The Home Office has apologised for a “bureaucratic bungle” which led to an orphan missing a dream Christmas in Fife.
Yaroslava Naida was supposed to travel from Chernobyl to loving Anna Beattie’s family home in Cupar for the festive period but was initially denied a visa.
That decision was reversed after Stephen Gethins, the North East Fife MP, wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May asking her to personally intervene while The Courier quizzed Home Office officials.
Now, in a letter to Mr Gethins, Simon Hayes, the director of UK Immigration and Visas, has admitted: “On reviewing Miss Naida’s case it has been determined that the letter from the school was sufficient and should have been accepted.
“I am sorry that this was cited as a reason for refusal and for any distress it may have caused.”
Just days before the 14-year-old was due to leave her home near the Ukraine’s “dead zone” she was told her visa application had been denied and there was no right of appeal. It was claimed she had not provided sufficient evidence that she was still at school.
The MP’s office was also told the Visas and Immigration service considered the impoverished schoolgirl a “flight risk”.
Airline KLM stepped in to provide Yaroslava with a Hogmanay journey from Kiev after a visa was finally granted on December 28.
Mr Gethins said: “It is clear that the Home Office would have walked away from this blunder and Yaroslava would have been denied her Christmas holiday had there not been intervention by my office and The Courier.
“I am extremely grateful to The Courier for stepping in and asking KLM for help in providing complimentary fights and the minor unaccompanied service to ensure Yaroslava arrived here safely.
“I hope the Home Office will review its procedures especially when it comes to Chernobyl orphans coming to the UK. This cannot be allowed to happen again.”