THEY may be in the middle of an emotional visa battle with the UK Home Office, but Russell and Ellen Felber had cause for some celebration yesterday, as their Highland bed and breakfast picked up another award.
The Torridon Guest House won a second Guest Review Award from travel website booking.com – given to mark properties with more than 10 reviews, which score an average of eight points and above.
“We know that these properties have offered great guest experiences and our Guest Review Awards are a great way to showcase this achievement,” said the firm.
Along with the award came more support for their visa case in the form of letters from a German family and another from Inverness.
The Felbers settled there in 2011 and spent more than £400,000 buying and refurbishing the Torridon Guest House.
However, when they came to extend their visa, they were told a week before Christmas 2016, their application had been refused – in another case of rule changes being implemented retrospectively.
They have another hearing later this month but have had to start a crowdfunding campaign to meet legal costs of around £20,000.
“We are horrified about the trouble they all made for you,” wrote Helga and Wolfgang Pein, from Sendenhorst, Germany. “We wish the world will be fair and your home will be in Inverness now, and in future too.”
Brian and Sheila Denoon, from Inverness, said they had been following the “disgraceful tale” of the Felbers’ treatment by the Home Office and were “filled with anger and frustration” at the injustice “in what effectively is ‘our name’”.
They wrote: “Let us assure you that it is NOT in our name. We are ashamed and infuriated by the tone that has begun to dominate the public discourse in the UK and which will include us in Scotland, although ... our views are at variance with those of the majority in the south of these islands.”
The SNP's Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, said: “Yet another award for the Felbers shows the commitment that they have made to their business, Inverness and Scotland.
"The award simply highlights the ludicrous position they find themselves in, due to the fact that there is no understanding of the needs of people living here, by the UK Home Office.
"The saga has become yet another disgrace of this Tory Government. It cannot be right that they continue to be under imminent threat of deportation and is the clearest of all signs that Scotland desperately needs it’s own rules and control over who lives here."
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