A CWMBRAN clergyman is quitting the UK after his new wife was refused a British visa on language grounds, despite teaching English in her native Ukraine.

The Reverend Elwyn Phillips of Cwmbran Christian Centre married his wife Leysa in March in the Ukranian capital Kiev and applied soon after for a spouse visa for the new Mrs Phillips.

But despite Mrs Phillips holding a teaching qualification from the state run national university of Kiev the Home Office rejected the application last week.

And now Mr Phillips, who has been in the Ukraine since March and has been back just once since then for a few days' visit, is facing up to having to leave his bereaved daughters and elderly father in Cwmbran while he stays in Ukraine with his wife.

"I’ve secured a Ukranian visa and put my house up for sale. My children are devastated but they understand I can’t be without her. I’m trying to rebuild my life and this happens.

"Would they [the Home Office] want this for their family?"

Mr Phillips says he has spent £1,500 on the last visa application, and simply cannot afford another application.

The Home Office stressed its decision was because the couple had failed to supply a recognised language qualification, and maintained that it simply couldn’t verify every qualification in the world hence the need for a defined, and what they say is, an extensive list of recognised qualifications.

The decision was a further blow the Phillips family, after the reverend lost his first wife Helen in June last year when she died after a 10 year battle with cancer.

The frustrated Mr Phillips explained: "We couldn’t believe it. Leysa came out crying saying she didn’t get it, it’s ridiculous. She obviously has an accent but everyone understands her, her English is flawless.

"People from the European Union can come here without being able to speak a word of English and yet you have someone who can speak the language rejected, it just seems so unjust.

"I’m all for structured immigration but she’s no drain on society. She’d be living in my house which I own and helping a charity in our community.

"It just seems completely unfair and inhumane."

He said they had asked for advice on what documents to submit but because of immigration protocol the department in Kiev was not allowed to advise them, meaning they submitted a qualification not on the Home Office list.

One such qualification involves a 40 hour course followed by an exam which Rev Phillips termed "Mickey Mouse" and said was like asking for a porter's qualification when you have been trained as a consultant surgeon.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Every visa application is considered in line with the UK’s immigration rules. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they provide the required evidence to support their application.

"Mrs Phillips has the right to make a new application for a visa but must provide the correct information to support it."