An eight-year-old Jamaican girl living with her grandmother, whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa, will not be able to join her parents in the United Kingdom (UK) after her visa application was rejected.

A report from the Guardian highlighted the plight of Lati-Yana Brown, whose British father and Jamaican mother both live in the UK and have been trying to get her visa for some time.

The couple wed in 2025 and saved up the £4,000 visa application fee for Lati-Yana, applying in June.

Their situation became urgent on October 28 when Hurricane Melissa tore through Cash Hill, Hanover, destroying the home where Lati-Yana and her grandmother lived. The report said the grandmother is now unable to properly care for the child.

The parents then appealed to the UK Home Office to expedite the child’s visa decision, describing it as an emergency. However, the officials have since rejected the visa application.

A refusal letter accompanying the decision from the Home Office was quoted in the report as saying: “While it is acknowledged the effects of the natural disaster have significantly affected you and the wider population of Jamaica, I am also aware that you continue to reside with family members. Stating that your grandmother is unable to provide care, evidence of this has not been demonstrated. It has therefore not been demonstrated that you could not be cared for by relatives in the country you currently reside.”

Lati-Yana’s mother, Kerrian Bigby described the decision as distressing.

“Reuniting with my daughter is not just a wish, it is a necessity for her development and my ability to fulfil my responsibilities as her mother. I am so distressed, I can’t eat or sleep,” she told the Guardian.

Attorneys for the family said the decision demonstrated “a troubling lack of compassion”.

The couple plans to appeal the decision, though the report cites a backlog of 106,000 cases which it said means it could take up to two years for the case to be heard.