English civil servants Kathy and Edward Francis planned to surprise their grandson Micah Strachan with the holiday of a lifetime to Florida in February.
They were only going to tell Micah about it when they took him to the airport on February 19 for the flight to the US.
They had already spent more than £1,500 ($2381.00) on plane tickets and had been organizing the trip for months.
But this week US Embassy officials denied the schoolboy a visa to enter the US. His rejection letter stated, “Because you either did not demonstrate strong ties outside the United States or were not able to demonstrate that your intended activities in the US would be consistent with the visa status, you are ineligible.”
They said there was a risk he would not leave the US at the end of his holiday and refused his application under Section 214 (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Kathy and Edward Francis, Micah’s grandparents, said they included a letter from his school in the visa application confirming that he lived and studied in England.
They are now pleading with US authorities to have a change of heart. They have even written letters to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the incident.
