A British actress who has appeared on Broadway has spoken out after her visa was delayed by US authorities.

Karen who hails from the West Midlands was accepted into a prestigious drama school in New York and had been living there for five years. She returned to the UK and is now hoping to star in a film but her plans have been delayed.

She told us, “I was due to come back after graduating in 2017, however, if you have studied in the US they grant you a year-long visa called an OPT so you can stay and work in the US.

“I am British born and at the moment I am waiting to go back to New York as I have lived there for five years and have met great success both on screen and on stage. My visa application, though, has proved difficult.”

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She says the response from US authorities has been extremely frustrating despite her going above and beyond to meet their requirements compared to some of her colleagues.

Karen said, “I graduated with five other international students in a class of 16, all of whom received their visa's promptly and mine was first denied because they ‘lost’ my application.

“USCIS then told me to reapply and my case was ‘pending’ for two years so I could not leave the country to come back to the UK.

“I even contacted my local MP in the UK and they did not offer any support.

“The visa I am applying for now requires that you go back to your home country and gather evidence to prove you have worked enough to warrant this visa.

“I have worked just as much if not more than some of my counterparts that I graduated with and I am still being met with issues. One response I had was that the shows I did were not ‘distinguished’ enough."

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Karen has been a lead in a show at Carnegie Hall New York and was also the lead in the play ‘Good Fit’ about a British Muslim woman navigating London on the day of the 7/7 terrorist attacks. She appeared in a Broadway musical directed by the playwright of Cinderella, Douglas Carter Beane where she starred opposite Alan Cumming.

She has been cast as the lead in several films including ‘Frank's Plan’ on Amazon Prime Video. The comedy film was about an American Muslim woman whose prejudiced neighbour steals her dog.

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Karen is set to star in a feature film called ‘Victimhood’ which is set in New York and is going to be filmed later this year.

The film is about a group of strangers who wake up in a panic room and find they have been profiled and chosen to take part in an experiment. Karen will be playing the lead role ‘Sana’ who is an American Muslim woman struggling with her faith and sexuality.

She said, “There is a high demand for British Asian actors in the US, but there is still a struggle to make it to Broadway.

“To be cast on Broadway you need to be a part of AEA, the actors union. To get into the union you need to have a green card or US citizenship and to apply for a green card you need to have your visa approved and as you can see from my story, this is where it is proving difficult for people who look like me to succeed on the same level as their counterparts.”