The “nightmare”is over for newlyweds’ Dr. Puneet Srivastava and Dr. Ritu Singh as they are safely back in Enniskillen and enjoying married life together in Fermanagh. A catalogue of errors and a failure to communicate by the Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) saw the pair stranded in their native India and Dr. Srivastava unable to return to work at South West Acute Hospital. 
An application for a visa for Dr. Singh, a process that normally takes five days, had meandered into a second month in a seemingly never ending circle of bureaucratic red tape with neither Dr. Srivastava or Dr. Singh able to get any answers from UKVI. 
With the prospect of quitting his job in SWAH and giving up on a life in Enniskillen Dr. Srivastava, in one final desperate act, reached out to twitter. The story was picked up by The Impartial Reporter who contacted UKVI on Dr. Srivastava’s behalf. Local MP, Michelle Gildernew, also started making calls and Dr. Srivastava is in no doubt that it was these interventions that saw a quick resolution to the situation and a visa issued to his wife.
“I really want to go on record by saying that it was The Impartial Reporter, Madam Gildernew and her secretary Mr. Diamond, who helped me throughout this. Because of that we could travel back, and I was able to resume work in Enniskillen.”
Before Dr. Srivastava’s wife was issued with her visa this paper ran a story highlighting the difficulties they were having and since returning to Enniskillen Dr. Srivastava has been bowled over by the public support he and his wife have received.
“After I came back to Enniskillen, I was asked by many strangers about our plight. It was great to see that locals were so sympathetic,” Dr. Srivastava explained before adding that his wife is enjoying getting to know her new home.
“We have been exploring Enniskillen and so far my wife is very impressed by the town. She really likes it here and at present she is studying for her medical licensing and hopefully she can start working as a doctor here too.”
Ms Gildernew, said that she was “delighted that the matter was resolved quickly” but she was highly critical of the way in which the situation was handled.
“I think quite honestly the Home Office was a disaster. This is not the first time I have had to help in a matter such as this and you have to wonder has this all got to do with Brexit and the stance being taken towards migrant workers,” Ms Gildernew explained.
“We need these workers right across our health care system, in social care and across a range of industries. I wish I could say this will be the last time I will have to deal with an issue such as this but unfortunately it won’t be,” she told this newspaper.