A couple who married three weeks after they met haven't seen each other for more than five years - because the husband is banned from entering the UK.
Sarah and Oluyemi Sholagbade, both 35, started talking online in April 2015. They then met face-to-face for the first time the following year when she travelled to Nigeria - and tied the knot just three weeks later.
More trips to Africa followed, before Oluyemi decided to try for a UK visa so he could move to be with Sarah. But his application was blocked - meaning the last time the couple saw each other was in March 2017.
The pair say they have spent more than £5,000 on legal help to try and flip the Home Office's decision. But Oluyemi is still stuck in Lagos - while Sarah lives more than 4,500 miles away in Wigan.
She said: “We both feel ‘where do we go from here?’ - it’s not easy. We stay in contact through WhatsApp, Facebook and video calls as well as TikTok.
“I haven’t got back out to him again because first of all we were trying to pay the solicitors and then Covid hit and now the cost-of-living crisis and everything is going pear shaped. We’re trying to save up anything we can for me to go over there.”
Sarah and Oluyemi met online in April 2015 when she posted a video on Facebook and he commented. The pair quickly hit it off, with Oluyemi leaving his ex-partner to be with Sarah. They spent a year getting to know each other via phone calls and say it started as a friendship that blossomed into a romance.
A year after they first started talking, Sarah then flew out to Nigeria in April 2016 – and within a few days of being there, the pair decided to get married. A few weeks later, they held a ceremony with Oluyemi’s family and friends.
Sarah kept the news secret from her family until she returned home and says despite their initial shock, they are now supportive of the relationship. They planned to see each other again later in 2016, with Sarah flying out to Nigeria again in September.
She managed to visit Oluyemi again in March 2017, with her husband organising a beach party and barbecue for her birthday - sadly, it was the last time they saw each other. In 2016, Sarah first made a visa application on Oluyemi’s behalf – despite him asking her not to - but it was turned down due to him having insufficient funds to support himself in the UK.
She then applied again for a UK visa for Oluyemi in 2017. However, she claims she forgot she had previously applied and checked ‘no’ to a question asking if a visa had previously been requested for him.
The Home Office declined the application as a result and since then the pair have dedicated their resources to fighting the decision. Now, they have spent £5,000 on solicitors who have tried to appeal the decision but have continually been turned down.
Sarah said: “We met through Facebook - I did a video on trying to stop racism and he commented. I messaged him from there and we were just friends to start with before we spoke by phone one time and I just knew automatically that I kind of liked him.
“I told him but he was in a relationship at the time – he ended that and then we got together. At first it was more friendship and then it blossomed into romance but it did feel a bit strange because I wasn’t there with him.
“I visited him in April 2016 – I was scared when I got the airport but when I saw him everything just felt right. I felt comfortable straight away, I just felt like everything just clicked into place – I played it cool because I thought I didn’t want to make myself look a fool.
“We decided at the time to get married, we both proposed to each other and I wanted to do it as soon as possible so we did it within a few days. My family didn’t know until I got back to the UK – they were shocked but they’re supportive now.
“We planned in April for me to go out again in September, and then in March 2017 for my birthday. He did a party for me at the beach, I met his family and friends and he arranged this barbecue with loads of music – that was the last time I saw him, it’s too long ago.
“I first applied for a UK visa before we got married in 2016 – he didn’t actually want me to apply at that time but I went ahead and did it anyway. It got turned down because he didn’t have the financials behind him.
“When I came back in 2017, we applied for him to come to the UK because he’d never been here and it was about time he came. The question asked ‘have you ever applied to come to the UK before’ and I put no – I forgot I had previously applied.
“Since then, I’ve written to the Home Office to say it was my fault but no one has listened. We’ve paid for solicitors to try and overturn their decision but nothing has worked at all – we spent about £5,000 on solicitors and they’ve tried but they just can’t appeal it because it says you can’t appeal. Unless there is a change of circumstances, I can’t apply again.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We do not routinely comment on individual cases. All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules."
Read more of today's top stories here.
READ NEXT:
'It's terrible... just leave it alone': Residents hit out after popular Manchester green is dug up
I TV This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield issue queue jump explanation as they 'understand reaction'
Teens flocking to spot where Harry Styles 'had first kiss' in Cheshire spark safety fears
Tram dragged trapped woman 40ft along Shudehill Metrolink platform with driver 'unaware'
