A newlywed is preparing to jet off for a new life with his American wife after immigration red tape forced them to live apart for the first ten months of their marriage.

David Scott, 30, of Yeadon, and his wife Paige, 32, who met on the Internet last April and married in June, plan to set up home and start a family in the US.

But they had to put their American Dream on hold and lead separate lives on opposite sides of the Atlantic while David's immigration application was processed.

The US Immigration and Naturalisation Service has now approved his request for a temporary residency visa and the final hurdle to overcome before the Scotts can be together permanently is an interview on Friday with immigration officials at the American Embassy in London.

David will have his paperwork and application checked by officials and undergo a medical before a visa can be issued but is confident the process will be a formality.

He is now planning to fly to the US on Sunday, has sold his house and finishes his job as a team leader with Barclays Mortgages in Leeds on Thursday.

And as well as settling down with Paige in her home town of Savannah, Georgia, David is also looking forward to a new career after being offered a job as a manager by an Internet software call centre company during a holiday in America.

David said: "After all the hassle we've had to go through it all seems to be turning out really well and we're now looking forward to being able to start a proper life together.

"It's still got to be confirmed at the interview but I'm confident I'll get my visa. Getting the interview date was brilliant news and I can't wait to get back over there now.

"The last ten months have been a bit of an ordeal and it's put quite a bit of pressure on us but the fact we've had to live apart and got through it shows how strong our marriage is.

"We never thought it wouldn't happen but there have been times when we struggled to see how we'd cope with the length of time we would be apart.

"It's Paige's birthday on May 20 so it will be nice to be there for that and for our first wedding anniversary in June.''

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