A Dumfries family has opened its home to two Ukrainian relatives after finally getting the green-light on entry visas at the weekend.
Mike Dear and his Ukrainian-born wife, Elvira, travelled across Europe to collect her sister, Krystyna Sin and 12-year-old nephew, Den, in the Czech Republic where they had fled from their home in Odessa.
They took them to Amsterdam to collect their visas and hoped to board a ferry home last week. But the short time they expected to be in the Netherlands turned into more than a week as they tried to cut through British red tape.
They finally got the go-ahead to enter the UK on Saturday and were reunited with their children – Nick, Elina and Maya –and Mike’s mum, Pauline, who lives in Torthworwald.
Mike said: “It has been frustrating and quite an experience but we are now just glad to be back in Dumfries and trying to make our house work for Krystyna and Den.
“She wants to find work and Den is looking to go to secondary school in the town.
“For now, we are all tired and have done a lot of sleeping. Krystyna and Den are okay. They are doing fine. That’s the main thing.”
Pauline, who lobbied local politicians to help last week, said: “It is wonderful to have Mike and Elvira back and to welcome Krystyna and Den to Dumfries.
“We are so glad they are all safe and sound. There were plenty of hugs and tears when we were all reunited.
See Friday’s Standard for more.
