Couple in deportation row

The Home Office has refused to extend visa conditions

A woman living in Cumbria faces being deported back to China, despite being married to a British man.

Paul Hayes and his wife Katie married in the UK in April after meeting in Hong Kong in October 2002.

But now she has been told she does not have permission to stay in the country on her current visa.

Mr Hayes, from Carlisle, says he may be forced to give up his housing association job to travel to China to accompany his wife Katie and their baby.

The couple initially enjoyed a long distance romance, with letter and nightly telephone calls.

Mr Hayes invited 35-year-old Katie, who is expecting a baby girl, to the UK before Christmas.

The couple claim they asked the Home Office for advice when they realised they wanted to marry.

'Stay together'

Mr Hayes said: "In December I invited her over and after a couple of months we realised we wanted to stay together for the rest of our lives."

He says he followed the Home Office advice he was given and the couple married on 5 April at Carlisle registry office.

Mr Hayes applied for a spouse visa, but was later informed by letter that the Home Office had refused to vary the conditions of his new wife's visa, which allowed her six months in the UK.

He added: "We legitimately wanted to get married and stay together.

"The process we followed was what they guided us through."

A spokesman for the Home Office refused to comment on individual cases.

But he admitted that in some previous cases people who married British nationals were allowed to stay in the UK.

Carlisle MP Eric Martlew said he supported the family's application to stay in Cumbria.