A Moray man who has lived in the UK since the age of three and served his country in the armed forces has been told he can no longer work without a British passport.
Mental health nurse Keir Hardie, from Forres, received a phone call from NHS Grampian on Tuesday informing him he could not return to work at Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin, until his British citizenship status had been resolved.
Mr Hardie, 55, who has worked continuously since he was 15, has been left in employment limbo, legally prohibited from seeking work elsewhere or claiming benefits.
Problems began for Canadian-born Mr Hardie, of Morlich Square, last month when he returned from holiday in Turkey with his partner, Lindsey Wooley, and was asked for papers to prove he was British.
After being threatened with deportation, Mr Hardie was eventually allowed into the UK and is now being asked to fork out £750 and sit a British citizenship test to claim indefinite leave to remain in the country.
He refuses to do so on principle and believes he has earned his right to a British passport.
He said: “I’ve paid my taxes and national insurance since 1967 when I left school and got a job. You just couldn’t make this up. It’s nonsense.
“I’m an honest, hard-working guy. I don’t know what else I can do to prove I’m British, and I just want to pay the normal £70-odd quid for applying for a passport.”
Mr Hardie was born in Canada in 1952 when his parents emigrated there from the UK.
The family returned to Britain when Mr Hardie was three and he grew up with his four siblings, all British-born, in Lanarkshire.
He went on to serve with the police in Glasgow, the fire service in Devon and served five years with the Royal Marines, earning a medal for his service in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
Mr Hardie said: “I’ve been trying to get a British passport since the 1970s. When I was with the marines, they said there was some kind of problem with mine, but it never stopped them from sending me to Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus and the Turkish desert for training exercises. I ended up getting a Canadian passport because it was easier.”
Due to Mr Hardie’s father being born in India when his British grandfather served with the Cameron Highlanders, the passport authorities are demanding that Mr Hardie presents proof of his grandfather’s birth and marriage certificate – both of which were issued years ago and have yet to be found.
A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency said it did not comment on individual cases, and added that some proof of a claimed right to British citizenship would be asked for in all circumstances.
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “Anyone who is employed by NHS Grampian has to be eligible to work in the UK. If any existing employee ceases to be eligible, we have to take the appropriate action and we have to adhere to our rules of employment until the situation has been resolved.”
Local MP Angus Robertson has been investigating Mr Hardie’s case, but was unable to comment last night.
Earlier this month, a Highland nurse was told she would be able to stay in the UK after fearing deportation. Heather Cavin, 59, also originally from Canada, has lived in Britain for more than 50 years and had been told she would need to pay £750 to apply for permanent residency.
She was told she would need to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the country after she applied for a new job with NHS Highland. The UK Border Agency later said she did not have to pay the fee and would be able to start work as a district nurse near her home in Lochaber.
Mrs Cavin, of Lovat Road, Kinlochleven, first came to the UK on her father’s Canadian passport when she was seven.