A CANADIAN family of seven will start their journey back to Canada today – their dream of a life in the Highlands shattered after more than eight years.

Jason and Christy Zielsdorf invested around £300,000 in Laggan Stores, which became known to millions of TV viewers as McKechnie’s in the BBC series Monarch of the Glen. Now the shop is closed after the Home Office refused to extend their entrepreneurs’ visa or allow them time to sell their lifeline business.

The notice on the website of Laggan Stores reads: “We sadly had to shut the café & shop portion of Laggan Stores Coffee Bothy & Wayfarer’s Rest... Sadly, our deportation is under way and we will be leaving our bonnie Highland home in early May.”

However, rather than be forcibly removed by the Home Office it is thought the couple and their five children would make their own way to Canada, where they have been attempting to secure temporary accommodation. Jason was understandably bitter and disappointed when he last spoke to The National: “What’s the point in dealing with these people anymore? We’ve already committed eight-and-a-half years of our lives and upwards of £50,000 in fees just to be treated like garbage.

“The Home Office are not waiting for us to get a buyer. I had people lined up to take the shop over so we could keep serving the community and all the tourists and visitors that come in to enjoy the Highlands, but that fell through at the last minute, so we had to close on Good Friday.”

Their departure came as Americans Russell and Ellen Felber take their visa case to a judicial review at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

They moved to Inverness nearly six years ago and, like the Zielsdorfs, invested heavily – around £400,000 – transforming a dingy building into the Torridon Guest House, an award-winning bed and breakfast establishment.

The Felbers had extended their first visa successfully, but when they applied for a second extension it was refused because officials decided to retrospectively implement a rule change. A week before Christmas they received – along with a delivery of seasonal cards – their notice to quit the UK, a delivery that was responsible for Ellen being admitted to hospital through stress.

The couple have been welcomed into their local community, including bell-ringing activities at Inverness Cathedral, and Bishop Mark Strange, along with neighbours and friends, have all spoken up for them. Almost 1500 people signed a petition to the Home Office calling for them to scrap their deportation.

Russell said last night that he would attend the court with his legal team: “My lawyer says we have a case, but they’re not really telling me anything. Ellen will be staying at home and some friends will look in on her. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Their case was even taken up by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote to the Home Office on their behalf. She said then that the Scottish Government “welcomes migrants from all over the world and the value that they bring to Scotland’s economy and society” and that pushing for an immigration system that “provides a welcoming environment for new Scots and their families” would remain one of their priorities.

Meanwhile, a Polish mother-of-two who is married to a Scot but is worried about her situation post-Brexit, has told of the letters she has written to her MP and six MEPs.

Monika Armet has lived in Orkney – where she met and married Billy – for almost 10 years and was shocked when, after the Brexit vote, her application for residency was rejected. She wrote to MEPs Alyn Smith and Ian Hudghton (SNP), Catherine Stihler and David Martin (Labour), Ian Duncan (Tory) and David Coburn (Ukip). All except Coburn have now replied.

Monika said: “Article 50 was triggered on March 29, 2017, and the current government still has not secured EU nationals’ right to stay in the UK. Instead, Theresa May has decided that the country needed another General Election, even though last year she said there wasn’t going to be one until 2020.

“EU nationals in the UK are not allowed to vote in the General Election, so yet again we are not allowed a voice in the matter.”