Ross Clarke is celebrating the beginning of his married life – 18 months after his wedding.

Immigration officials have just agreed to let his Malaysian wife live with him in the UK.

Mr Clarke met Radhika Mohendas while studying at Northumbria University in 2003 and they married in Kuala Lumpur in January, 2010.

The cost of flights, the wedding and honeymoon meant money was tight but they had no idea that he would be deemed too poor to support Radhika in this country.

He failed the UK Border Agency’s financial tests and they said Radhika could not live here.

It was the beginning of his 18-month fight to prove they deserved to live here as man and wife and he earned enough without the need for benefits.

Now he has won that fight having set up Fatleaf, a successful business supplying wooden garden furniture and employing four people.

Mr Clarke, 27, celebrated his victory with friends and a bottle of champagne while planning how to welcome his wife to Bridport.

His case was taken up by MP Oliver Letwin who said the family had been treated badly and agreed to write a letter of recommendation.

Mr Clarke said: “It feels really good. MP Oliver Letwin sent a letter of recommendation and the main difference was that the business is starting to be successful so I can prove an income.

“Before it was ‘this is what I expect to earn’, whereas now I make a just about liveable wage.

“One of the things I said in this application was that if it was rejected I would have to relocate to Malaysia and in doing so we’d have to close down the business. We have four employees and Bridport would lose a valuable asset.

“They seem to have gone for that and they processed the application in nine days – it was meant to take an average of six weeks.”

Mr Clarke is due to welcome his wife to Bridport later this month.

He added: “It would be very difficult to say anything bad because I am just so relieved but if it had been rejected it would have been absolutely devastating.

“It has been exceptionally difficult.

“We have been married 18 months but have only spent seven months together.”