Man blocked from coming to UK to meet baby twins after Home Office claims relationship with partner is not genuine

‘If I’d have known things would be this complicated, I would have had an abortion,’ says partner

A father has been blocked from coming to the UK to see his baby twins for the first time after the Home Office claimed his four-year relationship with the mother of his children was not genuine.

Kokougan Kponouglo, a Togolese national, had planned to come to Britain on a visitor’s visa last year to support his partner Barbara Mettle-Olympio, a British citizen, with the pregnancy and birth of their twins.

The couple had planned that Ms Mettle-Olympio, 33, would go back to work while Mr Kponouglo, who currently works as an electrical engineer in Ghana, cared for the children – and that they would then apply for a family visa and settle in the UK.

But the Home Office refused his visitor’s visa application on the grounds that it did not believe the pair were in a “genuinely subsisting relationship”, and that it was “not satisfied” that Mr Kponouglo intended to leave the UK at the end of his visit.

As a result, Ms Mettle-Olympio had to go through pregnancy and childbirth alone, and Mr Kponouglo has not been able to meet his children because they have been too young to get vaccinations in order to travel to Ghana.

(Barbara Mettle-Olympio)

Ms Mettle-Olympio, who works in digital marketing, said: “I was in a lot of pain during the pregnancy. I couldn’t do very much. It was a really difficult time, and all the while his visa was getting refused.

“Right now I’m just sitting at home, and I’m desperate to go back to work. Childcare costs almost £1,000 each per month, so it’s not worth me working part-time. I’m having to rely on benefits, which is not what I want.

“If he were here and we were a unit, everything would be consolidated. We would be able to support each other. But right now our life is on hold. If I’d have known things would be this complicated, I would have had an abortion.”

If she were able to go back to work, Ms Mettle-Olympio would be able to sponsor a visa for Mr Kponouglo, which carries a minimum income requirement of £18,600 a year. But without childcare, it is impossible for her to meet this threshold.

“I’m in a catch-22 situation,” she said. “And it’s been very difficult for my partner. He feels incompetent and almost useless. I have to tell him this is beyond our control. We’re doing all we can do.”

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said at the “very least” 15,000 British children were living without one of their parents because of family visa restrictions. When asked to provide a more accurate figure in a recent parliamentary question, immigration minister Caroline Nokes refused.

Mary Atkinson, family reunion campaigner at the JCWI, said: “In 2019, we can and should do better than forcing young mothers into a situation like this, making them raise their children alone and give up on their careers simply because of who they have chosen to build a life with.

“Yet sadly, Barbara’s is far from the only loving family to be separated because the Home Office refuses to believe that people can fall in love across border[s] ... The Home Office must now urgently review these rules, and help bring families together where they belong.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All UK visa applications are considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence available and in line with UK immigration rules.”