Officials said the man who has lived in the UK for decades, should have no problem returning to Lebanon or India despite him having no links to either country LONDON: Britain’s Home Office has rejected a Nigerian man’s application to permanently reside in the UK due to connections to countries he has never visited, The Independent reported on Sunday. Officials said the man, 57, who has lived in the UK for decades, should have no problem returning to Lebanon or India despite him having no links to either country, the newspaper revealed. The man’s application for permission to stay in the country was submitted in July last year on the grounds of family ties to the UK as his brother and sister both live in Britain. The Home Office rejected his claim a year later on the basis of his non-existent connections to India and Lebanon. The refusal letter also included the immigration history of someone else. The man “will have retained knowledge of the life, language and culture of Lebanon and would not face significant obstacles to re-integrate back into life in there,” the letter stated. The letter also suggested he could live in India, saying there are no factors “which would severely limit your ability to enjoy your life in India and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is not accepted that you would be unable to re-establish and maintain your life there.” Nick Beales, the applicant’s case worker from Ramfel, a charity that supports vulnerable migrants, contacted the Home Office about the errors. Officials apologized for the “grammatical errors in the previous letter” and attached a new version, which still wrongly referred to the man’s ability to enjoy his life in India. The Nigerian national told the newspaper: “The Home Office decision is just like copy-and-paste. They didn’t go through the application that Nick submitted. They just copied another person’s decision, with these references to Lebanon and India. I was so surprised. “I think they must have been embarrassed. Even the corrections that they made were wrong. They removed the Lebanon reference but they still didn’t go through it because the reference to India is still there. They just didn’t go through the letter,” he added. The man is now appealing the rejection of his application. A spokesperson for the Home Office apologized for the “incorrect correspondence regarding his case, and are in contact with him to make amends.” “We expect our caseworkers to work at the highest standard, and make decisions that are fair and in line with immigration rules,” they added.