A SCOT whose wife has been held in the immigration detention centre at Dungavel since arriving in Glasgow a week ago was yesterday dealt another blow when her visa for Australia was cancelled by that country’s home affairs department.

The news came as lawyers acting for Charly Garcia and Cyntia Lencinas, an Argentine national, lodged an application for bail for her with the Home Office.

Garcia, 44, and his 33-year-old wife arrived in Scotland last Friday.

Both had visas for Australia – hers was granted in January, his in March – and they intended continuing their journey after he sorted out some personal matters in Scotland.

READ MORE: Detained wife visiting Scotland told she will remain in Dungavel

However, Lencinas’s visa was cancelled on the grounds that officials did not believe that she did not intend her visit to be “a genuine temporary visit”.

Garcia told The National they would appeal against the Australian decision.

“The main thing is getting her out [of Dungavel] and seeing how it goes from there. The email arrived at 11:30 last night and it knocked me for six.

“It’s amazing the powers the Home Office have – how quickly they can react on that.

“It’s hit me really hard and put me on the back foot. It was the only plan we had.

“Why is she still being held when I’ve already given them options for us to leave the country?

“In hindsight I should have applied for a spouse visa, but I didn’t think about that because Argentina was part of the visa waiver programme.

“But that has to be applied for from outside of the country, which I could do for the future.”

The Home Office had issued orders to deport Lencinas to Brazil on Monday, but she refused to go there. Garcia said they were not keen to return to Argentina.

He said: “Argentina is not listed as a dangerous place, but it is the second most dangerous country in South America after Venezuela.

“I was shot in the head on October 7, 2016 for pocket money and a pair of training shoes. I woke up in the mortuary the next day because I’d been declared dead.

“If Argentina is not on the danger list it should be because it’s getting worse and worse every day.

“They’re lifting people off the streets for their organs, women are taken off the streets and trafficked for prostitution.

“I asked about the possibility of asylum because Cyntia doesn’t want to be send to Brazil or back to Argentina. My main concern is getting her out of Dungavel.”

He added that his wife being locked up in Dungavel was taking a toll on them both: “It’s seven hours a day – over 100 miles a day – to get there for visiting time.

“The good thing is I get to spend seven hours with her, but it takes its toll. I can’t do anything else.

“The majority of staff are very nice, although every day Cyntia is crying morning, noon and night.

“She’s getting worse every day. She’s a very positive person but this is taking a big toll on her. She’s not the person she was last week.”

Their lawyer, Usman Aslam, told The National his company McGlashan MacKay had been told by the Home Office that they had received the bail application.

He said: “We have also provided them with the evidence of Cyntia and her husband’s onward travel out of the UK.

“It is regrettable that Cyntia remains locked up when all this time could be spent buying their flights out of the UK and seeing family before they head off. It is astonishing that public funds are used to keep our client in detention. Hopefully we do not need to resort to court action.

“Hopefully common sense prevails but we are not prepared to tolerate such injustice.”

The Australian High Commission has been approached for comment.