This is rather long but I hope you will read it.
Nelson Shardey, age 74, is a Ghanaian man who came to the UK nearly 50 years ago to study accountancy. When there was a coup in Ghana his family were unable to continue supporting him so he worked so he could continue his studies.
He worked for well-known firms such as Mother's Pride, Mr Kipling Cakes and Bendincks.
No-one ever queried his right to stay and work here. He paid his taxes.
Later on he ran a newsagent's, married and had a family. His sons went to university here and both have good jobs.
Mr Shardey bought a house after obtaining a mortgage.
He has performed jury service, and in 2007 was given a police award for bravery after tackling a robber who was attacking a delivery man with a baseball bat.
He never applied for a British passport as he never went abroad until 2019 when he wanted to go to Ghana after his mother died.
That's when his troubles started because the Home Office said he had no right to be in the UK.
Officials told him to apply for the 10-year route to settlement.
By that time, even if granted, he will be 84.
Over the 10 years it costs about £7,000, with a further £10,500 over the same period to access the NHS.
"I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking," said Mr Shardey, who is recovering from prostate cancer."
Mr Shardey made a mistake in believing he did not need to apply for settlement here and no-one, not the HMRC, the CJA, the banks ever advised him otherwise.
This man has been an asset to our country, a man to admire.
Surely the Home Office should use some common sense and grant him British citizenship as a matter of urgency?
We need rules but there must be some way round this ridiculousness.
If he was younger I’d think he should be deported
That's rather harsh.
Apart from that oversight, he's led an exemplary life, married a British woman and his children are British.
Added to which, there was coup after coup in Ghana, people being executed in the 1970s and 80s.
don’t they check on people they invite for jury service
Obviously not!
His oversight does not excuse the sheer incompetence of all the authorities he must have had dealings with over the last 50 years!
Germanshepherdsmum
It’s entirely his own fault BlueBelle. He knew the terms of his visa but chose to ignore them.
His Visa allowed him to work, so he did. He applied some time ago but was given the wrong information by someone in the Home Office.
Yes, he should have applied for British citizenship much earlier, perhaps an oversight on his part or he just didn't realise. However, I am sure the majority of us would welcome a man like Mr Shardey as a fellow citizen of the UK and his application should be dealt and citizenship granted without further delay.
It’s entirely his own fault BlueBelle. He knew the terms of his visa but chose to ignore them.
It’s a total an utter disgrace if they haven’t bothered to follow it up in what 50 + years
He an exemplary citizen he has more than earned his right paid his taxes more than many home grown do, has never been a burden on the country been good enough to do jury service ( don’t they check on people they invite for jury service ) and even helped the police tackle a criminal
Leave him alone Home Office give him whatever papers he needs now not in 10 expensive years time
This is not his fault and it’s abysmal treatment of an upstanding citizen
He has done far more than just pay tax or NI- we all do this but that doesn't make us good citizens.
We haven’t conferred automatic citizenship on Commonwealth citizens for many years. This man overstayed his visa and events have now caught up with him. If he was younger I’d think he should be deported, but since he’s now retirement age and has worked and presumably paid tax and NI, then he should be granted permanent residency or citizenship. It needed take long. He was doing a degree, was it a post graduate degree? Therefore he is not a stupid man. He knew he’d overstayed his visa and now events have caught up with him.
It shouldn't but it does. I think the question should be was he deliberately avoiding renewing his visa or not? This was be very costly to try to prove and therefore for reasons of expediency he should be granted citizenship and allowed to stay. There have probably over the years, been many examples of this, including my own late father-in-law who stowed away on a boat to get here and worked hard all his life.
Those stories didn't make the news back then and shouldn't now.
I see no reason why he should be treated differently to anyone else who doesn’t leave the country when their visa expires. He got away with it for years. That should not make a difference.
It's the length of time and the obstructions put in his way which are, in fact, a scandal.
He's a Commonwealth citizen and as such the procedure should not take ten years.
Germanshepherdsmum
It isn’t a scandal or a disgrace. He came here on a student visa which also allowed him to work. That doesn’t confer citizenship.
Agreed.
He obviously overstayed his visa.
Nonetheless since he’s been here so long and worked to support himself and paid his taxes, I think he could apply for citizenship and it should be granted within a few weeks. I can’t see a problem. He’s not a victim.
Germanshepherdsmum
He outstayed his visa.
Yes, it was probably an oversight on his part.
Even so, a rapid investigation of his history and his life since coming here should have meant his right to stay could have been granted in the six months which is stated as the minimum time from application to granting his application for British citizenship.
They've happily accepted his tax and NI payments all these years and are now refusing him NHS treatment without payment and stopped his pension, I believe.
I think you’ll find the man with the cat remained thanks to the ECHR, not the HO.
If they cave in over this man and his expired visa, of which he will have been well aware, they set a precedent. He isn’t stupid. He knew full well that he only had limited permission to stay here.
The Home Office and common sense don't belong in the same sentence. The HM hasn't been fit for purpose for years. They hound a decent man like this yet let sex offenders stay because they have a cat.
Elrel
He’s a decent man, he’s 74. Does the Home Office pride itself on being without compassion?
More than their job's worth, Elrel
He outstayed his visa.
I didn't say it was a scandal or a disgrace
I do think that whoever has been dealing with this at the Home Office has been obstructive, put obstacles in his path by telling him to apply through the wrong channels which delayed his application by 18 months and shows a lack of initiative.
It shows up the Home Office as complete plodding duffers.
He’s a decent man, he’s 74. Does the Home Office pride itself on being without compassion?
It isn’t a scandal or a disgrace. He came here on a student visa which also allowed him to work. That doesn’t confer citizenship.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/15/wirral-local-legend-refused-indefinite-leave-to-remain-by-home-office
Retired newsagent Mr Shardey first came to the UK in 1977 to study accountancy, on a student visa that also allowed him to work.
I thought you had to be here for 10 years to be eligible for British citizenship, and then had to undertake a test asking questions on various British topics, and then have good references. This is what happened with a young lady we know from Bosnia who just met the 10 years by 3 months which we were able to prove.
Germanshepherdsmum
I heard his story on the news. Presumably he obtained a visa to come here to study and that visa expired many years ago. He is not an unintelligent man. Why did he not take steps to enable him to remain here legally when his visa expired?
That’s what I thought when I read about his case in the news today.
Going to another country to study a subject and being allowed to work doesn’t make you a citizen of that country.
He fell through the cracks and the authorities lost track of him I expect.
So it isn’t a scandal at all.
Nevertheless I think the HO could now consider him a special case since he’s paid into the system for a long time.
Some jobsworth somewhere needs to tick all his boxes. It’s ridiculous. Triage it. Get him sorted.
Germanshepherdsmum
I heard his story on the news. Presumably he obtained a visa to come here to study and that visa expired many years ago. He is not an unintelligent man. Why did he not take steps to enable him to remain here legally when his visa expired?
He may not have needed a visa then, being a commonwealth citizen.
Callistemon21
I would have thought someone could make a decision on a case like this within 24 hours.
Ah, there lies the rub. Enter details = computer says no.
I’m afraid common sense is in short supply in the Home Office.
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