A Scots wrestling champion desperately trying to get his two year son back from Moldova has been blocked from taking him on a flight home.
Nicolae Cojocaru shelled out £1,000 in flights and covid tests after UK immigration officials said toddler Damian was “free to enter” Britain to complete his settled status application.
But Nicolae has blasted the Home Office after Damian was not allowed to check in by the airline and had to leave him and his pregnant wife stranded at the airport.
He hit out: “I am angry and stressed. I don’t know what to do.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We apologise to the Cojocaru family for the incorrect information they received. We are speaking to them to urgently resolve Damian’s case.”
The Cojocaru family has faced a nightmare trying to ensure Damian has the legal right to stay in Scotland after Brexit.
Nicolae, who is the current senior wrestling champion in the UK, is a British citizen and wife Tatiana has pre-settled status, but Aberdeen-born Damian must also apply.
A lack of identity papers for Damian meant the Oldmeldrum-based family travelled to Moldova in June, where Nicolae and Tatiana were born, to get their son a passport.
They were then told Damian also needed biometric data as part of his settled status application.
With Damian’s passport now in the UK as part of the application process, Nicolae believes the only way he can get his son back to Scotland is by securing a fast track visa for him in Moldova.
But a letter from the UK Visas and Immigration service to SNP MSP Gillian Martin, who is assisting the family, claimed Damian could return.
It said that because Damian has a “pending” settled status application he is “free to enter the UK”.
Nicolae, who works as a personal trainer, took the Home Office at its word and booked flights to Scotland for yesterday.
He told the Record: “We booked the flight, paid for covid tests and took the letter to the airport.”
“I showed the letter and they [the Wizz airline] said we needed a visa.”
He spoke of his heartbreak at having to leave Damian and Tatiana, who works at a hotel in Aberdeenshire, in Moldova while he flew back to Scotland:
“I need to work as my wife has not worked for two months. Universal Credit has stopped and we have a mortgage.”
He said of the UK Visas and Immigration letter: “There are some incompetent people in there.”
Martin said: “Mr Cojocaru and his family have experienced even more distress by being given information which clearly does not align with what airlines are aware of or willing to permit. This has meant despite hoping they would be able to return to Aberdeenshire the family have been left in further turmoil.
“The UK Home Office must do all it can to help support this family so they can return to their life and put this nightmare behind them.”
Richard Thomson, SNP MP for Gordon, said: “The Cojocaru family have been pushed from pillar to post in order to find out what they must do in order to ensure their son’s safe return to the UK. No family should have to be separated a thousand miles from one another for simply trying to follow the rules.
"The archaic system operated by the Home Office for supporting families stuck abroad has meant this family are still unable to even book a flight home. I would encourage the Home Office to do everything it can to help.”
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