Carlisle doctor reunited with Ukrainian wife and son
- Published
Dr Kamil Shultz was reunited with his wife and one-year-old son at Edinburgh Airport
An NHS doctor has been reunited with his wife and one-year-old son after spending a year in the UK without them.
Dr Kamil Shultz, who is Polish and British, feared he would have to leave his job in Carlisle to see his family after a visa application was rejected.
His Ukrainian wife Maryna and their one-year-old son Christian have been living in Poland unable to return to her war-torn homeland.
But after months of lobbying the family has been granted a visa.
Last month Dr Shultz said he felt "betrayed" by the Home Office
The couple, who married in September 2020, have relied on video calls to keep in touch.
Dr Shultz had previously said he felt "betrayed" by the Home Office over the visa problems and thought quitting his job at Cumberland Infirmary was his only option to be reunited with his family.
The Home Office had previously said that under the EUSS Family Permit, external, any family member of a qualifying British citizen would have to exercise free movement rights in a European Economic Area member state.
It said it did not count if they were already exercising their free movement rights in a state that a British citizen was also a national of, in this case Poland.
It then urged Mrs Shultz to apply for a spousal visa.
But she was given permission to come to the UK on a Ukraine visa scheme after an application was made a couple of weeks ago.
It will allow Mrs Shultz to live in the UK for up to three years.
The couple said the reunion was one of the "best days of our lives"
A Home Office spokesperson said: ''In response to Putin's barbaric invasion of Ukraine, we launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history.
"138,200 Ukrainians have now arrived safely in the UK. The applicants were granted status under the Ukraine schemes shortly after they applied".
On Friday, as Dr Shultz waited for his wife and son to arrive at Edinburgh Airport he said he was "genuinely nervous" and "could not wait" to see them.
Mrs Shultz said: "I am so happy to be together, we're both so happy, it's one of the best days of our lives."
A Home Office representative said while it did not comment on individual cases, all applications were "assessed on their individual merit".
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