The course of true love never did run smooth, wrote a well-known scribe - but the young lovers of A Midsummer Night's Dream never had to contend with UAE laws, Covid, Vladimir Putin, and the British Home Office.

After a succession of obstacles, Gillingham nurse Hazel Taylor has recounted how she was forced to celebrate her wedding alone without her new husband Kareem Kowaitly, drinking pints and tequila to put on a brave face and managing to 'only cry twice'.

And despite problems raised by UAE laws and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hazel says it was the Home Office delays to her husband's visa that meant he was unable to attend their UK wedding in September - delays which are still keeping them apart.

Hazel and Kareem's story began when the former NHS nurse then 36, travelled out to work in 2019.

"I went as a nurse, because a nurse's salary isn't great in the UK," recalled Hazel. "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."

When the couple came to the UK for a holiday in Norfolk last year, Kareem proposed, and they decided to aim for a future in the UK.

Hazel's misgiving over nursing care in the UAE, meant she was keen to head home, and it was only after a change in UAE laws that the pair were legally allowed to live together.

As Hazel is not a Muslim it meant she was also unable to marry Kareem, 34, in the UAE. She was also blocked from marrying him at home because she was not an official UK resident.

So they decided to head to Georgia to officially tie the knot - only for Putin to further threaten proceedings.

"We planned to get married and do the paperwork in Georgia and then have a wedding party in the UK, but when everything kicked off in Ukraine we did the paperwork and got married early."

With no guests, the couple tied the knot in front of a few cows in April, and looked forward to celebrating with friends and family later in the year.

Kareem, who works for Abercrombie and Fitch, made his Spouse Visa application in May, and all looked set for a - slightly later than midsummer night - dream wedding in September at Commissioner's House at Chatham Historic Dockyard.

"The wedding was going to be September 3," added Hazel. "When we applied for a visa decision, the waiting time was 12 weeks. Our plan was that even if he got rejected he would be able to get a tourist visa for the wedding, but we didn't even get a decision.

"The visa didn't get processed in time - nothing happened at all.

"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 cup cakes 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."

Still waiting to be together with her husband, six moths after they were married, Hazel is reaching the end of her tether.

Having made unsuccessful attempts to get a response form the Home Office, she contacted Gillingham MP Rehman Chishti, whose office was was able to tell her that waiting times had increased to 24 weeks.

A message from Mr Chishti's assistant added: "The rationale for this is that in the mid-spring you had two crises impact the Home Office at the same time, that being an unprecedented surge in passport applications following two summers where international travel was difficult to impossible, and due to the demand for and the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

"I can say on my part through May and June I raised many dozens of such cases with the Home Office, two hour queues on the dedicated Home Office lines for MPs were common as all other MPs were doing the same. The Home Office moved substantial volumes of staff into these areas due to the substantial demand that grew incredibly quickly which came from other areas."

Hazel however says the delays are unacceptable and there should be no complications with Kareem's application - he has proof of savings, no criminal record and a multinational employer which is happy to relocate him to the UK.

"If it was a complex situation I would understand," she added. "It just seems unfair.

"Ultimately I would love him to be in this country, but I know I'm not the only person in this predicament. 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.

"I had to relocate two dogs into a different county. I had to leave my husband with no possessions, no wife and no family.

"We speak every evening, but he's not here and life is at a standstill.

“I really think this issue isn't highlighted enough, tearing families to pieces for the sake of admin. No wonder the boats from Calais are full.. I’m thinking of hiring one myself.”

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.”