Wisdom Akaho, a Ghanaian lawyer based in the UK, has provided reasons for the UK Home Office’s stance on Nelson Shardey’s refusal of the UK passport.
According to the BBC, the 74-year-old Ghanaian man who has lived in the UK for nearly 50 years must wait a decade before the Home Office grants him a permanent stay in the UK. Mr Shardey assumed he was British until he applied for a British passport in 2019.
Despite paying taxes all his adult life, the Home Office said he had no right to be in the UK. The 10-year route to settlement began in 2023.
In a chat on SVTV Africa with DJ Nyaami, Lawyer Wisdom mentioned that granting citizenship depends on the law and not an assumption. He said,” You cannot assume you’re a citizen because of how long you’ve stayed in the country. You have to go through the process of becoming a UK national.”
“Mr Shardey should have sought legal advice, and he would have been told to apply under the specific law granting him a stay because his kids are British. Because nationality is a question of law, even though he has been here for 47 years, unfortunately, Mr Shardey is not qualified to be a citizen,” he explained.
Lawyer Akaho added that Mr Shardey would have to first apply for settlement because his kids are British and eventually apply to become a UK citizen. However, he would have to pay thousands of pounds for these applications.
Kindly watch the full interview below;
https://www.youtube.com/live/Ra-9mQysMAU?si=0gToyOpH77hKVCp3
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