More waiting for Matt

MATT Rahmati faces an agonising wait in a New Delhi hotel room today as the UK government considers whether it will allow him to resume his life with his new wife in Ipswich.

The Afghan asylum seeker, who was removed from the UK after being told it was safe to return to his war-ravaged homeland, has applied for a spouse's visa, which would allow him to return to Ipswich and rebuild his life with wife Tanya.

But more than a week after he arrived in the Indian capital in the hope of securing the new visa he is still waiting to hear if the government will allow him to return.

Mr Rahmati, 22, said: “The High Commission hasn't made a decision about it yet. They're doing more enquiries about it at the moment.”

At first it appeared Mr Rahmati could have had an answer back from the High Commission in New Delhi as early as last Monday but the government has told him it needs more time to assess his application.

Now it is unclear how long he will have to wait before he knows his fate.

Mr Rahmati's mother-in-law Karen Barroso, who is in New Delhi with Matt and her daughter Tanya, said: “It's a nightmare. They won't give us any indication how long it will be. They won't tell us anything.”

While the delay has proved frustrating for the trio, the trip from Kabul to New Delhi was an emotional one for Mr Rahmati. It was the first time he had been reunited with Tanya, of Victoria Street, Ipswich, since his removal from the UK.

However after weeks of planning and longing to see each other the reunion nearly didn't happen. When Mr Rahmati flew into New Delhi immigration officials would not allow him to enter the country because he was not carrying the correct documentation.

The mechanic, who worked at H&F Autos in St Helen's Street after arriving in Britain at the age of 15 and making a new life in Ipswich, faced a torturous three-and-a-half hour wait at the airport before the authorities finally relented and allowed him in.

From his hotel room in the Karolbagh district of New Delhi, Mr Rahmati said: “They were saying I had to go back to Afghanistan. They kept saying there was no way they could let me into the country without that form.

“That day was a really bad day. I've never had a day like that before in my life. I was so emotional, I was so scared.

“I just kept begging them and telling them it was impossible to get back to Afghanistan. It was a nightmare.”

But the wait was worth it for the pair when they were finally back together after spending weeks thousands of miles apart.

Mrs Rahmati said: “When he was here I was so happy. He's the same old Matt.”