A Ghanaian has filed a legal complaint against the United Kingdom Home Office after being denied permanent residency despite having lived in the nation for 42 years.
Nelson Shardey, a retired 74-year-old Ghanaian, moved to the United Kingdom in 1977.
Shardey, who has lived in the UK for about 50 years, was told by the Home Office that he would have to wait another ten years before being granted permanent status, according to the BBC.
Shardey had long felt he was legitimately British after arriving in the UK in 1977 to study accounting on a student visa that permitted him to work.
He just found this in 2019, and despite having paid taxes his entire adult life, he now faces spending thousands of pounds to stay and use the NHS, according to the report.
According to him, I never left the UK since I saw no reason to and considered it my home.
“Nobody questioned me. I bought all my things on credit, even the house.
“I got a mortgage. And nobody questioned me about anything,” Shardy, a retired newsagent told the BBC.
Explaining further, he claimed he took on a series of jobs, manufacturing Mother’s Pride bread and Kipling’s Cakes near Southampton, and Bendick’s Chocolate in Winchester, after a coup in his native Ghana, which affected his family’s capacity to give him money for the fees.
He further stated that no one had ever questioned his right to live or work in the UK.
However, when Shardy filed for a passport in 2019 to return to Ghana after his mother died, he was informed that he was not British.
The Home Office stated that he had no right to be in the UK.
Officials advised him to seek for a 10-year settlement.
Over a ten-year period, it costs approximately £7,000, plus an additional £10,500 for access to the NHS.
“I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking. Telling me to go through that route is a punishment, and it’s not fair in any way,” said Mr Shardey, who is recovering from prostate cancer.
“I don’t understand why this fuss at all, because I put my life, my whole self into this country,” he added.
When he attempted to extend his right to stay in the UK online two years ago, he completed the incorrect form.
That meant the 10-year process had to restart in 2023.
As a result, Mr Shardey will be unable to permanently reside in the United Kingdom until the age of 84.
Nicola Burgess, a lawyer with Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, is now bringing the Home Office to court on Shardey’s behalf.
The Home Office declined to comment on the matter, according to the BBC.