Passenger stranded at airport for TWO months over visa permit blunder in real-life echo of Tom Hanks film The Terminal

A PASSENGER has been left stranded in an airport for two months over a massive visa permit blunder.

Dr Shiva Kaviani found herself trapped in Turkey over the horror ordeal echoing blockbuster Tom Hanks film The Terminal.

Jam Press

Dr Shiva Kaviani has been stuck in Istanbul Airport for two months over visa issues[/caption]

Jam Press

Airport staff are now considering moving Kavian as her health has seriously declined[/caption]

Dr Shiva Kavian has been trying to get home to Toronto the whole time but has been denied a new visa as her permit has run out in CanadaJam Press

The woman, a respected academic, was visiting her home country of Iran and after a busy trip she hopped onto a return flight to Canada.

Kaviani moved to Toronto years ago for work and has happily lived in North America since.

But when her flight stopped over in Turkey, Kaviani quickly found herself under the spotlight by authorities.

The staff working at the Istanbul Airport laid down the law telling her, her visa wasn’t valid anymore.

Meaning she couldn’t leave Turkey and was stuck in Istanbul.

Dr Kaviani was then constantly denied a new visa as her Canadian residency permit had expired.

Leaving her in a very sticky situation over 5,000miles from home.

Ever since, the unlucky traveller has been trapped inside the airport living the same day over and over again.

Facing major issues along the way as Kaviani only has one suitcase on her.

Strapped for cash and clean clothes, Kaviani also faced another big issue – finding food.

As a devout vegetarian, Kaviani has reportedly been struggling to find any tasty grub outside of a very select few spots.

She has also been facing serious struggles to get a good nights sleep with her options being the cold, hard floor or unforgiving airport chairs.

Compounding the issues, there also aren’t any showers available inside Istanbul Airport.

This lack of food, poor sleep and cleanliness has led to the white-haired scholar’s health steadily declining.

The worst being a nasty set of wounds on her feet, say local media.

Airport staff have been trying their best to help and support Kaviani but there is little they can do to solve her visa conundrum.

Authorities are now reportedly planning to move her to a new location beyond the transit lounge over the growing concerns for her health.

Kaviani has spent the last two months negotiating with the Consulate General of Canada in order to find a solution but these chats reportedly just kept hitting dead ends.

Local media have claimed her issues stem from a political ban placed on Kaviani by the mullahs in Tehran -meaning she can’t go back to Iran.

The mullahs are a group of Muslims who are well respected in the community are often regarded as leaders or religious teachers.

They have been persecuting students and academics like Kaviani for years, according to human rights organisations because of their activism and views that have been frowned upon.

Dr Kaviani never hopped onto another plane after landing in Turkey and has been forced to stay in the airport ever since – echoing Tom Hanks in the blockbuster 2004 film The Terminal.

Her situation’s been compared to the film that sees an Eastern European man get stuck in New York’s JFK Airport.

The Hollywood movie was inspired by Iranian national Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in Terminal 1 of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for a staggering 18 years.

Life in an airport

This isn’t the first time someone has lived inside an airport after Nasseri did so back in 1988.

Between then and 2006, Mehran was stuck in legal limbo because he had the wrong residency papers meaning he wasn’t allowed to board a plane.

He decided to stay in the Paris airport and became a worldwide story for his way of life that saw him often eat McDonald’s for dinner and spend his days writing in a journal on his infamous red bench.

His story went on to inspire the Steven Spielberg‘s comedy-drama film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks.

Hanks plays a man trapped in JFK airport after being denied entry to the US.

But his life gets turned on its head when he’s also banned from returning home to the fictional eastern European state of Krakozhia, due to a military coup.

Mehran tragically died in 2022 after suffering a heart attack inside the airport.

And recently a Brit man caused uproar in Poland after spending three weeks pestering travellers after living inside an airport.

The man – known only as Prince N – was reported to cops on numerous occasions for being rude and aggressive to passengers in Katowice airport.

Jam Press

The academic has struggled as she just has one suitcase, no access to a shower, bed, money or food options[/caption]

Alamy

The situation echos the film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks[/caption]

AP:Associated Press

Mehran Karimi Nasseri lived in an airport for a staggering 16 years[/caption]