Woman carries on with wedding alone after husband got stuck abroad

Hazel Taylor, 36, drank alone and only cried twice during her wedding ceremony, as her new spouse 34-year-old Kareem Kowaitly was unable to enter the country to join in

A woman had her dream wedding ruined by the Home Office and had to celebrate alone after her husband got stuck abroad due to a visa issue. Hazel Taylor, 36, drank alone and only cried twice during her wedding ceremony, as her new spouse 34-year-old Kareem Kowaitly was unable to enter the country to join in.

The pair met in Abu Dhabi but due to legal reasons, they officially tied the know in a ceremony in Georgia and planned to celebrate with family and friends in Gillingham, Kent. They set the date and Kareem applied for a visa so he was able to attend, but the Home Office were late in processing the application and as the day drew closer Hazel knew she would have to celebrate alone.

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Hazel said: “My dad had flown over from Australia and other people had travelled from Europe, so we just had a party. I made the wedding cake into cupcakes and turned the flower bouquet into a flower arch, and I drank lots of tequila.

“I tried not to cry and think I only cried twice.”

Hazel said that Kareem submitted his visa application in May, but she later learned from her MP, Rehman Chrishti, who told her that recently the waiting list had doubled – from 12 weeks to 24.

She continued: “It just seems unfair. I would love him to be in this country. It doesn’t seem right. It was supposed to be a 12 week decision – to double that mid-way through the application seems really unfair. You’re so powerless.”

Hazel and Kareem met in Abu Dhabi during covid when the nurse was stuck there, and they got engaged during a holiday in Norfolk last year.

She added: “I went as a nurse, because a nurse’s salary isn’t great in the UK. I love the NHS but it doesn’t pay enough.

“My plan was to work in Abu Dhabi for a year and save for a house deposit. Then Covid happened, and it was bad from a travel point of view.

“All of our leave got cancelled, we couldn’t travel and we got hit with mandatory overtime, but the one good thing was I met my husband.”

They married in Georgia because they were unable to do so in the UAE, because Hazel isn’t a Muslim, or Britain, as Kareem isn’t an official UK resident.

A Home Office spokesman said: “All visa applications are carefully considered on their own merits and we endeavour to consider them as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, a groom who jilted his bride on the day of their £12,000 wedding has finally broken his silence – and refused to apologise for his actions.

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Kayley Stead, 27, bravely carried on with her wedding celebration when her partner of four years, 24-year-old Kallum Norton, failed to turn up.

Her story went viral as Kayley celebrated on September 15 at Oxwich Bay Hotel in Gower, Swansea, Wales, with her loved ones around her despite suffering what must have been intense heartbreak.

She was supported by her bridal party and family, and went ahead with her wedding entrance, meal, speeches, dances and even posed for professional photos without the groom.

Since then she’s appeared on This Morning and spoken about her ordeal, and her would-be husband has been tracked down.

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