Little Alfie Tate may not know it but’s a hero to his family.
For his birth nine months ago has given the Tate family of Slaithwaite a bright new future.
Home Office officials have finally granted Alfie’s mum Kathy permission to stay in Britain at the end of an exhausting and expensive legal battle.
And to celebrate, Kathy and her husband Dale have set up a restaurant in Slaithwaite where they can now work together.
Kathy, 24, is Australian and last year she faced deportation back Down Under after her visa expired.
Immigration officials had insisted she must go back to her native Australia, even though she and Dale were married and Dale was back in his home town.
They thought they had won their case when a judge ruled in their favour last month, but Home Office officials tried to overturn that decision through an Immigration Tribunal.
Eventually, a 12-month temporary visa was granted but that expired last month and the couple feared separation.
But the fact that Alfie was born in Huddersfield has meant officials have now been able to grant a 30-month visa and hinted that another one could be allowed when that expires.
When she has been here 10 years she can apply for permanent residency.
“It’s a tremendous weight off my shoulders and off Dale.
“He has been working twice as many hours as he should to ensure we have enough money to live.
“I wasn’t able to work, to open a bank account or even try and buy a car on finance. I felt my llfe was on hold and all the things I wanted to do were banned.
“We bought the restaurant which we have called La Cena, which is Spanish for dinner, but I wasn’t allowed to work there. Now I can join the payroll and get down to work. I had always worked in restaurants and hotels in Australia and this was a dream”.
The couple already have two other sons, Oliver, 4, and Harrison, 2, and live in Slaithwaite, where Oliver has just started school.
The family’s plight attracted worldwide attention and their plea for support via social media attracted more than 1,000 supporters in just 24 hours.
The authorities had insisted that the couple should have made immigration applications fully in Australia rather than in Britain.
Kathy said: “When the temporary visa expired we feared the worst. We could not afford a lawyer so we did the new application ourselves and it was a daunting task.
“When I got the letter back at first I thought I was on my way back to Australia but then on the third page, I read that since Alfie was born here it would be unlawful to split us up.
“He may only be a baby but he’s the one who has kept us together as a family”.
