A Norwegian woman who has lived in Britain for 20 years says she has been left stranded in Pakistan after travelling there to adopt a baby.

The UK Home Office has refused Nina Saleh a visa to return home with baby Sofia three times, despite Saleh going through a stringent and lengthy adoption process in the UK with British authorities’ involvement.

Speaking from Karachi, where she has now spent four months waiting for her case to be resolved, Saleh told the Guardian that the situation is making her ill with stress.

“My home is in London. I have no family, friends or network here. I am renting a small room at great expense and the temperature at the moment is 40C. The electricity is cut off at times and we are left without a fan for hours on end. My body is covered in eczema, I have lost so much hair that I have bald patches in places, I am suffering from insomnia and I have lost my appetite.”

Direct adoption from Pakistan to the UK is not allowed as there is no inter-country adoption agreement in place. Instead, couples or individuals coming from the UK use an established route of getting legal guardianship of the baby and then travelling back to Britain, where the authorities formalise the adoption process.

Saleh is worried that there is a prejudice against her as an EEA national.

“I had a very stringent, lengthy process in the UK, led by UK social services. A social worker visited me at home for two hours a week, for a year. They knew I was coming here to Pakistan, the Department of Education who have approved me for adoption knew I was coming to Pakistan.

“I believe I am being treated like a second-class citizen because I have Norwegian citizenship. The two other couples I travelled with, one British, one mixed British-European national, have both returned easily to the UK with their babies. This is not unfamiliar territory to the Home Office or the adoption agency.”

Saleh paid £14,000 to the Intercountry Adoption Centre in the UK, which facilitated her match with baby Sofia in November when she was just one month old. Saleh says that the IAC did not offer her any immigration advice.

The Guardian contacted the IAC, but CEO Satwinder Sandhu refused to comment.

Saleh’s solicitor in the UK, Saimah Razzaq, is concerned that the Home Office is applying the wrong regulations to the case.

“They first refused her because she doesn’t have the right to bring Sofia in as a family member under article seven of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016, which we agree she doesn’t as there is no formal adoption in place.

“So the last two applications we made referred to her right to bring Sofia in under article eight, which refers to extended family members. The issue in dispute here is the relationship between Sofia and Nina. I think they are not looking properly at her application. It is negligent.”

Although Saleh has considered travelling to Norway to escape her situation, she has no home there. Moreover, to establish her legal status as Sofia’s parent, the adoption process must be completed in the UK, where it started.

Saleh and Sofia have barely left their sweltering room because she feels unsafe.

“Karachi is not a safe place and Sofia and I spend 95% of our time indoors. I have felt hopeless for so many months now.”

Sofia is now seven months old and Saleh is desperate to bring her home.

“My friends in London have been emailing the immigration minister Caroline Nokes asking her to help bring me home. It is only the messages and calls from all my friends in London that are keeping me going.

“I am so disappointed in the immigration minister and the Home Office. I’m not trying to get into the UK, I’m trying to get back home. I need to get back to my business, my friends and my life.”

Baby Sofia at her makeshift home in Karachi, Pakistan. Photograph: Khaula Jamil/The Guardian

Nina’s neighbours in Maida Vale are shocked that she can’t return to Britain. Gobind, who lives in her building, said he can’t understand why she is stuck after the British authorities were so heavily involved in the adoption process.

“Social workers came to see how she lives, to see if she is right for adoption, they wanted to meet neighbours and they visited her multiple times.

“We were really excited when she was matched so quickly with a baby and thought she would be home straight away. It’s scary to think what she is going through, looking after a new baby all alone.”

On 5 June, the Home Office said in a letter to Saleh that they were “unable, at present, to provide a timescale for when a decision will be made on Sofia’s application”.

The Guardian contacted the Home Office, which responded: “We are in touch with Ms Saleh and exploring the options available to her and her daughter.”

Both Saleh and her solicitor in the UK said that they do not agree with the statement that the Home Office is “in touch” with them.

Saleh said: “They are just awful. To say they are in touch with me is a complete fabrication. They have been looking at this since March, all they have done is write to me and tell me they are looking at it and they don’t know when it will be resolved. It’s now nearly July. They need to open a dialogue.”