Photo credit: The Guardian
A blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the UK for 26 years has been told by the Home Office she can safely “go home” to India.
The Guardian reports that the 67-year-old woman arrived in the UK in 2000, and shortly after suddenly went blind due to acute glaucoma.
After living there for 20 years, she was granted leave to remain under long residence rules. Those allowed to stay on this route have to renew their visa every 30 months for 10 years and after that can apply for indefinite leave to remain.. Under the new settlement rules announced by Shabana Mahmood this week, it is likely that the woman will now have to keep renewing her visa for the next 20 years before she will finally, when she reaches her 80s, be eligible for indefinite leave to remain.
Due to her age and disability, lawyers at Refugee and Migrant Justice applied to the Home Office for her to be granted indefinite leave to remain now rather than having to wait two more decades before becoming eligible. There is a provision to fast-track indefinite leave to remain applications in exceptional circumstances.
However, the Home Office rejected the application, telling her in the first-part of the letter that she should return to Nigeria because there are services there for blind people. But the refusal 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.”
Home Office sources said that corrective action was being taken to reissue an updated letter to the woman.
