My mother arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 2002 and the UK has been her home ever since. She came to join her husband who was living here already. I arrived with my siblings to join my parents in 2005, we were aged 10, 7 and 4. If it wasn’t for my parents marriage breaking down, we would all now be British citizens - instead we lost the immigration status we need.

As a single parent to three children, my mother tried to regularise our immigration status. My siblings and I have lived in the United Kingdom far longer than we lived in Jamaica and we have lost all ties to Jamaica. The UK is home.  

But the Home Office refused our application several times. We appealed and the courts found that it is unreasonable to expect us to relocate to Jamaica.

The court has ruled twice that the Home Office should consider granting us Indefinite Leave to Remain but the Home Office have repeatedly refused. We were granted Limited Leave to Remain.

The law says anyone on limited leave must wait 10 years before being granted indefinite leave and we must reapply to extend our leave every 2.5 years. To do this, we have to make repeated payments to the Home Office, the fees for which rise every year.

By the time we have completed the 10-year route to settlement, we will have spent over £28,000 in fees and have lived in the United Kingdom for 22 years - with the threat of removal hanging over us every single day.

This is a direct result of the Government’s hostile environment. We have been left in limbo. We are fighting to build a future and stay in the place we call home. My mother has lost the right to work which makes paying the home office fees more of a struggle. Both my sister and I have had to leave University as we could no longer afford the cost.

The courts have ruled that the Home Office have to make a new decision by the 11th August 2018. Please call on the Home Secretary to grant us Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK so that we can end the uncertainty we are facing.