Shropshire family to be reunited as baby given passport after three-month wait
A family will be reunited in Shropshire after an agonising three-month wait to get their newborn daughter a passport.
Henry Curteis and his Philippines-born wife Shane, who live in Shrewsbury, travelled to visit family members in the Philippines in April.
She gave birth to their daughter Selene while out there, and were unable to obtain a passport for her to return home.
The couple recently received the welcome news that their daughter has now been granted a passport and will be allowed to travel to the UK for the first time.
They have now flown to Thailand and will return next month to start their life together in Shropshire.
Cuddle
Mr Curteis, 62, said: “I eventually got a cuddle with her and took her for a walk and we got caught in a typhoon so had to take shelter. But I did get an hour or an hour and half with her and it was absolutely wonderful.”
He said he had been frustrated by delays in obtaining a passport and it was only when the story was featured on Radio Shropshire and in the Shropshire Star that any action was taken.
The family had no choice but to return to Shrewsbury in May to care for their other children, Charlie, 10, and Shaun, six, leaving their daughter to be cared for by her grandparents.
Mr Curties said there was an army of family members who looked after Selene during her time in the Philippines.
Earlier this month, Mr Curteis, who owns a jewellery business in Ellesmere, said: “My wife talks on the phone to her for hours a day, but I can’t handle it. I’d do it for a few minutes but I can’t do anymore.”
The family were initially told the Home Office had lost the paperwork and were then told they had not received it.
Last week they were finally interviewed by the Home Office and a passport was couriered to the family.
The family will return to Shropshire at the end of August.
A Home Office spokesman said it was a “distressing time” for the Curteis family.
