Kenyan scholar working in the UK is denied visa for her 6-year-old daughter

Dr. Doseline Kiguru recently landed a permanent position as a literary researcher at Bristol University, and looked forward to reuniting with her daughter who is back in Kenya. 

But as the Guardian reports, Kiguru's application to live with her daughter in the UK was declined, meaning the six-year-old can not move to the UK to live with her mum.  

"Of course, a child doesn’t understand these [visa] complexities. She thinks I left her,” Kiguru said.

The researcher added that every time she talks to her daughter on phone, she asks when she will be coming back to pick her. 

According to Kiguru, her husband, who is also an academician, is always on the move doing research work, and the daughter now misses parental company. 

Kiguru says the visa denial delayed, and it took the intervention of Bristol University to learn that her daughter had not been allowed into the UK. 

The Guardian reports that issue has caused rage among Kiguru's colleagues at Bristol, who have termed it “an act of unthinkable cruelty”.

According to the newspaper, the UK's Home Office’s rejection said it saw “no compassionate grounds” on which to allow the child to join her mother. The letter, addressed to the six-year-old girl, added: “It was your mother’s personal decision to depart for the UK.”

Kiguru says she was left devastated and horrified by the decision to deny her daughter the visa to join her in the UK. 

The expert, who is now appealing the decision had already found a school for her and hoped she could start school by September.