Lowestoft's woman joy as husband returns home

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A Lowestoft postwoman was celebrating yesterday after lawyers managed to help secure her husband's release from an immigration removal centre.

Taina Ali, 43, married her “soulmate” Dana in 2003, three years after he fled to the UK from war-torn Iraq.

The happy couple have been living in Lowestoft ever since but their world was turned upside down on July 30 when Mr Ali reported to Lowestoft police station - a monthly condition of his residency - only to be told he was being detained.

He was taken to the Oakington immigration removal centre in Cambridge but after spending nearly a month away from his wife and friends fearing that he would be deported, he was finally released on Monday afternoon and allowed to return to Lowestoft.

Mrs Ali said: “I had a call from his solicitors at about 4pm on Monday to say he was being released, so we rushed to get him home here as soon as we could. We're all on cloud nine at the moment, it's brilliant to have him back home.”

Since 2003, Mr Ali has been trying to secure permanent residency in the UK but he is still waiting for the paperwork to be rubber-stamped by the government.

Until he is granted residency, Mr Ali has to wear a tag and report to Lowestoft police station once a week. He is also subject to a curfew and has to be at home from 8pm every night.

Mrs Ali said that her solicitors are still working hard to get her husband's paperwork processed so that he can stay with her in the UK. She believes the delay has been caused because of suspicion that their marriage was bogus, despite them having a joint mortgage on their home in Bevan Street West.

“We're still in limbo until we can get that done. We've got no idea how long it might take, but we're going to keep on fighting to keep him here,” she said.

She said that after a story about her fight to get her husband back home appeared in Monday's EDP, she has been inundated with messages of support.

She said: “When I was out on my post round, people kept stopping me and wishing us luck and saying they hoped Dana would be home soon. It was really amazing.”

An online petition has been set up by Mrs Ali and her family on the social networking website Facebook and nearly 200 people have joined in recent days.

The Home Office's policy is not to remove anyone from the UK while there are outstanding applications and representations on their case.