Available help for voluntary departure from the UK
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 21 Jul, 2023
- |
I’m sorry to hear this, and hope you find a way to rebuild in Nigeria.
The UK government has a scheme to help in just this situation: see https://www.gov.uk/return-home-voluntarily
Even if you think you do not meet the criteria on the website, I strongly suggest getting in contact with them, as they likely have some degree of discretion. Buying you a plane ticket will be less expensive than paying a security contractor to remove you.
You can get a one way ticket from London to Lagos for under £200.
You can try gofundme.com or the version you have in the uk.
I’ve seen gofundme raise significant funds for some ridiculous proposals way more outlandish than yours.
Being Nigerian unfortunately many people might default to thinking it’s a scam so you may want to get a non-Nigerian friend to post the gofundme appeal on your behalf.
I’m sorry to hear about your troubles.
This answer has a list of how long bans last. Two of the options are: “if they left the UK voluntarily, not at public expense” (I have reworded slightly), and “if they left UK voluntarily, at public expense”. Hence it is clearly possible to get the Home Office to pay for your return flight.
I suggest you get in contact with them, there are probably contact details on the letter you received. Say something like “I am happy to leave, but I can’t afford to buy a ticket. Can you help?” (I suspect they will be keen to help because it is a lot cheaper to buy you a ticket on a commercial flight than it is to charter a deportation flight, and both count as “one unwanted immigrant removed” to add to their total for bonuses/promotion.)
If you do this, you should ask about what impact accepting such assistance would have if you were to apply for a visitor’s visa in the future (for example to visit your family).
- Why do consulates take away your passport to issue the visa?
- What's the opposite of a "return" flight?
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘