NH Doctor, Iranian Wife Reunited At Logan Airport After Travel Ban Stayed
BOSTON (CBS) -- Dr. Omid Moghimi from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire married his wife, Dorsa, in Iran last year--but she couldn't get into the country until Wednesday.
After 19 months of going through the process of trying to get here, Dorsa was not allowed to come because of President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
Dr. Moghimi said her visa interview was cancelled after Trump's travel ban was announced.
"We had more documents to get prepared to get her ready for the interview," he said. "We had purchased tickets and hotels and everything, because she had to fly to Abu Dhabi to do it."
But when a court stayed that order, that opened the door.
"We are very relieved and very lucky that we got through," said Dr. Moghimi.
It was the first time the couple saw one another in nine months.
Members of the doctor's family joined him at Logan Airport Wednesday in celebrating Dorsa's arrival and the couple's reunion.
Dr. Moghimi said the two were constantly in touch with lawyers and their elected officials. He was even considering leaving his job at the medical center and moving to Iran to be with her.
"We were trying to figure out honestly even to the extreme of, would I eventually have to leave the country so that I could live with my wife?" he said. "Our lives have been in turmoil, as have the lives of many other people."
But he realizes that there could be more challenges ahead.
"If my wife wants to go back to Iran, if she wants to have her parents come and visit, everything is still very uncertain," he said. "The story is not over yet, but we're very relieved."
It's a problem that worries many, the doctor acknowledges.
"There are certainly still thousands of people who were affected by the initial ban and are still being affected by it," said Dr. Moghimi. "There are still thousands of people who are very, very nervous."
But today, Dr. Moghimi is not one of them.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
