I'm Chaneti
Born in Jamaica, Chaneti was left with a guardian in the UK when she was three years old and grew up with England as her home. At nineteen, after attending school in the UK her whole life, Chaneti was very excited to apply for university. But when she applied, she found out she did not have valid leave to remain in the UK. This meant that she could not access higher education. It also meant that when she left school she would be locked out of all normal support - including job seekers’ support, healthcare and housing.
Luckily, Chaneti found Praxis. Neither Chaneti nor her guardian could afford to pay the £2,052 for the Home Office visa application fee. Praxis assisted her to apply for a Home Office fee waiver, which was wrongly refused by the Home Office. Praxis worked with a law firm and successfully challenged this decision through a Judicial Review, enabling Praxis and Chaneti to submit an application for her leave to remain.
“Thanks to Praxis I regained my freedom and a sense of belonging in the UK.”
Gaining permission to stay in the UK was so important to Chaneti - because it would enable her to access student finance and higher education. After a few months we were pleased to receive notification that the request had been granted by the Home Office. Chaneti is now able build her life – she can stay in the UK- which has always been her home - indefinitely, access the support she needs and to go to university.