A FAMILY kept apart by Covid and the Home Office have reunited after one year apart, the Sunday National can reveal.

Jalal Ibrahimi feared for the safety and welfare of wife Safora and their Glasgow-born sons and daughter after they became stranded in Afghanistan in a visa row.

The Paisley takeaway owner had stayed at home to run the family business while Safora and the children rushed to family in Afghanistan after a family tragedy.

A car crash left relatives badly injured and claimed the life of their baby.

They left in February 2020 and planned to return one month later – in plenty of time to renew her leave to remain in the UK – but their flights were cancelled when the pandemic struck.

And when Safora’s UK visa ran out in May, leaving her unable to travel even when flights resumed, she turned to the Home Office to renew it – but the department said it couldn’t help.

In December, it told the Sunday National it was still “working on a solution” for families like the Ibrahimi’s, with members unable to go through the standard bureaucratic process through no fault of their own.

One year after they said goodbye, the family-of-five is finally back together. “I was so emotional when I saw my kids,” Jalal said. “I really was crying. They’ve changed a lot. My daughter, she is only a baby, she’s gotten so big. She doesn’t really recognise me. I have got so much to catch up on.

“This year has been more like three years.”

READ MORE: ‘Please help me bring my family home for Christmas’: Father's plea to Home Office

Baby Adbah and big brothers Habib and Shams are now settling back into life in Scotland, where they continue to self-isolate.

The Afghan government had launched an offence against the Taliban in the area in which the siblings were staying, leaving Jalal – who has lived in Scotland since childhood – fearful for their safety.

Safora told how the children would ask to go home and were “very upset” during their extended stay.

During that time, eldest child Shams would ask his father during phone calls if his bedroom was still there.

“We are very happy now,” Safora said, "to be back in our own home with our own things. I worried we weren’t ever going to be able to come back.”

However, the extended absence from Scotland has left problems to deal with. Adbah missed many routine childhood vaccinations and Shams has missed almost an entire year of schooling.

He had been due to start primary one in August and the couple are now waiting to find out how and when he can begin the education they badly want for him.

“All of this could have been avoided,” Ibrahimi says. “It’s cost a lot of money in cancelled flights and it’s cost a lot in other ways.”

The Home Office did not respond to a request for comment.