Confusion for deportation family

Rory and Elaine Cable say they have nothing to return to in Brazil

A Swansea family are facing continued confusion over their possible deportation to Brazil.

Rory Cable moved back to Wales from Brazil with his wife Elaine and five children a year ago, but made a mistake in the application forms.

He has received two apparently conflicting Home Office letters - one saying they must return to Brazil, but another saying it is still undecided.

The Home Office said it could not comment on individual cases.

Mr Cable, an electrician, had hoped his Brazilian wife and their children could remain after an earlier reprieve.

I can't tell what's going on by these letters Rory Cable

But they now fear they will have to leave by 9 May and go to Brazil, where they say they have severed all ties.

Problems began when Mr Cable, 42, made a mistake in the immigration procedure which meant his family were classified as visitors.

Mrs Cable and the children should have been entitled to stay as the family of a British citizen. An initial deadline to leave at the end of January was lifted as the Home Office examined their case.

But now the family have been dismayed and confused by two separate official letters sent on the same day.

One, from the Immigration Service, said they would have to go in May. They believe another letter sent on the same day by a Home Office minister said no decision had yet been taken.

Mr Cable said: "I don't know what's going on. I can't tell what's going on by these letters.

"I just want everything clarified."

The family said they faced hardship if forced to return to Brazil, where they have no home.

The family's MP, Donald Anderson, has also been trying to resolve the family's plight.

Swansea East MP Mr Anderson, who is also chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, has been trying to persuade the Home Office that the family should be allowed to stay.