Blind Nigerian Pensioner Told She Can 'Go Home' to India After 26 Years in Britain

A blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the United Kingdom for 26 years has been told by the Home Office that she can safely go home — but the end of the refusal letter named that home as India, a country she has never visited.

The 67-year-old woman is named in the report as Comfort. She arrived in the UK in 2000 and shortly afterwards suddenly went blind due to acute glaucoma.

After living in the country for 20 years, she was granted leave to remain under the long residence rules. People on that route have to renew their visa every 30 months for 10 years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

Under the new settlement rules announced this week by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, however, Comfort is likely to have to keep renewing her visa for the next 20 years, and would only become eligible for indefinite leave to remain when she reaches her 80s.

Citing 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. There is a provision to fast-track such applications in exceptional circumstances.

The Home Office rejected the application. The first part of the letter said she could return to Nigeria because there are services there for blind people. But the letter concluded that her circumstances were not so severe, or lacking in potential treatment in India, that indefinite leave to remain was warranted in her case.

Comfort said India is a country she has never visited and has no connection with, and that she does not know why the Home Office told her she could go back there.

She said: 'In 2022, I got my permission to stay here based on long residence in the UK. I'm very disheartened that I may now need to wait nearly 20 years to get indefinite leave to remain.' She added: '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.'

Numerous migrants' rights organisations have raised concerns about the increase in the time some people will now have to wait for settlement following the home secretary's announcement. For some, the waiting time has increased sixfold.

According to freedom of information data obtained by Refugee and Migrant Justice, many people of pensionable age have applied for settlement but, due to their age, are likely to die before satisfying the new, more stringent waiting times. One person in the disclosure is a woman from Pakistan aged 103, who will not be eligible for settlement until she is 123 years old.

Nick Beales, head of campaigning at Migrant and Refugee Justice, who is supporting Comfort, said: '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.' He added that the decision-makers could not even differentiate between India and Nigeria.

Home Office sources said corrective action was being taken to re-issue an updated letter to the woman. A Home Office 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.'