Blind Nigerian pensioner refused UK settlement, letter mentions India
A blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the UK for 26 years has been refused indefinite leave to remain under the Home Office’s new settlement rules.
Comfort*, 67, arrived in the UK in 2000 and went blind shortly afterwards due to acute glaucoma. After 20 years in the UK, she was granted leave to remain under long residence rules. Those on that route must renew their visa every 30 months for 10 years before applying for indefinite leave to remain.
Under new settlement rules announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Comfort is likely to have to renew her visa for the next 20 years before becoming eligible for indefinite leave to remain, when she is in her 80s.
Lawyers at Refugee and Migrant Justice applied for her to be granted indefinite leave to remain now, citing her age and disability. The Home Office rejected the application. The refusal letter told her she could return to Nigeria because services exist there for blind people. The letter concluded: “Your circumstances are not so severe or lacking in potential treatment in India that it would warrant indefinite leave to remain in this case.”
Comfort said: “I don’t know why the Home Office said I could go back to India. It’s a country I have never visited and have no connection with.”
She also said: “I have been living in this country for 26 years. I have found my home here and settled well. I have my friends, my church and do voluntary work. I’m a good citizen, not a law-breaker and am begging the Home Office to have mercy on me and grant me indefinite leave to remain now, rather than making me wait 20 more years.”
Nick Beales, head of campaigning at Migrant and Refugee Justice, said: “This woman is blind, in her late 60s and has lived in the UK for a quarter of a century. She meets the rules to remain here and there is no public interest in making her continue to renew her visa.”
According to freedom of information data obtained by Refugee and Migrant Justice, many people of pensionable age have applied for settlement but are likely to die before satisfying the new wait times. One person in the Home Office data disclosure is a woman from Pakistan aged 103, who will not be eligible for settlement until she is 123 years old.
Home Office sources said corrective action was being taken to re-issue an updated letter to the woman. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases. All applications for permission to stay in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits, in line with the immigration rules and based on the information and evidence provided by the applicant.”
- Name has been changed.
