Mrs World UK Denied Entering US Due to Syria Link

Mrs. World UK Leen Clive denied permission to fly to the US to compete in a global pageant because she was born in Syria.

Clive, 29, from Hessle, East Yorkshire, is due to represent the United Kingdom in the Mrs World final. She believes that her visa was refused as she was born in Damascus.

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On their part, US officials said they could not comment on Clive's case.

Upon arriving in the UK in 2013, Clive learned to speak English and also campaigned for female equality and the rights of refugees.

She was supposed to take part in the 35th annual Mrs. World event on 15 January, which is open to married women, alongside 57 other contestants.

Nonetheless, the visa issue may mean the UK cannot send an entry to the event.

Clive said: "I applied with a British passport. I am representing Britain and I'm a British citizen, so I had no idea I'd be banned from the US."

The US government says applicants who are citizens of countries that use state-sponsored terrorism must be interviewed by a consular officer. Syria is identified as being one of those countries.

"My husband and my baby girl had their visas granted, but mine was refused - and the only difference is my place of birth," Clive added.

Emma Hardy, Hull West and Hessle Labour MP, affirmed that she was trying to intervene and rectify the situation.

Clive appealed to the US embassy for "common sense" to grant her visa in time for her to attend the competition.

"I'm still hopeful. I know I'm running out of time, but if someone from the embassy could look at my application then things could be different."

In a statement, US officials said: "Visa records are confidential under US law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of inpidual visa cases."