An American woman says she has "been to hell and back" trying to get a spouse visa so she can live with her "soulmate" husband in Wales. The Home Office has twice rejected 65-year-old Ellen Alvarez's application to live with her partner, John Delahunty, 70, whom she married in October 2020.
Friends of the loving couple - who first struck up a romance online - have dubbed them the "International Gavin and Stacey". But now the threat of deportation hangs over Mrs Alvarez, leaving her worried her idyllic life with her husband in Barry will be "ripped away" from her.
She is now preparing to fight for her case at a tribunal hearing. Rejection letters from Home Office officials to Mrs Alvarez seen by WalesOnline state she does not meet the requirements for the visa and there is no evidence of any "insurmountable obstacles" that the couple would face if they relocated to the USA.
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But Mrs Alvarez believes she has met the requirements and claims it is not feasible for them to move to the states, where she no longer has a home, job, nor health insurance. "I feel like I’m in a nightmare I can’t wake up from," said Mrs Alvarez, who is a retired children's librarian. "I love Barry so much, it’s such a beautiful place...I feel like I’m being treated like a criminal wanting to come here."
Mrs Alvarez and Mr Delahunty, a retired transport police officer, first met though mutual friends on Facebook. They helped each other through their troubled marriages and slowly their romance began to blossom.
"At a time when my best friend was going through too many of her own issues, I reached out to John because I was having thoughts of just ending it all," Mrs Alvarez wrote in an emotional letter to be considered in the upcoming oral hearing.
“From that time on we were always there for each other when the chips were down, albeit from across the pond. We would share our love of animals and music and delight in making the other person smile! Little by little without even knowing it we fell in love!”
She first visited Mr Delahunty in October 2019, before she returned to America to sign off the divorce from her ex-husband and eventually came back to Wales in January 2020. As part of the divorce settlement, Mrs Alvarez did not get her ex-husband's home, so she does not have a property for her and Mr Delahunty to live in should they be forced to relocate.
Mrs Alvarez is also estranged from her mother, who is her only family member, whereas Mr Delahunty has close family members. "I don’t have family in America…I don’t want to take him away from his granddaughter and his two sons," she said. "It made much more sense for me to come here."
Mr Delahunty got down on one knee to propose to Mrs Alvarez on the promenade at Barry Island on July 2, 2020, and they married on October 8 that year - with permission from the Home Office itself, she said.
"When we applied we found out that we would need to provide certain documentation and individually answer questions at an office in Cardiff to obtain permission from the Home Office to get married. At no time was it mentioned that my status was 'precarious' and we received notification that we could book our wedding at the Barry Office."
On October 13 that year she began the process to get a spouse visa and she submitted her application in January 2021. In May last year she had to provide her finger prints as part of the process, and she claims she was assured by the Home Office's biometrics sub-contractor that it was likely she would be granted the visa.
"We truly do not understand why we were allowed to first get married and then told that everything was in order when I had my final biometrics done. I was assured by the Home Office’s own sub-contractor that everything was in order and that I should have no fears of being deported.”
She spoke of her "shock" at finding out on February 28 this year that her visa application and human rights claim had been refused. One of the numerous reasons given by the Home Office for rejecting Mrs Alvarez's application was that she does not meet the eligibility financial requirement of at least £18,600, with her retirement funds being "not accessible".
Another line in the seven-page document read: “The Secretary of State has not seen evidence that there are insurmountable obstacles…which means the very significant difficulties which would be faced by you or your partner in continuing your family life together outside the UK in United States of America, and which could not be overcome or would entail very serious hardship for you or your partner."
In her appeal, Mrs Alvarez maintained that she has provided documentary evidence of her husband's pension, and that she had collected her small teacher's pension and Social Security - the USA's retirement benefit system - early so she could meet the spouse visa financial requirement.
Explaining her predicament in her letter to the tribunal judge, she wrote: "Now if I went back home, I would have problems getting a job that included health benefits for John and I since I am only allowed to make so much without being penalized with my Social Security. Also now that I am 65 it is highly unlikely that I would be hired."
She added that she will not get the USA's health insurance for retirees until next year meaning she would only have "basic hospitalisation". She continued: "And I could not get that for John, since he is not an American and being over 70 it will be extremely hard and VERY expensive to get health care for him in the U.S.”
Mr Delahunty took early retirement from his former job due to anxiety and depression caused by the grim nature of his work, and to this day suffers at times from severe depression. He also does not feel he could travel because he has collapsed discs in his neck, which require strong pain medication, said his wife.
She told WalesOnline: “Our biggest hurdle would be him being over 70...He’s just not sure [if he could travel], between his health issues and whether he could get insurance with all of his health issues - because that’s another thing in America, a lot of times you’re denied because of pre-existing conditions. So that’s another big worry for us, and I know he would have to have those conditions taken care of.”
Since moving here she has lived with her husband in his flat on Barry Island, which he owns with no mortgage. He also owns another house, which his two sons, one of their partners and his granddaughter all live in. Mrs Alvarez said the only way the couple could afford somewhere to live in America would be if her husband sold both his properties - leaving his family members without a home.
"His one son only makes a very small salary and his other son is a stay-at-home dad. I keep saying to [the Home Office], if you force the issue, there might be four people on council housing," she told WalesOnline.
After appealing, Mrs Alvarez received a second nine-page rejection from the Home Office on March 27, which doubled down on the reasons for refusal outlined in the first letter. The letter, which she has branded "cruel and inhumane", added that she "should never have had any legitimate expectation that she would be allowed to remain permanently in this country" and that there is no documentary evidence that the couple would not be able to "accomodate and support themselves in the USA". It concluded she has "no basis to remain in the UK" and there were "no exceptional circumstances in this appeal".
In her letter to the tribunal judge ahead of the hearing, she wrote: “We have no idea why I am being asked to leave since I am of no drain to the public purse. We own two homes and have savings and pensions. Please do not separate a loving couple that just wants to live in peace and contribute to their home town of Barry. I have spent the past three years of my life here and because of the love of John and my friends this has become my chosen home.”
She told WalesOnline she hopes if she is granted the visa she can volunteer as a children's librarian. "The irony is I had already ordered the book on how to study for the citizenship test so that I can one day be a citizen here and share my husband’s pride in his country of Wales."
Admitting that the fight for a visa had taken its toll on her wellbeing, she said: "I’m with a man who’s just so kind and so loving. And every day I wake up to hugs and such love and support. I just don’t want that to be ripped away. He keeps saying: ‘I shouldn’t have had you come over, I shouldn’t have put you through all of this’ and I said: ‘But I wouldn’t trade what we have had for anything.’”
A Home Office spokesperson said: "All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence provided and in accordance with the immigration rules. We do not routinely comment on individual cases."
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