The conflict meant the courts in Damascus were often closed and the first application was rejected.

They submitted the final two additional documents asked for two months ago. The British embassy in Amman has his passport while his application is reviewed so he cannot currently go anywhere.

They still await a response."I felt they were splitting hairs," said Ms Gilmore. "We provided evidence that he had passed the English language test set at the British Council with distinction. But then they said they wanted proof that he entered the exam room.

"I provided evidence I met the financial requirements, with savings running into tens of thousands of pounds and evidence of my student income, but because my bank is online they said my printed and stamped bank statements didn't constitute sufficient evidence."

"They now have these additional two pieces of information but have left us waiting. Our house is a stone's throw from the army headquarters. They are planning to drop bombs on my husband and yet they are taking more than two months to read two simple pieces of paper."

She says many of the families of British citizens were evacuated from Syria 18 months ago.

"I just want an answer," she said. "While we're waiting his passport is being held by the British embassy. He can't go anywhere - he can't At least if we knew the answer was no then he could get his passport back and make an application elsewhere before the city is bombed. If my British citizenship and indeed British values mean anything, I beg my government to help get my husband out of there."

UKBA statistics show that only two settlement visa have been issued to Syrians in the past two years.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules.

"Mr Arabi Katbi's original application was refused in May because he did not supply the necessary evidence to support his application. He did not exercise his right of appeal.

"A fresh application was submitted in July and this application is currently being processed and like all visa application it is being assessed in line with immigration rules."