Long-distance relationships are challenging at the best of times. But as countries suddenly shut their borders during the coronavirus pandemic, unmarried couples living in different parts of the world found themselves unable to visit each other as governments classed such trips as "non-essential".

While many travel restrictions have now been eased, and couples and families from different European countries have been able to reunite since June, the ongoing European ban on most US travelers means transatlantic couples have now been separated for almost eight months.