British man forced to spend dream Mexico holiday alone after girlfriend deported over visa mix-up
A British man was forced to spend his dream holiday to Mexico alone after his Brazilian girlfriend was deported over a visa mix-up.
Scott Kinghorn, 32, and partner Thallise Marciano, 29, splashed out £2,500 on the trip of a lifetime.
But their holiday plans were left in tatters when Mr Kinghorn became separated from Ms Marciano.
She is a Brazilian national and was therefore required to apply for a separate visa to gain entry to Mexico.
But Mr Kinghorn claims they were not told this by the booking agent – meaning he was left stranded in Mexico for a week while Ms Marciano was sent home.
Tui said it was sorry to hear of the couple’s experience but that it is the customer’s responsibility to check visa rules.Mr Kinghorn, from Edinburgh, Scotland, said: “The whole trip was a complete nightmare from start to finish.
“Tui are responsible as she should never have been able to board that flight with a Brazilian passport and the incorrect documents.”
The couple booked a last-minute package holiday to Cancun with Tui at the beginning of June and flew from Glasgow two weeks later.
They filled out visa forms on the plane in line with Mexico’s government guidelines on Tui’s website, they say, ready for when they landed.
But on their arrival at immigration, Ms Marciano was stopped by border force staff as she walked through passport control.
The couple had separated passing through immigration and Mr Kinghorn arrived at baggage claim unaware that his girlfriend had been detained
He tried to walk back to passport control to see where she was but airport staff refused to let him through.
They went to find Ms Marciano themselves and, after ten minutes, returned with bad news.
They explained that she had been detained and was being sent back to Glasgow as she had travelled with an invalid visa.
Mr Kinghorn said he then tried to explain he wanted to fly home with her but security refused to let him board the return flight or even see her before she was deported.
“We arrived in Cancun buzzing for our holiday, but when I arrived at baggage claim I realised I’d lost her,” he said.
“I went back to look for her but the immigration officers refused to let me walk back through passport control.
“They eventually agreed to look for me and, when they came back, they said she was being sent home for having the wrong visa.
“I tried to say I was flying home with her but they said that was impossible as I’d already entered the country.
