Polish man living in UK since childhood granted 11th-hour deportation reprieve

A Polish man who has lived in the UK since he was seven has been granted a last-minute reprieve after facing deportation because officials said he had not provided enough proof of living in the country for the last 20 years.

Officials were planning to remove Mateusz Kulik to Poland on Monday morning despite the fact he completed primary and secondary education in Britain as well as a college course in travel and tourism. He pays tax in the UK and works for a transport company completing customs documents for goods exported from Britain to EU countries. He provided the Home Office with years of school records and bank statements to prove his long residency.

Kulik, 27, lives with his parents in Ashford in Kent, who have
EU settlement scheme (EUSS) approval. His mother works as an NHS mental health support worker and his father is a self-employed delivery driver.

His in-time EUSS application was refused in January 2021 but he did not find out until a year later. He requested an administrative review of the decision, which was not finalised until last month. The review upheld the refusal.

Despite the decision Kulik believed he had the right to travel and went on holiday with friends to Thailand this month. On his return to Heathrow on 18 September he was held by immigration offficers for eight hours due to his lack of confirmed EUSS status. When he was released on bail he sought legal help from Andrew Jordan at the charity Settled, which provides free services to EU citizens and Ukrainians.

Jordan submitted a new application for Kulik, urged officials to delay the planned removal and was waiting for the Home Office to send a certificate of application to confirm that a new EUSS application had been submitted. Because Kulik had not yet received this, however, officials had said the removal would go ahead.

But in an 11th-hour reprieve on Sunday afternoon, Home Office officials emailed Jordan to say a decision had been made to cancel the flight. The Guardian had contacted the Home Office about the case on Sunday morning.

“I was devastated to be held for eight hours in a room at Heathrow airport on my return from holiday,” Kulik told the Guardian. “I was searched and had my phone and wallet taken from me. I was asked why I was coming into the UK. I replied ‘because I live here’. I speak better English than Polish.

“My lawyer has just told me tomorrow’s flight has been cancelled. I’m not sure what will happen next but hearing this news I feel that a little bit of sun is shining through the clouds.”

Jordan said: “The Home Office could see on their systems that the EUSS application submitted on Friday included credible evidence that he arrived in the UK as a seven-year-old in 2004. We were deeply concerned that they would press ahead with his removal on Monday and not wait a few days so another Home Office department could issue the necessary certificate of application.

“We are very grateful that the decision has been overturned on Sunday afternoon following our efforts to bring the case to the attention of senior figures within and outside the Home Office.”

A Home Office spokesperson said it did not routinely comment on individual cases.

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