Delays are part of a wider failure to process visas that have left families around the world stuck waiting to return to the UK. Zainib * is located in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, since November. She told the Guardian that the delays had made her feel abandoned. “It has 37 degrees here, there are shortages of gas and water and the electricity is cut off for several hours a day,” he said. “I’m afraid to go out because of the risk of kidnapping and political instability here. “I have been here since November. It took us three weeks to get our baby, and then we applied for her visa on January 18th. Initially, the Home Office told us it would be 12 weeks – that was 21 weeks ago. “My eldest son misses kindergarten, my husband works in the UK, my father is ill and I can not be with him and my employer wants to know when I will be back,” Zainib added. “I can not describe in words how difficult this is. I am so stuck and the Ministry of Interior is not responding. I can also talk to a tree. “We have made at least five complaints and other families in a similar position have also made many.” On May 11, 16 weeks after her application, Zainib and several other families received a letter from the Home Office stating that the waiting time would be doubled for family visas. A stepmother and her new baby in Karachi. He noted that they had been approved for adoption by the UK Department of Education. Photo: Khaula Jamil / Guardian He wrote: “Due to the humanitarian crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine, the UKVI [UK Visas & Immigration] gives priority to visa applications for Ukraine. “We have therefore decided to temporarily modify the standard of marriage and family services to 24 weeks from… 12 weeks.” Direct adoption from Pakistan to the United Kingdom is not permitted as there is no bilateral adoption agreement. Instead, British couples or individuals use an established route to secure legal custody of the baby and then travel back to Britain, where authorities formalize the adoption. Families go through a lengthy check-in process with the UK Department of Education before traveling for adoption, but the Home Office is the one providing the return visa. Two years ago, the Home Office was criticized after Nina Saleh, an EU citizen and resident of the United Kingdom, was trapped in Pakistan after being denied a visa three times. She was eventually granted the visa following media reports about her case. Satwinder Sandhu, executive director of an international adoption agency, the Adoption Center, said: “We have many families waiting months longer than ever before, and we understand that the war in Ukraine has put a lot of pressure on an already fragile system. “For adopters who are legally approved and have placed children, visa applications should be fairly straightforward. “All children in need of adoption have experienced trauma, separation and loss and should be able to travel to their new homes in England without delay.” Maya * is also trying to get home with her adopted child. She has been in Pakistan for nine months and her newly adopted baby is eight months old. He has a skin condition related to stress and it is getting worse. He said he could not understand why, after being approved by the British authorities, there were such long delays. “We went through a very thorough and intrusive process in the United Kingdom, where the Ministry of Education approved us for international adoption. “My husband barely had a chance to spend time with his new child because he had to return to the UK to work.” Zainib said there was a lack of understanding among lawmakers about international adoption. “One MP told one of us that we have to justify why we can not just leave the baby here. He gave us permission for adoption from the Ministry of Education. The orphanages here are horrible. I would not let an animal live in one, and excuse is not part of the process. “Our babies have gone through the trauma of separation from their original parent and we need to get out of this situation.” A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said: “We give priority to the applications of the Ukrainian Family Plan and Houses for Ukraine in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, so the applications for study, work and family visas needed more time to process. “UKVI is working to reduce current processing times as quickly as possible.”

  • Names have been changed to protect the identity of adopted children