Gillingham Nurse has wedding day party without groom
Gillingham nurse Hazel Taylor, was forced to celebrate her wedding day party alone – without her new husband Kareem Kowaitly due to him being stuck in Abu Dhabi because of home office delays. She put on brave face whilst drinking pints and enjoying shots of tequila.
Despite problems raised by UAE laws and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hazel says it was the Home Office delays to her husband’s visa that meant he was unable to attend their UK wedding in September – delays which are still keeping them apart. Hazel and Kareem’s story began when the former NHS nurse then 36, travelled out to work in 2019.
“I went as a nurse, because a nurse’s salary isn’t great in the UK,” recalled Hazel. “I love the NHS but it doesn’t pay enough.
“My plan was to work in Abu Dhabi for a year and save for a house deposit. Then Covid happened, and it was bad from a travel point of view.
“All of our leave got cancelled, we couldn’t travel and we got hit with mandatory overtime, but the one good thing was I met my husband.”
When the couple came to the UK for a holiday in Norfolk last year, Kareem proposed, and they decided to aim for a future in the UK.
Hazel’s misgiving over nursing care in the UAE, meant she was keen to head home, and it was only after a change in UAE laws that the pair were legally allowed to live together.
As Hazel is not a Muslim it meant she was also unable to marry Kareem, 34, in the UAE. She was also blocked from marrying him at home because she was not an official UK resident.
So they decided to head to Georgia to officially tie the knot – only for Putin to further threaten proceedings.
“We planned to get married and do the paperwork in Georgia and then have a wedding party in the UK, but when everything kicked off in Ukraine we did the paperwork and got married early.”
With no guests, the couple tied the knot in front of a few cows in April, and looked forward to celebrating with friends and family later in the year.
Kareem, who works for Abercrombie and Fitch, made his Spouse Visa application in May, and all looked set for a – slightly later than midsummer night – dream wedding in September at Commissioner’s House at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
“The wedding was going to be September 3,” added Hazel. “When we applied for a visa decision, the waiting time was 12 weeks. Our plan was that even if he got rejected he would be able to get a tourist visa for the wedding, but we didn’t even get a decision.
“The visa didn’t get processed in time – nothing happened at all.
“My dad had flown over from Australia and other people had travelled from Europe, so we just had a party.
