Home Office says man living in UK since 1977 can stay after all

Mr Shardey arrived in the UK on a student visa, but a coup in Ghana meant his family was unable to pay his fees.

He took on various jobs, including making Mother’s Pride bread and Kipling’s Cakes near Southampton, and Bendick’s Chocolate in Winchester.

He said no-one ever queried 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 that marriage ended, he married another British woman and they had two sons, Jacob and Aaron.

Mr Shardey says he never left the UK, as he saw no need to and regarded it as his home.

But when he applied for a passport in 2019 so he could return to Ghana after the death of his mother, he was told he was not a British citizen.

Officials told him to apply for the 10-year route to settlement which costs about £7,000, with a further £10,500 over the same period to access the NHS – sums Mr Shardey initially despaired of finding.

His case against the Home Office argued he should be treated as an exception because of his long residence in the UK, his bravery award and service to the community.

The Home Office said the Immigration Act allows it discretion to grant Mr Shardey indefinite leave to remain outside the normal immigration rules.

It will also waive the application fee.

Mr Shardey said he was “overwhelmed, very very happy and relieved”.

“I would like to thank everybody who believed in us and supported us in words and donations,” he said.

Mr Shardey added while the “battle” was won, he and his supporters “hope to win the war, for the authorities to agree that the 10-year route is inhuman and abolish it or shorten it”.