Woman who has lived in UK for 26 years refused indefinite leave to remain under Home Office’s new settlement rules
A blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the UK for 26 years has been told by the Home Office she can safely go to India, a country she has never visited, for medical treatment.
Comfort*, 67, arrived in the UK in 2000, and shortly after suddenly went blind due to acute glaucoma.
After living here 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 Comfort 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 this application, telling her in the first part of the letter that she could 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.”
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Continues at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/14/uk-tells-blind-nigerian-pensioner-to-go-home-to-india