A retired newsagent and “local legend” from Merseyside has said he feels marvellous after a Home Office U-turn granted him the right to live in the UK almost 50 years after he arrived.
Nelson Shardey, 75, launched legal action against the Home Office and fundraised almost £50,000 earlier this year after he was refused the right to stay in the UK permanently, despite living in the country since 1977 and running his shop, Nelson’s News, in Wirral for 31 years.
However, before an expected court hearing in autumn, Shardey has now been informed that the Home Office has reversed its decision, granting the retired newsagent indefinite leave to remain in exceptional circumstances.
Shardey said: “With this settlement, I will be happy to move freely, I’ll be happy to see my children, I’ll be happy to keep smiling at people because I know we are all one people and they all believed in me and we shall be one complete family … I feel some healing in me.”
He added: “I am praying that anybody in the same circumstance as me or similar, when they believe in fairness and justice, they can achieve it.”
Shardey came to the UK from Ghana at the age of 28 on a student visa. He said he believed he had British citizenship until he applied for a visa to attend his mother’s funeral in 2019.
His sons, Aaron and Jacob, said their father had no reason to doubt his legal status as he was granted mortgages, paid taxes, completed jury service and was able to get married.
Last year, Shardey was told by the Home Office to complete the 10-year route to settlement, which would require him to pay thousands of pounds for visa fees. Only then would he be eligible for indefinite leave to remain, a legal status which gives people the right to live and work in the UK.
“All along I know I am part of this country because this is where I live and this is where I’ve been working, this is where I’ve contributed to everything. I have never come across any difficulty in any department that I don’t belong here,” Shardey previously said.
His lawyer, Nicola Burgess, from the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, said she was “thrilled” Shardey would be granted indefinite leave to remain, providing him security and certainty in his retirement, but added that “it wasn’t an easy process”.
Shardey said the Home Office’s Windrush unit gave the family incorrect information when a caseworker advised him to apply for the Windrush scheme in 2022, despite not being eligible.
Burgess said: “Incorrect applications, a lack of legal advice, wrong information from the Home Office and two previous refusals to grant [indefinite leave to remain].
“Despite this and despite the considerable financial risk to Nelson and his family, he made the decision to fight on and speak out about the injustice he has experienced. Nelson’s bravery in the face of a dysfunctional immigration system has been inspirational.”
She said Shardey was one of many who faced the “unfairness” of the immigration system and she called on the Labour government to shorten the settlement route to five years.
The family said the vast majority of the almost £50,000 that has been crowdfunded will be distributed to three charities: the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, the Boaz Trust and Wirral Foodbank.
The family say they are planning a celebration once Shardey has received his settlement. Shardey’s sons said: “Dad’s victory means the absolute world to us … We hope that this victory inspires others to speak out and come forward so they can seek the justice they deserve.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are working with Mr Shardey to process his application for indefinite leave to remain. We apologise for any inconvenience and distress caused.”
