A British Airways Cabin Crew member was forced to leave his dream career eight years after reaching Britain when the Home Office asked him to go to a country where he says he has never lived.
The 28-year-old Egyptian national wedding El Farra, whose primary language is English, came to the UK to study in 2016, who grew up due to their parents’ jobs as academics between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
They were given one Two year graduate visa in 2021 And started his career in British Airways as a member of the cabin crew. But he was forced to quit the job After an application for a private life visa, which allows people to live on the basis of strong personal relations in the UK, was rejected by the Home Office in November 2024.
Home office officials said that Mr. L. Farra should be able to integrate life in Egypt, Despite explaining about the 28 -year -old that he left the country shortly after birth and never as an adult. The country also requires compulsory military service for all under 30 years of age.
The initial refusal decision also told Mr. L. Farra that he would be able to “support himself in India completely” – despite doing nothing with that country.
They told Independent: “I have worked in the UK, studied in the UK, and now I am being told that I have no expectation of the future here.”
Speaking of his visa refusal, he said: “It is like a robot that is written. They can reduce it as errors, but it has a great impact on a human life.
“It has been two years of not working, not in the sky. It is very challenging mentally. Throughout the process, they have not been disturbed to consider or consider the obstacles that were sent to me to Egypt.
“I barely speak language, I have no family there and there is rendering in Egypt.”
Mr. L. Farra is relying on his parents’ support, but feared he will soon be unable to pay rent in his flat in London. He is unable to claim public funds due to his immigration status.
Mr. L. Farra had to hand over his passport when he first applied for a private life visa in September 2023, meaning he was unable to fly internationally. The BA allowed her to work on domestic flights, but then she was shifted to work as a staff trainer, while he was waiting for the decision of the visa, he said. He received his refusal in November 2024 and had to quit the job.
“I had a future in British Airways,” he said. “I was going to be a senior trainer and what did he do for that …? How is it for me that it is unable to contribute anything for me?”
He then presented an appeal to the Immigration Tribunal to the decision, and now he is allowed to find the work, while the court proceedings are underway.
Have been international students One of the main drivers of net migration In recent years, Ukrainian refugees and people working on health and social care visas.
Since Brexit, more international students have Stayed in Britain after the conclusion of his studies, And the Labor Government has recently offered measures to ban it-shortening post-standing graduate visas from two years to 18 months.
Although Mr. L. Farra has undergone training and safety checks to work as a cabin crew, he will need a salary of at least £ 41,700 to be sponsored to a skilled worker visa to live in the UK.
Referring to the initial error in the home office letter, he said: “Rejuvenation said that I should go back to India, which clearly does not make any sense. He said that I had no hope to live in the UK. But the graduate visa enables you to find a job and become a taxpayer in the UK, so I think people can live.”
The review of the refusal of the house office was retained, and Mr. L. Farra is now waiting for a tribunal hearing to consider his case.
His father, a professor of hospitality management in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Ehb L Farra loved his son Britain and the family was “surprised” from the initial home office response.
“Britain should take talented people, use them, and put them in the system,” he said. “I lived in states where we have a lot of nationalities that live there, and that is why America is very rich.
“He is fighting to live in Britain because he loves Britain and wants to create a good life there.”
His mother, Molly, also an academic, said: “This is a big puzzle for us. He is not allowed to live with us in Saudi Arabia unless he is a student or worker here. He cannot live with us because he is more than 18. We are in this vicious cycle”.
A home office spokesperson said: “It is our long -term policy not to comment on personal matters.”
British Airways has been approached for comment.