A MARRIED couple are to be reunited after a "nightmare" two-year separation.

The long journey from Morocco to Malton can now begin for Abdeljalil Chalkhani, who has finally been granted a visa allowing him to live with his North Yorkshire wife Elaine.

Elaine today said she was "still pinching herself" following the news that her husband had finally overcome the red tape that has kept them apart since February 2004.

The long wait has cost the couple thousands of pounds in consular fees, postage costs and phone bills.

But it took a ruling by a judge at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal last month and the intervention of the local citizens' advice bureau to finally bring them together.

Elaine, 44, said: "I am delighted at the eventual outcome, and I want to let others in similar situations know that there can be a happy ending.

"However, I am angry that this has taken up two years of our married life. We've missed birthdays, our first anniversary, everything - special things that we can never get back.

"We just want to be able to do all the little things people do, like hold hands, cuddle each other and go out."

The Evening Press reported last week how Elaine had asked Ryedale citizen's advice bureau to intervene on her behalf, after lengthy delays at the British consulate in Casablanca.

After an 87-question interview, the consulate turned down his visa application, and even after the tribunal ruling, progress had been slow.

Staff at the bureau personally faxed a copy of the immigration judge's decision to Casablanca to try and speed up the process.

Their efforts have finally borne fruit, and Elaine has now received news that 44-year-old Abdeljalil will be able to fly to Britain to live with her within a month.

Elaine said: "My husband has been singing and dancing since he heard the news. It's been so hard for us both. I lost a lot of weight because of the stress, and life isn't easy in Morocco."

Elaine added: "We met in Malton in June 2002, married in Morocco in February 2004, and since then we have had just four days of married life together.

"My friends have told me to give it up and forget about him, but I still love him as much as the day I met him. To me, the separation has been like a prison sentence."

The couple will live together in Malton, and Abdeljalil hopes to work as a chef.

Updated: 09:48 Saturday, March 04, 2006