Newlyweds are battling with immigration officials in their bid to set up home in Cross Hills.

Teacher Jonathan Conyers, from Cross Hills, has been separated from his wife, Popie, since their marriage in Botswana, in August, last year.

Their hopes of a reunion were dashed when Popie arrived at Heathrow, after a 13-hour flight, without a visa on Tuesday of last week and was told she must go back.

Now Jonathan, 36, who starts work as a science teacher at Beckfoot Grammar School, Bingley, in September, is flying back to Botswana to help his wife sort out the documentation.

The couple met when he was working as a science teacher as part of a British Government funded project.

He said his wife arrived with the documentation she was advised to provide.

She was informed in Botswana that all she needed was a letter explaining her marriage, where she planned to live, bank statements and other proof of her planned life in Britain, he explained.

Popie was also informed it would be possible to get a visa when she entered the country, he added.

"She was treated like an illegal immigrant," said father-in-law John Conyers.

"We asked if she could stay as a tourist while we sorted out her documentation, but they said no, she had to go back."

Popie was only able to speak to Jonathan briefly at 4pm on the day she arrived to explain she would have to travel back to Africa.

The High Commission in Botswana had been contacted and said a visa could be arranged for a fee of £200.

He said the mix up would cost the couple £2,000, which had been saved to help them start their new life together.

A Home Office spokesman said individual cases could not be discussed.

But it was essential to get a visa before leaving the country and to satisfy immigration officials that a marriage was genuine.

A marriage certificate had to be shown and evidence demonstrating means of being supported in the UK.