Josiah
A retired newsagent who came to the UK on a student visa nearly 50 years ago now faces deportation after being informed by the Home Office that he is not a British citizen.
Nelson Shardey, 74, arrived in Britain from Ghana in 1977 to study accountancy and has lived in the UK ever since, building a family and business in Wallasey, Wirral. He assumed he was considered a British citizen until 2019 when he applied for a British passport and was told he did not have official leave to remain in the UK.
Despite paying taxes all his adult life, Mr. Shardey now faces having to pay thousands of pounds to remain in the UK and use the NHS. Recovering from prostate cancer, he says he ‘cannot afford’ the fees and feels that being forced to go through the 10-year route to settlement is ‘punishment’ and ‘not fair in any way.’
Mr. Shardey initially moved to the UK on a student visa, which allowed him to work. After a coup in Ghana disrupted his family’s ability to send money for his school fees, he entered the workforce, taking various jobs such as making Mother’s Pride bread and Kipling’s Cakes near Southampton. He was never questioned about his right to work or live in the UK.
He eventually moved to Wallasey, where he opened his own business, Nelson’s News, after marrying a British citizen. Following the end of his first marriage, Mr. Shardey married another British woman, with whom he has two sons, Jacob and Aaron.
Mr. Shardey told the BBC he has never left the UK, considering it his home. “Nobody questioned me. I bought all my things on credit, even the house. I got a mortgage. And nobody questioned me about anything.” In 2019, he applied for a passport to visit Ghana after his mother’s death but was told he was not British and had no right to be in the UK.
Officials urged him to apply for the 10-year route to settlement, which costs about £7,000 over ten years, with an additional £10,500 for NHS access. “I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking,” said Mr. Shardey, adding that “telling me to go through that route is a punishment.”
Mr. Shardey, who says “I put my life, my whole self into this country,” attempted to extend his right to stay in the UK two years ago but filled out the wrong form online, causing the 10-year process to restart in 2023.
With the help of Nicola Burgess, a lawyer at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), Mr. Shardey is now taking the Home Office to court. A Home Office spokesperson told MailOnline: “It would be inappropriate to comment on active legal proceedings.”
Mr. Shardey has described his experience in Britain as finding his ‘family,’ feeling welcomed and appreciated. Known as a ‘local legend,’ he received a police award for bravery in 2007 after tackling a robber attacking a delivery man with a baseball bat. The Seacombe community also rallied behind him after he was burgled in 2013.
Reflecting on his life in the UK, Mr. Shardey told The Liverpool Echo, “It was like a family here. It was really great. They behaved like human beings, no difference irrespective of colour. They welcomed me, invited me to parties, everything.”
Source:Omanghana.com
