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Pak deserts Scottish wife after getting visa: The Hindustan Times
London, Jun 03: While visa rules for foreign spouses coming to the UK are being tightened, there are reports that a Scottish woman has been abandoned by her Pakistani husband within weeks of his getting a visa to stay in the UK.
London, Jun 03: While visa rules for foreign spouses coming to the UK are being tightened, there are reports that a Scottish woman has been abandoned by her Pakistani husband within weeks of his getting a visa to stay in the UK.
Basharat Raja got his visa last December and flew home to visit his parents two months later. But , since then, his wife, Isobel has not seen or heard from him. She says she has been left with debts of £7000 from a failed takeaway business, which he could not successfully run. The mother of two has also been told by a friend of Basharat that he already has a wife and children in Pakistan, and another baby from a woman in Glasgow.
Isobel, 35, of Thurso, Caithness, has been quoted saying: "I feel as though I have been used. He's just totally wrecked my life. All he has done is taken me for a complete idiot. I don't want him back. But I don't want him to do the same thing to someone else. He's got what he wanted all along - permission to stay in Britain."
It has been found that Basharat came to Scotland from Pakistan claiming asylum and married Isobel in 1997. They have two children, Samara, five, and two-year-old Haris.
Even though friends had warned Isobel, but the call centre worker did not pay heed. "After we'd been married a year I thought everything was fine and after six years you don't think your husband's going to suddenly up sticks and leave. Everything seemed fine until he got the visa and went to Pakistan. Until then, he didn't have a visa enabling him to leave the country and return.
"I honestly believed he was just going on holiday. I even paid for his two-week trip. But he never called me, not even once, and that told me something. I tried to contact his sister in Glasgow but her mobile was never on."
A worried Isobel checked their phone bills and found a mobile number she did not recognise. It apparently belonged to a friend of Basharat, who told her the details of Basharat's double life. She said: "This guy (the friend) told me that Basharat had married me only to get a visa.
"I'm left with a loan to repay, about £7000. I gave him £1200 to go to Pakistan."
The Home Office has advised Isobel to give Basharat's details. A spokesman at the Home Office said: "We are aware of bogus and sham marriages and people who do such things to gain residency in the UK. This man's immigration status could potentially be rescinded."
Basharat Raja got his visa last December and flew home to visit his parents two months later. But , since then, his wife, Isobel has not seen or heard from him. She says she has been left with debts of £7000 from a failed takeaway business, which he could not successfully run. The mother of two has also been told by a friend of Basharat that he already has a wife and children in Pakistan, and another baby from a woman in Glasgow.
Isobel, 35, of Thurso, Caithness, has been quoted saying: "I feel as though I have been used. He's just totally wrecked my life. All he has done is taken me for a complete idiot. I don't want him back. But I don't want him to do the same thing to someone else. He's got what he wanted all along - permission to stay in Britain."
It has been found that Basharat came to Scotland from Pakistan claiming asylum and married Isobel in 1997. They have two children, Samara, five, and two-year-old Haris.
Even though friends had warned Isobel, but the call centre worker did not pay heed. "After we'd been married a year I thought everything was fine and after six years you don't think your husband's going to suddenly up sticks and leave. Everything seemed fine until he got the visa and went to Pakistan. Until then, he didn't have a visa enabling him to leave the country and return.
"I honestly believed he was just going on holiday. I even paid for his two-week trip. But he never called me, not even once, and that told me something. I tried to contact his sister in Glasgow but her mobile was never on."
A worried Isobel checked their phone bills and found a mobile number she did not recognise. It apparently belonged to a friend of Basharat, who told her the details of Basharat's double life. She said: "This guy (the friend) told me that Basharat had married me only to get a visa.
"I'm left with a loan to repay, about £7000. I gave him £1200 to go to Pakistan."
The Home Office has advised Isobel to give Basharat's details. A spokesman at the Home Office said: "We are aware of bogus and sham marriages and people who do such things to gain residency in the UK. This man's immigration status could potentially be rescinded."