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A retired London writer and his Japanese wife have become the latest victims of “draconian” British immigration law which is keeping them 6,000 miles apart.

William Judge, 70, and his wife Machiko Oyama, 56, have been married for 18 years, living in a £1 million flat in central London. But after travelling back to Japan to care for her dying mother, Ms Oyama has been refused entry back into the UK.

The former teacher was given permanent leave to remain in Britain two years after she married Mr Judge in 1995.

But when her mother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour she was forced to return to her home country in 2005 to provide care and support. Ms Oyama’s mother died the same year followed by two of her aunts.

As an only child, the responsibility of organising the lengthy Buddhist mourning process fell to her.

She was scheduled to fly back to the UK in February this year, but was refused a re-entry visa on the grounds she has been absent for longer than the two years permitted.

The couple, who were aware of the rule, had assumed a paragraph in the legislation that makes an exception if a person can prove they maintained a strong connection to the UK during the time away applied to them. But Mr Judge is now facing an immigration tribunal hearing where he will have to fight his wife’s case.

He said it was “ludicrous” they were having to go through such an arduous procedure when it was clear she should be allowed to return.

“The core issue here is a draconian measure, which could well infringe human rights, which now prevents my wife from re-entering the UK even as a tourist,” he said.

He said he will be relying on the very fact of their long-standing marriage, his regular visits to Japan in the past eight years and their daily hour-long conversations on the phone as evidence of her ties to Britain.

He also said she owns a flat worth about £435,000 and is a director of a company that owns the freehold to a five-storey Georgian building in the capital.

In addition she operates her own UK bank accounts and pays council tax as well as all the other expenses relating to her property interests.

Ms Oyama said: “Every year since September 2005 my husband has made regular visits to Japan where he has spent on average eight to 12 weeks with me at my mother’s home.”

A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency said it “does not comment on individual cases”, but added: “Each case is dealt with on an individual basis.”

The Standard has also highlighted the case of businesswoman Marianne Bailey, 35, who faces giving birth on her own as her husband Kei Yamamoto, 30, could be forced to leave the country a month before their child is due in July.

A loophole means that Mrs Bailey-Yamamoto’s income falls below the £18,600-a-year threshold required by the UKBA.