A German mother has found herself separated from her two-year-old daughter in Edinburgh due to a mistake made by the Home Office, which left her stranded in Düsseldorf earlier this week.
Liza Tobay, a resident of the UK for 15 years, had traveled to visit her six-year-old son’s grandfather and other relatives during the Easter holiday when she encountered what she described as “a serious administrative error.”
Prior to Brexit, Tobay, like many EU citizens, could simply present her passport at the border. However, she now must demonstrate her “settled status” to enter the UK as a lawful resident.
The issue first came to her attention on Wednesday during her attempt to catch a connecting flight from Munich to Edinburgh while in Düsseldorf. When she showed her passport, a border official informed her that her settled status had been “red flagged,” preventing her and her son from boarding the flight.
Tobay mentioned that she could verify her settled status through an email but was informed that this could only be done via a mobile app, which she did not possess. She recalled, “I started to panic and my son started to cry. It was his first time being away for five days without his father, so he was already feeling homesick and sensed that something was wrong.”
She spent the night searching for solutions but faced difficulties accessing the Home Office website to identify the reason behind the red flag on her immigration status.
After resetting her login, she discovered that the passport number associated with her account was entirely incorrect. The following day, she contacted the Home Office EU settlement scheme resolution center and learned that a “ghost number” had been generated on her account.
“The representative could see my passport photo but noticed that the system had assigned a completely random passport number that did not match the one in the image,” she explained. “They assured me that it would be escalated and prioritized, but it could take up to three weeks.”
Tobay expressed her concern that this situation could keep her apart from her young daughter for as long as a month. She stated, “This situation is extremely distressing for our family. It is just awful. I haven’t slept or eaten; I am in shock, functioning on autopilot, trying to remain calm and find a way to get home.”
She emphasized to officials, “This is not acceptable; you are separating me from my child.” She has never been apart from her daughter for this duration before.
While she has arranged a flight for Sunday, she fears that the Home Office will not have resolved the issue by then.
The grassroots organization the3million, which has consistently criticized the digital immigration verification system, indicated that Tobay’s experience is not unique, and the lengthy resolution times from the Home Office are “unacceptable.”
Tobay’s predicament has underscored the risks associated with the UK’s decision to implement a solely digital verification system for immigration status, which has faced significant criticism.
Monique Hawkins, head of policy and advocacy at the3million, stated, “The Home Office insists that digital status cannot be lost, stolen, or altered. We have long opposed this assertion as we continue to hear from individuals suffering serious repercussions due to malfunctioning eVisas.”
She added, “The frequency of errors is unacceptable, but what’s even more troubling is the duration people must often endure before their issues are rectified. To make matters worse, the Home Office denies any responsibility for the losses incurred due to eVisa errors.”
The Home Office has been contacted for a response regarding this matter.
