A 74-year-old retired Ghanaian man who has lived in the UK for almost 50 years will have to wait a decade before the Home Office allows him to stay permanently.
Nelson Shardey, from Wallasey on Wirral, for many years assumed he was officially seen as British.
He only discovered otherwise in 2019 and, despite paying tax his entire adult life, now faces thousands of pounds to stay and use the NHS.
The Interior Ministry declined to comment on the ongoing legal process.
‘Never questioned’
Retired newsagent Mr Shardey first came to the UK in 1977 to study accountancy, on a student visa which also allowed him to work.
After a coup d’état in his home country, Ghana, his family could no longer send him money to pay his fees.
He took on a series of jobs, making Mother’s Pride bread and Kipling’s Cakes near Southampton, and Bendick’s Chocolate in Winchester, and said no one ever questioned his right to live or work in the UK.
He married a British woman and moved to Wallasey to run his own business, a newsagent called Nelson’s News.
When the marriage ended, he married another British woman and they had two sons, Jacob and Aaron.
“I tried my best to educate them as best as I could so that none of them were dependent on social activities or anything like that,” Shardey said.
He told his sons to “learn a lot, get a good job and work for themselves”, and they both went on to university and then careers as a research scientist and public relations executive.
Shardey said he never left the UK as he saw no need to do so and considered it his home.
“No one questioned me. I bought all my things on credit, even the house.
“I got a mortgage. And nobody questioned me about anything,” he said.
Shardey served on jury duty and in 2007 received a police award for bravery after confronting a robber who was attacking a delivery man with a baseball bat.
But in 2019, when he applied for a passport so he could return to Ghana after his mother’s death, he was told he was not British.
The Home Office said he had no right to be in the UK.
‘I can’t afford it’
Officials told him to apply for the 10-year path to the agreement.
Over the 10 years it costs around £7,000, with a further £10,500 over the same period to access the NHS.
“I can’t afford any of the money they’re asking for,” said Shardey, who is recovering from prostate cancer.
“Telling me to go down this path is punishment and not fair at all.”
“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about, because I put my life, my whole being into this country.”
When he tried to extend his right to remain in the UK online two years ago, he filled in the wrong form.
This meant the 10-year process would have to start again in 2023.
As a result, Shardey will not be able to remain permanently in the UK until he turns 84.
“I thought it was a joke. It’s just ridiculous,” said his son Jacob, who does research in cardiovascular physiology.
“Why would he need to start this 10-year route when he’s been here since 1977?
“He’s been here longer than the people working at the Home Office on his case have been alive.”
‘Exceptional facts’
With the help of Nicola Burgess, a solicitor at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), Mr Shardey is now taking the Home Office to court.
His case – which his children are trying to pay for through crowdfunding – is that the Home Office should have treated him as an exception because of the time he was in the UK and because of his award for bravery and service to the community . .
“We know that at least one social worker has looked at his file and suggested that he should be granted indefinite leave to remain because there are exceptional facts,” Burgess said.
“And when you look at it on a personal level, if Nelson were your friend or neighbor, you would absolutely agree that he should have the immediate right to make a deal.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
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