After more than four decades of legal residence in Leicester, a retired owner of a chip shop is being instructed to leave the UK.
Leonarda Zarcone, 74, a French citizen, applied for EU settled status post-Brexit.
She shared with the BBC that she missed the deadline for providing further information due to an email being diverted to her "junk folder."
The Home Office, in a letter, stated it had made multiple attempts to reach out to her.
Zarcone expressed her shock upon hearing she had lost her right to reside in the UK. The revelation occurred at East Midlands Airport upon her return from a family wedding in France in September, where an immigration officer informed her.
She was eventually allowed entry with a 28-day visitor stamp.
Zarcone, who cares for her husband and daughter, expressed deep worry and distress. "All my family and my roots are here. It's really frightening," she told the BBC.
Having initially arrived in the UK as a child, Zarcone permanently moved with her husband and two eldest children in 1981.
Running a traditional British fish and chip shop on Narborough Road, the family operated until her retirement seven years ago.
Her son, David Brunetto, submitted EU settlement claims for his parents alongside his own online application.
Zarcone believed her application was approved since her son and husband received approval. However, the Home Office requested further proof of her continuous UK residency for five years.
Despite five attempts by officials to contact her, she failed to respond before the deadline, claiming an email from the Home Office landed in her junk folder.
Her son clarified that Zarcone's records substantiate her long-term residency in the UK, highlighting her receipt of a state pension and consistent tax and council tax payments.
In September, she filed a new application for settled status, which has since been rejected as "invalid," and her visitor's visa has lapsed.
She received a letter from the Home Office outlining the potential repercussions of staying in the UK unlawfully, including detention, prosecution, deportation, or charges for NHS medical treatment.
Zarcone's youngest daughter and grandchildren were born in Leicester, and the thought of separation from her family is distressing.
Expressing sadness and anger, she emphasized her dilemma: "I'm really sad. I'm really angry. Where can I go? When my family lives here and my children."
Zarcone is pursuing a further settlement application through immigration lawyer Tito Mbariti, who described her case as "shocking, as bad as it gets."
The Home Office has been approached for comment. Photo by dannyman, Wikimedia commons.