Ex-retailer wins Home Office battle to stay in UK

Retired newsagent Nelson Shardey, formerly of Nelson’s News in Wallasey, Merseyside, has won a Home Office battle to remain permanently in the UK.

Shardey came to Britain from Ghana in 1977, but was told he had no right to live in the UK 42 years later despite having a family and business in the country.

That year, in 2019, the Home Office gave Shardey 2.5 years limited leave to remain on the 10-year route to settlement. This 10-year route to settlement is also referred to as ‘long residence’, and allows a foreign national to gain permanent residence in the UK even if they have not held a qualifying settlement visa but they have lived lawfully in the UK for at least 10 years.

Yet, when Shardey renewed his leave to remain, without legal representation, he submitted the wrong application by accident, and lost his status.

He was advised to make an application for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme, but in 2023 Shardey was told he was not eligible for this route and that he had to re-apply for the 10-year route.

Media support

Shardey then spoke out in the media, with his story spreading to a number of media outlets such as the BBC, ITV and The Guardian, resulting in messages of support and tributes to him as a community member.

The Home Office backed down this month, citing Shardey’s case as ‘exceptional’ and waiving the applications fees. His family revealed that the £48,000 GoFundMe donations to cover his legal campaign would be donated to charity.

Shardey told Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), a voluntary organisation giving support and legal representation to people subject to immigration control: “When I heard the news that I would be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain here, I was overwhelmed, and very very very happy, and relieved. All along I had tried to bottle every feeling in me so that my children wouldn’t be worrying about me. I was so relieved that, in the end, we have won the battle. Now we hope to win the war: for the authorities to agree that the 10-year route is inhuman, and abolish it or shorten it.

“I would like to thank everybody who believed in us and supported us in words and donations. That makes me really really happy. When you hear birds chirping in trees or flying overheard, believe me – that is me and children thanking you from the bottom of our hearts.”