A former Strictly star fears she may be left homeless after a Home Office blunder erased her right to live in Britain from official records.
Professional dancer Anya Garnis, 43, a US citizen, was rejected when she tried to rent a property in Totnes, Devon, with her British husband and two young children.
The Home Office’s landlord checking system suggested she did not have permission to live in the country, despite being here since 2013.
When she called to complain, the Home Office said her application for leave to remain may have been lost – rendering her ‘illegal’.
‘I was absolutely shocked and devastated,’ said Anya, who has also worked as a choreographer on Strictly.
‘We have to leave the place we’re living now in a couple of weeks, but have been told we can’t rent or buy anywhere else.
‘In effect, this will leave us homeless in Britain. If we leave the country, my visa application will be dismissed entirely, but we may have no choice.’
Her husband Sunna Van Kampen, a successful nutrition influencer who owns a vitamin brand, added: ‘She would have been treated better if she had washed up on the beach at Dover. It’s disgusting.’
Anya, who was born in Latvia but moved to the US when she was 17, came to the UK in 2013 to work for Strictly – first as an on-screen professional and later behind the scenes. She obtained a temporary UK visa.
She married Mr Van Kampen in 2017 and they later had two children, now aged three and one.
Foreign nationals can apply for an indefinite leave to remain after living in the UK for 10 consecutive years, however Anya and Sunna spent a brief period living in Austin, Texas, so she has always lived here on rolling temporary visas.
Anya applied to renew her permission last September, when the system switched from physical cards to online visas, but heard nothing for months.
A message on the Home Office website suggested her application was being processed. When she tried to call, they told her they couldn’t discuss individual cases on the phone.
Home Office guidelines state that applicants have automatic leave to remain while their applications are being processed, so she thought nothing of it.
However, when she and her husband tried to rent a house last month, the estate agent ran their names through the Landlord Checking Service (LCS) – which checks Home Office records to ensure prospective tenants can legally rent property.
Anya was shocked to discover that she was rejected. When she called the Home Office, they said they couldn’t find any record of her – and suggested her details may have been lost.
Even after applying again, as instructed, she was still turned down by the LCS.
‘It shouldn’t be this complicated,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t even call it a service – it’s more like a chase.
‘You can talk to human beings on the phone, but they can’t tell you anything. It’s incredibly frustrating.
‘I can’t buy or rent a property, but I also can’t leave the country while I’m waiting for a decision.
‘I know highly skilled Americans who have been forced to give up on a life in Britain and move back home because of this catch.’
The Home Office said it would not comment on an individual case.
