Danielle Cohen Solicitors score another goal – using football to keep a family together

Our client is a Moroccan national who entered the United Kingdom as a visitor when he was 17 years of age. He was left in the United Kingdom by his mother on the basis that he would get a better life in the care of his older siblings. He had suffered much hardship including homelessness, lack of education, unable to work, or rent or claim benefits.

He had overstayed his visa and remained in the UK illegally for over 20 years. There was limited official documentation or evidence to show that our client had lived continuously in the UK for 20 years. Our team had to think creatively and understand our client, as a person, to consider what evidence we could obtain in support of his claim.

We discovered that our client was an avid gamer and football fan. We were able to locate a record of his attendance to football matches through his membership and find pictures locating him in UK gaming console shops, next to posters of new game releases and researching when the games would have been released and advertised.

On 29 July 2022, we successfully obtained our client limited leave to remain. Not only does our firm pride ourselves on our legal knowledge but also on our ability to think innovatively and outside the box.