Father of six who moved to the UK from Belize when he was six months old is banned from working and faces DEPORTATION - because the Home Office 'cannot find his records'

  • Darren Harrety was born in Belize six months after it became independent 
  • Moved to the UK after his mother's husband was shot dead in Belize
  • He came on his mother's Belize passport which was stamped with indefinite leave to stay in the UK
  • But that was lost and he has never had his own passport or driving licence
  • Has used his birth certificate to vote, get married and hold bank accounts
  • Now been told he could be deported as Home Office has no records of his arrival into UK

A father-of-six who first moved to the UK when he was six months old has been told he could face deportation because the Home Office cannot find any evidence of his arrival into the country.

Darren Harrety, 34, from Nelson in Lancashire, has bought a house, got married and even voted in the UK but is now banned from employment and could be deported.

He said: 'In my eyes I have been living in England all my life and I am British. It is terrifying to think people could just come through the door and tell me I have to leave the country. 

'We are scared and don't know what to do. It feels like no one will help me.'

Darren Harrety, father to Joshua, seven, Corbin, two, Nevaeh, one, and Branden, eight, with nursery wife Kathryn Harrety, 28, could face deportation as the Home Office have no evidence of his arrival into the UK

Darren Harrety, father to Joshua, seven, Corbin, two, Nevaeh, one, and Branden, eight, with nursery wife Kathryn Harrety, 28, could face deportation as the Home Office have no evidence of his arrival into the UK

Mr Harrety has been told he cannot work or apply to be a British citizen because there is no proof of when he arrived from the former British colony of Belize
Mr Harrety has been told he cannot work or apply to be a British citizen because there is no proof of when he arrived from the former British colony of Belize

Mr Harrety has been told he cannot work or apply to be a British citizen because there is no proof of when he arrived from the former British colony of Belize

Since moving to the UK, Mr Harrety has purchased a house, married (pictured) and has six children

Since moving to the UK, Mr Harrety has purchased a house, married (pictured) and has six children

Mr Harrety was born in Belize in March 1982, six months after Belize [a former British colony] had become an independent country.

As a six-month-old baby he moved to Britain with his mother, Angelica, and siblings on her Belize passport [which had replaced her British one post-independence]. It was stamped with indefinite leave to stay in the UK. 

They came to the UK with the help of the SSAFA military charity after her husband, former British soldier Roy Kyte-Powell, was shot dead in Belize.

His mother remarried Darren's stepfather Ray Harrety - with Darren, his brother and sister changing their surname to reflect his - and the family settled in Hartlepool, in the north east. 

Since then, Mr Harrety went to school in the country, has a National Insurance number, has purchased a house, married and has six children. 

But his mother's passport was 'lost while moving house' and Mr Harrety has never had his own passport or driving licence. 

He has used his birth certificate as identification to vote, get married and hold bank accounts. 

Mr Harrety, who wants a British passport, was told his applications had failed because he did not have enough proof he was a British citizen despite his birth certificate being stamped by the British Embassy.

He has now been told he cannot work in the UK and faces deportation.

Mr Harrety has used his birth certificate as identification to vote, get married and hold bank accounts
Mr Harrety pictured with his wife, Kathryn, and daughter Nevaeh

Mr Harrety has used his birth certificate as identification to vote, get married and hold bank accounts

Mr Harrety, from Lancashire, said: 'I want my life back. I have skills and I want to be able to put them to use'

Mr Harrety, from Lancashire, said: 'I want my life back. I have skills and I want to be able to put them to use'

Darren as a child with his mother and stepfather
An article detailing Darren and his family's entry into the country

His mother remarried Darren's stepfather Ray Harrety (pictured left) following the death of his mother's husband, former British soldier Roy Kyte-Powell, was shot dead in Belize

The father to Nevaeh, one, Corbin, two, Joshua, seven, and Branden, eight, with nursery wife Kathryn Harrety, 28, wants to work as a handyman or painter.

He said: 'I have a national insurance number and the ability to vote in this country, I have worked, bought a house, been legally married, had bank accounts and NHS treatment.

'But apparently I cannot work because I need my papers - which have been lost - and all because I was born six months after Belize became independent.

'If my mum had been told she needed to get my paperwork sorted, she would have done it when I was a baby.

'The Home Office say they can't find any details of my arrival in this country.

'We have been trying to get this sorted for years but it costs, and how can I pay when I can't work?'

He added: 'I have been working all my life and I just want to be able to provide for my family, as I was doing before all this happened.

'I want my life back. I have skills and I want to be able to put them to use.' 

Mr Harrety has even voted in elections, as well as buying a house - but could still be booted out the country 

Mr Harrety has even voted in elections, as well as buying a house - but could still be booted out the country 

Mr Harrety, who also has two children from previous relationships, 10-year-old Ebony Robinson and Daniel Berry, 15, has now launched a crowd-funding appeal. 

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Mr Harrety was born in Belize, after independence was granted, to parents who were both Belize citizens. He has no automatic right to British citizenship.

'However, it does remain open to him to make an application to regularise his stay in the UK.' 

 

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