Covid hero honoured by the Queen is to be deported from the UK

Covid hero who was honoured by Queen for supporting 50 families with free food during lockdown faces deportation within weeks after his appeal to stay in UK was rejected

• Vimal Pandya, 42, has been battling the Home Office in a bid to remain in the UK 
• The selfless London shopkeeper supported dozens of families in the pandemic 
• Now a judge has ruled he must return to his native home in India within weeks

A Covid hero, praised by the Queen for his work helping vulnerable families, is to be deported from the UK in a matter of weeks after his appeal to stay was rejected. 

Vimal Pandya travelled to the UK from his native India in 2011 on a study visa but his college’s right to sponsor foreign students was revoked by the Home Office three years later – putting his future in jeopardy.

The 42-year-old, who lives in Rotherhithe, south London, has spent the last nine years and thousands of pounds fighting to remain in the UK.

Despite being faced with deportation, the selfless shopkeeper became a pillar of the community during the first Coronvirus lockdown, helping more than 50 families with free food deliveries and emotional support. 

His efforts were recognised by the Queen’s personal representative in Greater London, who wrote to Vimal on Her Majesty’s behalf to thank him.  

Vimal Pandya travelled from India to the UK in 2011 on a student visa – but after paying the fees, his college collapsed, forcing him to scramble to find a new institution to sponsor him 

Thousands of people have backed a campaign calling on the Home Office to allow the Indian shopkeeper to stay in the UK, with more than 175,000 signing an online petition

But now he has just a matter of weeks left before he is forced to fly back to India, after a tribunal hearing ruled the ‘public interest in immigration control’ outweighs his position as a pillar of the community, with a judge saying Vimal had been working in the UK ‘illegally for many years’. 

The Home Office’s decision to deport Vimal sparked outrage in his local community and nationwide, with hundreds of people attending demonstrations to support him and an online petition to reinstate his visa gaining more than 175,000 signatures.  

Speaking about the situation last year, Vimal said: ‘I can’t sleep at night because of this endless torture and misery. They can deport me at any time and send me back home – it’s really scary.’

Vimal, who was originally a stockbroker, gained a student visa in 2011 by enrolling in a management course with a college, but after paying the fees it went out of business.

The shopkeeper was informed by the Home Office he had to find a higher education institute to sponsor his student visa within 60 days or face returning to his home country.

He successfully found another college willing to do so, but following a return trip to India in 2014, he was told by Border Force staff the college had lost their right to sponsorship, meaning he faced deportation.

Vimal said neither the college nor the Home Office had informed him of the circumstances.

He added: ‘I have worked very hard to survive in this world. Altogether I have I have spent £42,000 on legal fees. Even criminals don’t have to spend that much.’ 

Vimal faces being deported in a matter of weeks after his appeal to remain in the UK was rejected. This comes in spite of his efforts to support his community in London during the pandemic which saw him receiving a letter on behalf of the Queen praising him (pictured)

Vimal says he has spent about £42,000 on legal fees in a desperate attempt to remain in the UK. He is pictured centre, surrounded by supporters 

During the pandemic, the Queen’s royal representative Sir Kenneth Olisa wrote to the shopkeeper to praise his efforts supporting the community. 

‘It has come to my attention that you are one of those people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help others during the Covid-19 pandemic,’ wrote Sir Kenneth. 

‘I am therefore writing to personally thank you for all of your efforts and to encourage you to continue making a positive difference to Londoners.’

Vimal tried, in vain, to challenge the deportation notice – arguing it breached his rights to a private life – but this was rejected by the Home Office. 

He appealed the verdict at a tribunal hearing in Hatton Cross, south-west London, on January 13, but it was rejected once again by Judge Adrian Seelhoff.

Speaking at the tribunal, Judge Seelhoff said: ‘The appellant has made an exceptional contribution in the UK being an overwhelmingly positive factor in the lives of hundreds of individuals and families in the UK.

‘Against that, the appellant has done this as someone who was admitted as a student with no expectation of ever having been allowed to live here permanently.

‘The appellant’s leave to remain was properly cancelled and he was given fair opportunities to seek an alternate college. 

‘The appellant then went underground and made no attempt to regularise his status and worked illegally for many years after his right to remain in the UK came to an end in 2014.’

Protests have been staged across the country in support of the shopkeeper, from south-east London 

Judge Seelhoff said he did not treat the petitions or supporting letters as ‘an accurate or complete expression of the public interest.’

He concluded: ‘Considering all the factors in this case in the round and despite the Appellant’s impressive achievements I am not satisfied that they outweigh the public interest in immigration control when viewed in the context of a full and informed assessment of all the facts of the case.

‘As a consequence I dismiss the appeal.’

It is understood Vimal has a maximum of 28 days from the date of the verdict, which was given on January 24, to decide whether he wishes to challenge the judge’s decision.

After this he will be at risk of removal by the Home Office.

Speaking last year of his dismay at the prospect of returning to India, Vimal said: ‘I have been here 11 years, which is nothing by the Home Office’s standards, but it is everything to me.

‘I love being here and I love the people around me. I’ve connected with this environment. I know this community. I have seen people grow up in front of me and I know which families need support.

‘What I am going through is so unfair, but I do not want to give up.’

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: ‘We do not comment on individual cases.

‘We are committed to an immigration policy which welcomes those in genuine need but which deters illegal immigration, prevents the abuse of benefits and services and removes immigration offenders from the UK.’

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