A PAKISTANI academic in Scotland has spoken of his distress after a bizarre visa decision left his wife and baby daughter stranded overseas when the Home Office refused to accept a birth certificate as proof that the infant was born in Glasgow - or is even his child.
Arshad, a 28-year-old PhD student studying electrical engineering at Glasgow Caledonian University, said he has been left baffled after a routine application for his daughter, Umaima Khan, to obtain a dependent's visa to stay in Scotland with her parents was rejected while his wife was in Pakistan with the newborn, visiting family.
Mr Arshad, a first-time father, said he had supplied the Home Office with his daughter'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 her Pakistani-issued passport, which again names Mr Arshad as her father and gives her place of birth as Glasgow, along with his and his wife's visa documentation - which is valid until January 2019 - and bank details showing that he had adequate funds to support his family in Scotland.
However, visa clearance for 10-month-old Umaima was rejected in a Home Office letter dated August 2, which stressed that the documents "do not demonstrate that you are related to your stated father or that you were born in the United Kingdom".
The decision has left Mr Arshad - who only goes by the name Arshad - facing the prospect of living alone in the family home in Ibrox for the next two years until he completes his doctorate, while his wife stays in Pakistan with their daughter. She first flew out with Umaima in February.
It has also shattered Mr Arshad's hopes of obtaining an engineering job in Scotland.
He said: "I met with my PhD supervisor this week and she said she wanted to apply for funding for me to continue in another research post after I finish my PhD, but I had to refuse. I can't stay here without my family.
"I was pretty confident that I could get a job here, but I can't stay on my own."
He added: "It's extremely difficult, especially when she's only 10 months old. I'm talking to her every day on Skype, but now is the time when we should be together as a family and I'm missing everything - all those special moments.
"I never thought they could do this, it just doesn't make any sense. If they give me a valid response I can accept that, but this is not a valid response."
Mr Arshad has written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appealing for help and wrote to the Home Office on August 17 asking them to review the decision, but has yet to receive a response.
He said: "I don't have any hope for the review if it's just the same people looking at the same documents. What will change? I hope somebody can help me."
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Caledonian confirmed that Mr Arshad was a PhD student but said the university was not aware of his situation.
A spokesman for the Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.
He added: “All visa applications are considered on their individual merits in line with immigration rules.”
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