The Home Office has told a man who lost his wife and young daughter in last year’s Air India crash that he must leave the UK.
Mohammad Shethwala’s wife Sadikabanu and their two-year-old daughter Fatima both died in the disaster in June 2025 when a Ahmedabad to London flight went down seconds after take off.
Shethwala was dependent on his wife for his British visa, and though he applied to extend his visa on humanitarian grounds, the Home Office rejected his request last week and put him on immigration bail.
As a result, Shethwala cannot work and is barred from potentially applying for a Skilled Worker visa to stay in the UK.
Officials said that his situation did not fall under exceptional circumstances, arguing that he could still receive adequate mental health care from health services and other relatives in India.
Shethwala said he has “nothing left” other than his support network of friends in London, while campaigners have said the government should be ashamed for “depriving a grieving father of his home”.
His lawyers plan to challenge the Home Office’s decision, and he will be allowed to stay in the UK during that process.
Shethwala told the Metro: “I am not accepting this decision from the government. I’m not feeling well right now because of this. I’m not accepting this decision.”
He arrived in the UK from India in March 2022 as a dependent on his wife’s student visa, and their daughter was born in the UK.
His wife Sadikabanu had just started a new job in Rugby and was about to apply for a Skilled Worker visa to continue life in the UK from 2026.
However, she and her daughter died in the Air India crash on June 12 last year which killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew members, as well as 19 people on the ground after hitting a medical college hostel building and bursting into flames.
Shethwala, who had found work as a delivery driver, lost both his family and his path to staying in the UK.
Shethwala’s friend Musab Taherwala told the Metro: “He lost everything. Everything has been ruined. He’s not able to talk about it properly. His mind is not working properly.
“His wife was supposed to be the main applicant for a skilled worker visa. If his wife had survived, he would still be allowed in the UK. If his daughter had survived, he would have been granted indefinite leave to remain when she turned seven, but she died as well.
“The Home Office are not being fair. We want a review of this decision. He is a deserving person for this extension. He doesn’t have anything. He applied for an extension because he has nothing left.”
Shethwala’s lawyers argue that he is dependent on his support network in the UK following the deterioration of his mental health. He briefly returned to India after the disaster, but came back to the UK after finding intense media coverage hard to cope with.
A number of leading immigration activists and groups have met the government’s decision with fury.
Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants’ Rights Network, said: “We are horrified at the callousness of the Home Office separating a grieving father and husband from his support network who are caring for him and his mental wellbeing at this tragic time.
“The Home Office refuses to show compassion even during grief. They must reconsider their decision. After such a horrific experience, no one should have their life further uprooted and stripped of the valuable wellbeing support they need.”
Ayush S Rajpal, a case manager for Chionuma Law, who represents more than 110 families who lost people in the Air India crash, said: “We believe this is a genuine humanitarian case and request fair and kind consideration.
“Our client has lived in the UK for four years and built his life there with his wife. He is working and settled, and it would be very difficult for him to find similar work in India.
“After losing his wife, he is facing financial and emotional difficulties and is under psychiatric care. In these circumstances, we kindly request that he be allowed to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “All visa applications are assessed on individual merit in line with immigration rules.”
