A man who has lived in the UK all his life, has been left utterly confused after being suddenly ordered to leave the country.
Shane, pictured here with his mum Sue, was left confused (Picture: Mercury Press)
Shane Ridge, a 21-year-old man who was born and brought up in the UK is now confused after receiving a letter from the Home Office ordering him to leave the country.
According to Metro UK, Shane, a joiner from Colne in Lancashire, believes it may be because his mum was born in Australia, and wasn’t married to his British father when he was born.
However, the young man doesn’t understand how he has managed to work, pay taxes, open bank accounts and use the NHS without being told there was a problem with his citizenship status.
The Home Office letter told Shane that he would have to leave the country, or face imprisonment or a £5,000 for living here illegally.
It said the Home Office is working with the DVLA, NHS and banks to ‘stop access to benefits and services for those with no lawful basis to be in the UK’, before adding: ‘This includes you.’
Shane was also told that his driving licence would be revoked, and that he must stop driving immediately.
Shane Ridge received the Home Office letter telling him to leave the country (Picture: Mercury)
‘I’m speechless – I don’t know what I can say,’ Shane said. ‘I’m confused and worried that I’ll have to leave my entire family behind and move to a country that I don’t know.
‘I don’t understand it because I was born in the UK. I did my GCSEs here, I’ve worked for six years, I pay tax and national insurance.
‘Me and my girlfriend rented a house, I vote, I use the NHS and opened a bank account without any problems, ever. I’ve had my car for five months and before that, I had a provisional licence since I was 17.
‘Nothing has ever flagged up that I don’t have British citizenship until I went to apply for a passport last year to go on holiday with my girlfriend and my application was declined.’
He added that he then applied for an Australian passport, and was accepted because his mum was born there.
‘I went to apply for right of abode myself after receiving this letter, and was told by the Home Office that I need to apply for British citizenship first before I can do that,’ he said.
However, people who are born and brought up in the UK can sometimes find out that they aren’t British citizens if they were born on or after January 1 1983, their mother wasn’t a British citizen at the time, and their parents weren’t married – which is exactly the situation in which Shane finds himself.
A person cannot be a British citizen through their British father if their parents are unmarried and their mother is not a British citizen at the time of birth.