Update (4 June 2004)
Reprieve for expelled Thai wife
Ralph Oakes-Garnett was celebrating today after being told that his Thai wife will be allowed to return from Thailand to Britain. Authorities have said that his Thai wife will be allowed back to live with Ralph at Diggle, Saddleworth, Oldham, for at least two years. Ralph hopes she will then be allowed to stay permanently in Britain
Original Story (29 May 2004)
British Ralph Oakes-Garnett fears his Thai wife will not be allowed to return from Thailand to Britain, leaving him alone with their seven-month-old son.
Ralph, 52, speeded up his planned marriage to his Thai girlfriend Salisa Yucharoen when they discovered she was having a baby last year.
But he and their little son, Varich, are now left at home in Delph, Saddleworth, after Salisa was told by British officers that she had to fly back to Bangkok, where officials would decide whether to approve her settlement visa for Britain.
Ralph said: "I assumed she would be treated as a British citizen after our wedding, but instead they made her fly all the way back to Thailand, leaving the little baby without his mother.
"Now I'm here alone in Delph, looking after our baby because of these officials. I'm just worried they'll stop her from coming home to me and her baby. We love each other and our son, we shouldn't be treated like that by British officials."
Ralph was introduced to Thai hairdresser Salisa, 36, by a friend while visiting Thailand in the year 2001, romance blossomed between both when Ralph re-visited Thailand some months later.
Salisa realized she was having a baby when she came to Britain on a short-term visa last year. She had to sign an official undertaking at the British Embassy not to get married during her visit to Britain.
But Ralph and Salisa decided to speed up their planned wedding and tied-the-knot in Oldham following the celebration of a three-year courtship last March.
A spokesman for the British Home Office said people are given very clear advice and information about the conditions and which visa to apply for before they enter the UK.
