A blind 67-year-old Nigerian woman who has spent 26 years building a life in Britain has been told by the country's Home office to return to India, despite never having visited the country.
The extraordinary mix-up came in a letter rejecting her request for permanent residency, with the department suggesting she could seek treatment in a country she has no connection with. The decision could also leave her waiting another 20 years to secure the right to settle permanently in Britain.
According to a report by The Guardian, the woman, identified as Comfort (name changed), arrived in Britain in 2000 and lost her eyesight shortly afterwards due to acute glaucoma. She was granted permission to remain in the country in 2022 under the long-residence immigration route after spending 20 years in Britain.
However, with her permission to stay still requiring periodic renewal, her lawyers at Refugee and Migrant Justice approached the Home office seeking an exceptional grant of indefinite leave to remain (ILR), citing her age, disability and long-established life in Britain. The Home office rejected the request.
In its refusal letter, the department initially said she could return to Nigeria, pointing to the availability of services for blind people there. But the concluding section of the same letter referred to India, stating that her circumstances did not demonstrate a lack of treatment in the country severe enough to warrant indefinite leave to remain.
Comfort told The Guardian that she was devastated by the decision and the prospect of waiting another two decades for permanent residency. "I’m very disheartened that I may now need to wait nearly 20 years to get indefinite leave to remain," she 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," she added.
Questioning the reference to India, Comfort said she had never visited the country and had no connection with it.
Nick Beales, head of campaigning at Refugee and Migrant Justice, who is supporting Comfort, criticised the Home Office's handling of the case and the government's immigration policy. "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," Beales told The Guardian.
Comfort's case comes against the backdrop of a major overhaul of Britain's immigration settlement system announced by Home secretary Shabana Mahmood on November 2. The government has introduced an 'Earned Settlement' framework, under which migrants will have to demonstrate their contribution to British society, good character and integration before securing permanent residency.
Under the existing system, many migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years of qualifying residence. The new framework increases the standard qualifying period to 10 years, while allowing certain categories of migrants to secure settlement sooner or requiring others to wait longer.
The Home office has meanwhile told The Guardian that it was taking corrective action to issue Comfort an updated letter following the India-Nigeria mix-up. A department 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."
The government estimates that more than 500,000 migrants could face longer waits for permanent residency under the new settlement framework.
