74-year-old Ghanaian man discovers he isn’t British after residing in the U.K. for 42 years

Nelson Shardey, a 74-year-old Ghanaian man who has lived in the United Kingdom for 42 years, learns he is not a British citizen and would need to wait another ten years to obtain permanent residency.

Mr. Shardey newsagent from Wallasey, Wirral, had long believed he was recognized as British, but in 2019 when he sought a passport to return to Ghana after his mother’s death, he was informed he was not.

According to BBC, Mr. Shardey initially entered the country in 1977 while on a student visa, which permitted him to work while he studied accountancy.

After being married to a British woman, he relocated to Wallasey to manage Nelson’s News, a newsagent. He remarried a British woman after their first marriage failed, and the two of them had two sons, Jacob and Aaron.

In addition to serving on juries, Mr. Shardey received a police bravery medal in 2007 for confronting a robber who was attempting to hit a delivery worker with a baseball bat.

However, he was informed he was not British when he filed for a passport in 2019 to return to Ghana after his mother’s death. He had no right to be in the UK, according to the Home Office.

He was instructed to apply for the 10-year settlement path by officials. It comes out to roughly £7,000 for the ten years, plus an additional £10,500 for using the NHS during that time.

Mr Shardey said: “I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking. Telling me to go through that route is a punishment, and it’s not fair in any way. I don’t understand why this fuss at all, because I put my life, my whole self into this country.”